SQA Elfs

It's panto season and the office night out season and in between times the vocational world rumbles on. I have been very fortunate to work in and with Secondary Schools, Adult Education, Further Education and Higher Education and know the mechanisms that are available to move on learning, understanding and vocational skills in Scotland and UK. It is about time that all of these sectors acknowledged that these are not discrete activities.

At the moment through the Leitch Review in England and Skills for Scotland, A Lifelong Skills Strategy the delivery bodies are being re-aligned a bit and the funding mechanisms are being refocused across the UK but essentially at the heart of our vocational qualifications are the National Occupational Standards from 25 Sector Skills Councils (SSCs). Each SSC is an employer-led, independent organisation that covers a specific sector across the UK. Their four key goals are:

• to reduce skills gaps and shortages
• improve productivity, business and public service performance
• increase opportunities to boost the skills and productivity of everyone in the sector's workforce
• improve learning supply including apprenticeships, higher education and National Occupational Standards (NOS)

It's not a secret that we use these NOS and follow them very closely when making SVQs and use them as starting off point for building National Certificates, HNs and other qualifications.
But as you mingle at this time of the year it’s amazing that many who should be better informed still think awards in the vocational portfolio are not structured around UK standards and informed by global changes in industry and developed with the relevant professional bodies.
Actually only kidding - they are made by elves ;-) Enjoy