QCF – Where to from here? 1. Where are we? 2. How did we get here? 3. What should we do now?

QCF – Where are we? 1. with virtually all VQs redeveloped to be QCF compliant SSC compliant 2. but moving towards a new, inclusive Ofqual framework 3. which will admit (some) VQs that are QCF non-compliant SSC non-compliant

QCF – Where are we? 1. with virtually all VQs redeveloped to be QCF compliant SSC compliant ‘The QCF is currently populated with 79% of qualifications noted in SSC action plans. If progress continues at the current rate and to stated plans, we estimate the QCF will be 96.2% populated by Dec 2010.’ UKVRP Project 1 Board, Sept

QCF – Where are we? 2. but moving towards a new, inclusive Ofqual framework ‘All qualifications to be referenced to one qualifications framework’ From Transition to Transformation, Ofqual, Oct

QCF – Where are we? 3. which will admit (some) VQs that are QCF non-compliant SSC non-compliant ‘Institutions should be free to offer (to year olds) any (including vocational) qualifications they please from a recognised (ie regulated) awarding body’ Wolf Report, Mar,

QCF – How did we get to virtually all VQs being QCF and SSC compliant? 1. The LSC announced the withdrawal of public funding from non QCF compliant VQs 2. so virtually all VQ AOs went through the QCF recognition process 3. then redeveloped virtually all of their VQs and submitted them for QCF accreditation 4. in such a way as to meet the requirements of the relevant SSCs for their approval 5. (during the period )

QCF – How did we get to need a new framework? 1. The 2004 aim was for the FfA (which became the QCF) to provide an inclusive framework by enabling credit transfer to and from the SCQF enabling credit transfer to and from the FHEQ encompassing all formally assessed achievement outside HE in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

QCF – How did we get to need a new framework? 2. but the FfA (and then the QCF) adopted a strict design that required unit content to be completely defined in terms of LOs and AC units to be shared between AOs (regardless of who had paid to develop them) assessment to be based on a mastery model of learning all recognised AOs to accept each others’ credits

QCF – How did we get to need a new framework? 3. and that did NOT require assessment methods and/or quality management processes to be shared between AOs

QCF – How did we get to need a new framework? 4. which had the effects of blocking credit transfer to and from the SCQF inhibiting credit transfer to and from the FHEQ preventing the inclusion within the QCF of GCSEs, A-levels, Specialist Diplomas, IBs, Cambridge Pre- U, etc, etc limiting the QCF to the lowest-profile qualifications, namely vocational qualifications

QCF – How did we get to need a new framework? 5. and which, leaving the perceived requirement for an inclusive framework unmet, prompted Ofqual in 2010 to recommend that ‘all qualifications... be referenced to one (ie, another) qualifications framework’ 64 out of the 80 respondents to Ofqual’s 2011 consultation to endorse this recommendation

QCF – How did we get to need non-QCF VQs? 1. QCF accreditation generally requires SSC approval which references the qualification to the skills and knowledge that employers require of adult staff and which need not take account of the developmental needs of year olds, who also take VQs

QCF – How did we get to need non-QCF VQs? 2. The QCF regulatory arrangements are based on the use of a mastery-learning model which makes it more difficult to generate different grades of pass and which therefore lessens the value of QCF VQs in selection processes for additional education (or for employment)

QCF – How did we get to need non-QCF VQs? 3. The QCF Regulatory Arrangements are based on the assumption that AC are sufficient to ‘specify the standard a learner is expected to meet’ while the Wolf Report (which stresses the importance of national standards) asserts that ‘a written specification plays only a small part in determining... the standard and quality of the assessment’, which implies that QCF regulation does not provide enough of a guarantee that QCF VQ assessment standards are comparable between centres

QCF – What should we do now? Should the defining characteristics of the QCF be retained in all credit-based qualifications? unit content to be completely defined in terms of LOs and AC units to be shared between AOs (regardless of who had paid to develop them) assessment to be based on a mastery model of learning all recognised AOs to accept each others’ credits without question

QCF – What should we do now? Start by answering the following questions 1. How do/can external AOs add value to UK VET? 2. What freedoms do they need to deliver that value? 3. What responsibilities must they accept to deliver that value?