NGRF - UK National Guidance Research Forum

The follwoing text is drawn from the QCA site, but raises issues about how much text we would want etc. 

Entry level is the first level of the NQF. It lies beneath foundation level and is divided into three sublevels: 1, 2 and 3, with 3 being the highest. These sublevels are broadly comparable with national curriculum levels 1, 2 and 3.

The introduction of Entry level has meant that people with a lower level of learning are now able to gain recognised qualifications.

Qualifications at Entry level are called ‘certificates’. These certificates are nationally recognised and meet stated criteria set out in The statutory regulation of external qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (2004).

At the moment there are over 100 Entry level certificates on offer in a wide range of subjects, including:

• national curriculum subjects such as English, science and mathematics
• vocational subjects such as retail, hairdressing and office practice
• general qualifications such as skills for working life and life skills
• basic skills such as adult literacy and adult numeracy.

QCA has been working with the Sector Skills Councils to ensure that entry level vocational Qualifications will provide a useful introduction to relevant working practices.

Many certificates are made up of a number of units. Each unit is assessed separately so that students’ small steps of achievement can be recognised on the way to completing the full certificate.

There are no rules about which units, or how many, must be included in a certificate. This means awarding bodies can create certificates that meet the diverse needs of learners at this level. The units can also be at one or more of the Entry sublevels (1, 2 or 3) if it is appropriate.

There is no single target group for Entry level certificates because the number of people working at this level is so large and diverse. Those who take Entry level certificates include:

• 14- to 16-year-olds with special educational needs
• 14- to 16-year-olds in pupil referral units
• adults in residential care
• 16- to 19-year-olds in further education colleges, some of whom may have learning difficulties
• young people in young offenders’ institutions
• people in the prison system
• people who have been out of education and training for many years.

How long does it take to complete a certificate?
Since there is no single structure and no standard amount of content or number of units, courses for Entry level certificates do not have to be completed within a set time limit.

Students working at this level tend to make progress at varying speeds so that different students may complete the same certificate at very different rates. In practice, courses run in schools leading to Entry level certificates in national curriculum subjects are usually set up as one or two year programmes, spanning years 10 and 11.

More information is available from the QCA website and from there links can be made to awarding bodies who can provide more information about particular Entry level qualifications. These include the three largest awarding bodies (AQA, Edexcel and OCR) as well as other smaller awarding bodies, some of whom specialise in providing for Entry level learners. Each awarding body offers a different range of certificates. 

Links to QCA website outlining details of the National Qualifications Framework for England.

Attached files are at the top level entry because I was unsuccessful in linking to them to a 'reply'

We could link to other documents on national qualifactions frameworks from here (or through a separate qualifications areas linked to but distinct from this weblog. See attached file: