VQ Reform Funding Priorities Project

1. VQ Reform Funding Priorities Project Marian Cree Head of Qualifications & e-Learning DEL

2. A Key Outcome of the VQ Reform Programme is :By April 2010 onwards, employers (through their SSCs) will have a greater role to play in determining which vocational qualifications should receive public funding.

3. To Achieve this the SSC role will be twofold: • Firstly, in the development of Sector Qualification Strategies (SQS) and Action Plans, in conjunction with awarding organisations, to meet learner and employer needs. • Secondly, to recommend, for funding purposes, priority qualifications that are in line with SQS Action Plans and sectoral priorities. This approach mirrors the longer-term vision of the UKVQRP, and the NI Skills Strategy, to increase the skills of the workforce to make the UK a world leader on skills

4. DEL Approach • It is now appropriate for DEL to assess the extent to which it would wish to use SQSs, with particular emphasis on the SQS NI Action Plan, as a key component of a new process to inform policy and funding on Priority Skill Areas. • The Department will also need to consider if this process, involving the SSCs and their SQSs, would also be used to align DEL funding with priority vocational qualifications, as identified by SSCs, which may lead to the incremental withdrawal of public funding from qualifications that employers, through sector organisations, do not support.

5. The VQ Reform Funding Priorities project will have two distinct strands to it: • Policy development in relation to SQS. • Policy development in relation to the QCF funding priorities.

6. Policy Development in relation to SQSs The aim of this strand is to develop a series of policy statements in relation to the SQS process (that has already been established) which will provide clarity in relation to DEL’s views/requirements on the SQS process specific to NI.

7. Policy development in relation to SQSs cont’d • Meet DEL’s needs in relation to influencing qualification funding priorities. • Establish an annual process between DEL and SSCs that will identify a list of priority qualifications that support DEL policies and consequently influence funding policies. • Explore the role of National Occupational Standards as a baseline quality standard for all DEL qualification and training/employment programmes policies. • Make recommendations on the role of NOS in any existing/ new funding policies associated with VQ Reform.

8. Policy Development in relation to the QCF Funding PrioritiesThe aim of this strand is to assess the purpose and appropriateness of categories of qualifications/units that DEL must now consider from a funding perspective, in light of their accreditation onto the QCF.

9. This strand of the project will look at the following categories of qualifications • Employers’ QCF accredited qualifications/units • Unitisation/Credit • Licence to Practice • Vendor Qualifications • Access Courses (Level 3)

10. Underpinning the Project Common Coding • revisit the use and awareness within DEL of the agreed UK wide system for coding qualifications, the ‘Sector Subject Areas Classification System (SSACS) and ensure that it is fully understood and utilised across DEL’s learning and training providers; and • assess how the achievement of units is currently recorded within DEL, and if this approach is ‘fit for purpose’ to support the QCF.