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Case Studies
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The Swimming Teachers Association & The National Qualifications Framework
The Swimming Teachers’ Association operates in a competitive market and was therefore keen to demonstrate external quality assurance by gaining accreditation to the National Qualifications Framework, which is administered by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. The drive for accreditation was led by the Chief Executive with support from a Development Officer. There are two aspects to gaining accreditation: • Part A – gaining accreditation as an awarding body
• Part B – gaining accreditation for the qualifications Some organisations go straight to Part B, by entering into partnership with an existing awarding body. The STA however felt it was important to gain accreditation for their organisation as an awarding body. Leading the “Part A” submission took 10 days of the CEO’s time, including a number of visits to QCA in London. Meanwhile the Development Officer focussed on the technical aspects of the submission. Having gained awarding body status the STA then made three “Part B” submissions to gain accreditation for its life-guarding qualifications. This took a further 4 days of the CEO’s time and 4 days of the Development Officer’s time, and also involved revising the presentation of the teaching manuals. It is expected that just 3 days of the Development Officer’s time would be needed to submit the next suite of qualifications. The STA found the most challenging issue in the accreditation process to be revising its teaching manuals into “Standards speak”, putting learning outcomes throughout the text. It also needed to convince QCA that a number of existing systems did not need changing.
Many organisations find it difficult to separate the delivery of training towards an award from the actual awarding of the qualification – and this is a key QCA requirement. The STA approach is to approve the tutors and assessors who deliver courses and assess candidates. The STA does not arrange courses, and the tutors are responsible for hiring delivery venues, registering, promoting and delivering their courses. The tutor is in effect the “approved centre” – not the facility. The STA believes that its qualifications have improved as a result of the process. Procedures that already existed have now been formalised and documented – and are used. Vague or subjective questions such as “Is the candidate presentable?” have now been removed. Above all there is much greater consistency in assessment, and therefore in outcome. The formalised procedures have enabled this. The basic cost of courses to the candidate has risen – but there is as yet no evidence of less participants as a result of this. Whilst the courses are eligible for LSC funding it is down to the individual operator to investigate this. There has been increased demand for the STA’s life-guarding qualifications and the STA believes that young people who have grown up with a “portfolio qualification” culture are comfortable with the new style of award. It is however concerned that women returning to work who comprise a large sector of the swimming teacher workforce may be deterred by the paperwork aspects of the new qualifications. Finally the STA would advise other organisations that are applying to the framework to first understand what QCA are seeking to achieve, and then to consider different options for meeting their criteria. The STA would also recommend that if particular principles or ways of working are important to your organisation then you should stand up for these.
The British Orienteering Federation & The National Qualifications Framework British Orienteering Federation qualifications, and those awarded by other National Governing Bodies in the outdoor sector are well respected both by those who hold the awards and their employers. Whilst the content of BOF’s level 2 award closely matched the requirements of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, its delivery did not. BOF previously managed all aspects of its qualifications in-house - from award design and training delivery, to setting and assessing examinations, and making the final award. Derek Allison, National Development Manager at BOF explains why this needed to change: “The quality control procedures of an “in-house” system are easily open to criticism. We felt that going to an external body to make the award would send a clear signal that we were not complacent about our quality control. As a non-Olympic sport we also wanted to demonstrate that our awards were of a quality to match more high profile sports. Accreditation to the National Qualifications Framework, was an added bonus in the process”. BOF chose to work with 1st4sport Qualifications, and their respective roles were soon clearly established, with BOF providing the technical expertise in orienteering, and 1st4sport Qualifications negotiating the National Qualifications Framework requirements. This resulted in an award that satisfied QCA requirements whilst also meeting the needs of orienteering. According to Derek these two aims were relatively easy to accommodate : “We are a relatively small NGB and the work involved in awarding and quality assuring qualifications is discrete and easily delegated. This relieved me of one particular role without a loss of control, as 1st4sport Qualifications only use External Verifiers approved by the BOF.” BOF, like other NGBs has limited resources, and a broad work programme. Having prioritised this issue it was important that they were able to set a manageable timetable for the work. In a period of just over one year Derek estimates that BOF provided 12 days of orienteering expertise and attended five working meetings. He also feels that the work could have been achieved in a shorter time, if the Governing Body had been able to put in more time over this period. Derek found that the most significant challenge was ensuring that the award material was worded to the satisfaction of the QCA. However, this was also the aspect on which 1st4sport Qualifications was most able to help. As Derek explains “they were familiar with the jargon, the paperwork and the requirements, so having this support through the process was essential.” Quality control does cost money, and as a result the cost to candidates has gone up. However, there is now an opportunity to ‘draw down funding’ via the Learning & Skills Council that previously was not available. Derek explains how this might work: “We are exploring the possibility of colleges employing more of our tutors to enable easier access to this funding for more candidates.” A further benefit is that the BOF now has a new orienteering resource which will generate income as candidates register for the awards. As this work has only recently been completed Derek feels that it is too early to identify all the benefits that may come. However, he is confident that “we have introduced a transparent quality control system into our award without ‘losing control’, whilst the candidate and tutor resource material has improved from very good to excellent.”
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The Swimming Teachers Association & The National Qualifications Framework
The Swimming Teachers’ Association operates in a competitive market and was therefore keen to demonstrate external quality assurance by gaining accreditation to the National Qualifications Framework, which is administered by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. The drive for accreditation was led by the Chief Executive with support from a Development Officer. There are two aspects to gaining accreditation:
• Part A – gaining accreditation as an awarding body
• Part B – gaining accreditation for the qualifications
Some organisations go straight to Part B, by entering into partnership with an existing awarding body. The STA however felt it was important to gain accreditation for their organisation as an awarding body. Leading the “Part A” submission took 10 days of the CEO’s time, including a number of visits to QCA in London. Meanwhile the Development Officer focussed on the technical aspects of the submission.
Having gained awarding body status the STA then made three “Part B” submissions to gain accreditation for its life-guarding qualifications. This took a further 4 days of the CEO’s time and 4 days of the Development Officer’s time, and also involved revising the presentation of the teaching manuals. It is expected that just 3 days of the Development Officer’s time would be needed to submit the next suite of qualifications.
The STA found the most challenging issue in the accreditation process to be revising its teaching manuals into “Standards speak”, putting learning outcomes throughout the text. It also needed to convince QCA that a number of existing systems did not need changing.
Many organisations find it difficult to separate the delivery of training towards an award from the actual awarding of the qualification – and this is a key QCA requirement. The STA approach is to approve the tutors and assessors who deliver courses and assess candidates. The STA does not arrange courses, and the tutors are responsible for hiring delivery venues, registering, promoting and delivering their courses. The tutor is in effect the “approved centre” – not the facility.
The STA believes that its qualifications have improved as a result of the process. Procedures that already existed have now been formalised and documented – and are used. Vague or subjective questions such as “Is the candidate presentable?” have now been removed. Above all there is much greater consistency in assessment, and therefore in outcome. The formalised procedures have enabled this.
The basic cost of courses to the candidate has risen – but there is as yet no evidence of less participants as a result of this. Whilst the courses are eligible for LSC funding it is down to the individual operator to investigate this. There has been increased demand for the STA’s life-guarding qualifications and the STA believes that young people who have grown up with a “portfolio qualification” culture are comfortable with the new style of award. It is however concerned that women returning to work who comprise a large sector of the swimming teacher workforce may be deterred by the paperwork aspects of the new qualifications.
Finally the STA would advise other organisations that are applying to the framework to first understand what QCA are seeking to achieve, and then to consider different options for meeting their criteria. The STA would also recommend that if particular principles or ways of working are important to your organisation then you should stand up for these.
The British Orienteering Federation & The National Qualifications Framework
British Orienteering Federation qualifications, and those awarded by other National Governing Bodies in the outdoor sector are well respected both by those who hold the awards and their employers. Whilst the content of BOF’s level 2 award closely matched the requirements of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, its delivery did not.
BOF previously managed all aspects of its qualifications in-house - from award design and training delivery, to setting and assessing examinations, and making the final award. Derek Allison, National Development Manager at BOF explains why this needed to change: “The quality control procedures of an “in-house” system are easily open to criticism. We felt that going to an external body to make the award would send a clear signal that we were not complacent about our quality control. As a non-Olympic sport we also wanted to demonstrate that our awards were of a quality to match more high profile sports. Accreditation to the National Qualifications Framework, was an added bonus in the process”.
BOF chose to work with 1st4sport Qualifications, and their respective roles were soon clearly established, with BOF providing the technical expertise in orienteering, and 1st4sport Qualifications negotiating the National Qualifications Framework requirements. This resulted in an award that satisfied QCA requirements whilst also meeting the needs of orienteering.
According to Derek these two aims were relatively easy to accommodate : “We are a relatively small NGB and the work involved in awarding and quality assuring qualifications is discrete and easily delegated. This relieved me of one particular role without a loss of control, as 1st4sport Qualifications only use External Verifiers approved by the BOF.”
BOF, like other NGBs has limited resources, and a broad work programme. Having prioritised this issue it was important that they were able to set a manageable timetable for the work. In a period of just over one year Derek estimates that BOF provided 12 days of orienteering expertise and attended five working meetings. He also feels that the work could have been achieved in a shorter time, if the Governing Body had been able to put in more time over this period.
Derek found that the most significant challenge was ensuring that the award material was worded to the satisfaction of the QCA. However, this was also the aspect on which 1st4sport Qualifications was most able to help. As Derek explains “they were familiar with the jargon, the paperwork and the requirements, so having this support through the process was essential.”
Quality control does cost money, and as a result the cost to candidates has gone up. However, there is now an opportunity to ‘draw down funding’ via the Learning & Skills Council that previously was not available. Derek explains how this might work: “We are exploring the possibility of colleges employing more of our tutors to enable easier access to this funding for more candidates.” A further benefit is that the BOF now has a new orienteering resource which will generate income as candidates register for the awards.
As this work has only recently been completed Derek feels that it is too early to identify all the benefits that may come. However, he is confident that “we have introduced a transparent quality control system into our award without ‘losing control’, whilst the candidate and tutor resource material has improved from very good to excellent.”
