More about NVQs
• Typically an NVQ,
to evidence occupational competence
• Key Skills,
to apply to the workplace
• Technical Certificate,
to confirm required knowledge and any employer requirement
Units are designed to have meaning and value
in a particular area of employment and can be separately certificated, enabling them to be recorded as credits towards a full qualification. Each unit will not necessarily take an equal amount of time to achieve. Neither are all units of equal difficulty. They simply represent a sensible cluster of competences that have meaning in a particular occupation.
To make qualifications flexible
they are made up of mandatory units (all learners must achieve these) and optional units (which allow a degree of choice to reflect specialism or job). The structure of each award gives details of the mandatory units and the selection criteria for the optional units available.
Learners must achieve the mandatory units
and the stated number of optional units to achieve the NVQ/SVQ award. However, further units over and above the requirement can be certified as additional units. These can be any NVQ/SVQ units which the Awarding Body offers.
