1 IASCE Annual Conference, Athlone 7 th -8 th October 2004 “Access, progression & transfer on social care courses” Dr. Kevin Lalor, Department of Social Sciences, DIT

2 Context 1.Bolonga 2.NQAI 3.OECD review, September 2004 In sum, greater flexibility: credit transfer (eg, ECTS), lifelong learning, p/t study, modularisation, APEL, removal of barriers to access & progression

3 Progress “The NQAI is working to standardise qualifications so that transfers between institutions and the recognition of prior certified learning can be facilitated. However, progress is slow (my italics) and there is an urgent need to secure agreement across the various providers and to move on to develop a mechanism to enable the introduction of APEL to encourage adult students to resume learning” (OECD, 2004, p. 31).

4 Applying these principles to social care (examples of APEL)  CIT model  DIT in-service programme, “increased credit for elements of each subject through professional practice”  OTC/DIT pilot of Valex model  ITS (case-by-case base access to Yr. 2 – typically extensive work experience and some course work)

5 Access, progression and transfer for ‘mainstream’ students  Access to social care courses is very ‘open’ Acess is available at Certificate, BA (Ord.), BA (Hons.) level amongst IASCE members (ie, NQAI levels 6, 7, 8). At FETAC level, access is available at Levels 1 & 2

6 Minimum entry requirements  D3 (Ord.) in five subjects in the Leaving Certificate. Must include Irish or English and Mathematics (AIT – access to Certificate)  Pass in five subjects (ordinary level) in the Leaving Certificate, to include Mathematics and English or Irish (ITB, WIT – access to BA (Ord.))  Pass in five subjects in the Leaving Certificate, including English (DIT – access to BA (Ord.))  Six LC subjects, at least grade C3 in two Higher Level papers. Must include Irish or English and Mathematics (DIT – access to BA (Hons.), 3 yr ab initio) AIT – access to BA (Hons.), 4 yr ab initio)

7 Access, progression and transfer for ‘mainstream’ students ctd. Transfer (focusing on Advanced Entry)  Year 2 FETAC/BTEC with 7+ Distinctions (CIT, Certificate) College of Commerce CACHE/NNEB, ‘distinction profile’ (CIT, ITT) BTEC with 5+ Distinctions (DIT, LIT BA (Hons.)) BTEC with 3+ Distinctions (DIT, LIT BA (Ord.)) BTEC (without distinctions) (ITS) Year 1 of Social Care Course in other I.T. (ITS, CIT, DIT, LIT*). Year 1 of Cert in Special Needs (OTC) Uncompleted relevant degrees (eg, 2 yrs of relevant BA) (LIT)

8 Access, progression and transfer for ‘mainstream’ students ctd. Third Year  BTEC (8+ distinctions) (ITS)  Hons. Degree in related area (DIT) (plus relevant experience – LIT)  National Cert in relevant area or 2 yrs of ab initio Diploma (LIT, DIT).  Nat Cert (with significant LD component) (OTC) Fourth year  National Diploma (DIT, ITS, AIT)

9 Progression, Diploma to BA (Ord.)  AIT: BA in Applied Social Studies in Social Care. Min. entry is National Diploma in Applied Social Studies in Social Care. This is a 1 – yr full-time programme (no practice element)  DIT: Progression from Diploma to BA (Ord.) not facilitated as both deemed to be Level 7. Instead, award of BA (Hons.) is offered (upon completion of research methods, dissertation and 2 practice modules)  OTC: Progression from Diploma (Level 7) to BA (Hons.) (Level 8) via a research-based bridging programme

10 Text of notice to DIT Diploma students Diploma awards pre 2005 Notice for graduates of the following courses: Diploma in Social Care Practice; Diploma in Social Care; Diploma in Applied Social Studies Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education From 2005, DIT, the Universities and all Institutes of Technology shall award a BA (Ord.) Degree instead of National Diploma awards, in line with the framework of qualifications launched by the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI) in October Diploma awards based on the above courses continue to be recognised as valid awards in their own right. They have been placed on the new National Framework of qualifications at an equivalent level to a BA (Ordinary) degree. That is, Level 7. Diploma awards from previous years will retain their identity and status for employers and also for progression to higher level awards. For further information, see: or contact the Department of Social Sciences, DIT Mountjoy Square (tel.: )

11 Thank you! Open discussion 