Overview

The National Vocational Qualification will give you a nationally recognised qualification which should pull together much of your training and experience at work but being a national qualification designed for anyone carrying out any similar job role this will be recognised outside your own company. There are many ways of achieving an NVQ but the following is a brief resume of how we will be working together on yours.

The standard criteria demanded by NVQs have been decided by British industry and have been taken on board by a number of "awarding bodies" such as BTEC, City and Guilds and OCR. We are registered with OCR - a partnership between Oxford, Cambridge and the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) who will issue your certificate. (to top)

Levels

There are five levels of NVQ and numerous different subjects. The levels are 1 to 5, level 5 being the highest attainable level of NVQ. Your assessor will help you decide which level is right for you. If you are already working at the chosen level it is likely that your current experience and training will cover most of the criteria. Some people use NVQ criteria, however, as a target for development in their job and will require a lot of additional help and training along the way. (to top)

The NVQ Structure and Requirements

The NVQ is split into a number of UNITS, each covering a specific work area. For Management Level 3 there are 7 units to complete for a full NVQ, for Management Level 4 there are nine units, for Customer Service 2 there are five units.

The criteria mentioned is usually in the form of:

• Performance Evidence - providing evidence that you do the job to the required standard.
• Knowledge Evidence - providing evidence that you know why you do things in a certain way, what other methods might be available and the importance of the tasks.

The NVQ standards also provide guidance as to where this evidence may come from and sometimes quotes the range of acceptable sources.

The evidence may come from a number of sources - paperwork, photos, printouts, reports by yourself or colleagues, assessor observations, projects, response to questions and professional discussions. (to top)

Assessors/Internal Verifiers/External Verifiers

The role of your ASSESSOR is to help you understand the standards and the process and to ultimately agree that the evidence you have provided meets ALL the criteria. There are no grades associated with the NVQ - you either pass or carry on until you pass!

When your assessor is satisfied and all the associated documentation and logging of your evidence against the standards has been completed, your portfolio is checked by the:

• Internal Verifier who works closely with the assessor to ensure that standards are maintained within the training organisation for which they work.
• External Verifier who works to OCR may then carry out a check on your portfolio - this is done on a random basis. Our EV has been fully consulted on the process we use and has fully endorsed it.

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Assessment mainly by Professional Discussion

At some stage in your NVQ the assessor will visit you on site to observe you dealing with customers, other staff or perhaps running a meeting. The Professional Discussions are often carried out over the phone at times and dates agreed with youand typically take 90 minutes per session. Only the formal part of this will be taped i.e. your response to the set discussion points for each unit. You will be given a copy of these for your own preparation prior to the discussion.

Professional Discussions with your assessor are recorded onto audio cassette to be used as evidence in your portfolio. Using the Professional Discussions will save you a lot of writing and give you the opportunity to discuss your opinions and quote incidents and improvements with which you have been involved and to answer various set questions in an informal and relaxed situation. (to top)

Remember there are no exams or tests.