Qualifications Update

4 February 2010

In England there will be four recognised suites of national qualifications for 14 -19 year – GCSEs, Diplomas, Foundation Learning and Apprenticeships, these will be the only ones that are automatically funded.

The IMI – Sector Skills Council (SSC) is leading development of shared QCF units for the new replacement qualifications required for Apprenticeships (mainly Level 2 and Level 3). All awarding bodies operating in the sector are involved in the development process in some way.

Click here to view IMI Awards Qualification QCF Replacement Date PDF (4 Feb 2010) 

National Occupational Standards (NOS) Update

The majority of the National Occupational Standards (NOS) have been revised by the IMI (SSC) and the following NOS suites have now been approved by UKCES and will now be added to the NOS Directory in the near future.

Accident Repair – Body
Accident Repair – Mechanical, Eletrical, Trim (MET)
Maintenance & Repair – Heavy Vehicle
Maintenance & Repair – Light Vehicle
Maintenance & Repair – Motorcycle

The NOS Directory allows users to:

·   search for NOS by keywords
·   view which occupational areas NOS are linked to
·   identify the owner of the NOS

Click the following link to view the website http://www.ukstandards.org.uk/ (IMI Awards is not responsible for this website)

However, work has already started on converting these standards into Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) units and IMI Awards is integral in the development and review of all units. High take up areas are being developed first e.g. light vehicle, heavy vehicle, body and paint. The first units are expected to be accredited early 2010 for use by centres in September 2010.

New apprenticeships will be made up of knowledge, skills and competence units and functional skills. The SSC has dropped NVQs in favour of Vocational Competence Qualifi cations (VCQs). There is also a draft VCQ assessment strategy that places a requirement on assessors of these qualifications to undertake mandatory ‘technical’ CPD to maintain their own current competence in the subjects they are assessing. However, individual awarding bodies will develop their own units for other levels and other purposes.

Northern Ireland : Key Skills are being replaced by Essential Skills, however Key Skills have been extended until 2012 for registration.

Wales : Essential Skills Wales will replace Key Skills from September 2010. IMI Awards is accredited to offer these at Level 1 and 2 from this date. Student practical assessments are now available in Welsh at Levels 1, 2 and 3 in light vehicle, motorcycle, heavy vehicle, body repair and refinishing.

Scotland : IMI Awards are working with SQA to gain accreditation in Scotland for some of our new qualifications. The first to be accredited is our Introduction to Vehicle Technology.