June 2008 - Skills for Life and Employability news (Issue 29)
In this month's Key Skills news:
- On-demand paper national tests: further tips
- Fixed date tests (for 3692) – please bear with us
- New Employability qualifications (7546) – now accredited!!!
- Proposed changes to ESOL Skills for Life notional Guided Learning Hours
- ICT Skills for Life (3804) assignments – still on CD
Skills for Life and Employability news is published every month and contains all the latest information and updates about City & Guilds’ learner qualifications designed to support the Skills for Life and Employability strategies in England, Essential Skills for Living strategy in Northern Ireland and National Basic Skills Strategy for Wales.
A downloadable (PDF) version of the newsletter (for printing and/or circulating to colleagues) is available below. A full archive of previous issues is also available.
On-demand paper national tests: further tips
If you are ordering paper-based adult numeracy/literacy tests for multiple groups of candidates taking the test around the same time, please ensure that you use the ‘Delivery Group’ facility on the Walled Garden. This ensures that we provide a separate pack of test papers, Invigilation Certificate (IC) and Multiple Choice Answer (MA) sheets for each group of candidates.
However, it is absolutely crucial that all paperwork relating to a particular sitting is stored, issued and returned together. Not doing so can lead to candidates’ answers being scanned against the wrong paper, or at the very least a delay in results turnaround.
When opening the materials for each test sitting, please ensure that the version letter on the test paper (A, B,C, etc) always matches the letter at the end of the Exam Version number on the IC and MA sheet (eg ‘07VERC’ for Paper C). If you find that these are inconsistent, please contact our Customer Relations team (020 7294 2787) straightaway.
It’s also extremely important to ensure that candidates’ names are recorded identically on both the IC and MA sheet (ie without spelling inconsistencies or middle initials included/omitted).
Fixed date tests (for 3692) – please bear with us
You may also be aware that we have been having a few teething problems with our new processing system for fixed date examinations. Unfortunately this has had a knock-on effect on some ESOL Skills for Life Level 1-2 Reading test results dating from March 2008 (and in a small number of cases even earlier).
Please be assured that we are working to resolve all of these cases as quickly as we can (as well as dealing with the underlying problem), and of course we’re very sorry for any inconvenience caused to candidates or yourselves. If you are still waiting on any test results from March or earlier please bear with us. If you haven’t already heard from (or been in touch with) our Customer Relations or Data Management team and have overdue results, please drop us a line at skillsforlife@cityandguilds.com.
Please note that this year’s May and June series results are due to be available on Friday 13 June and Thursday 10 July respectively.
The following may help to eliminate delays or problems with your test results:
- Ensure that you return all of your candidates’ Multiple Choice Answer (MA) sheets at the same time, and that these are accompanied by the completed Invigilation Certificate (IC).
- Please do not send in multiple photocopies of the IC. The original document must be completed and returned; this must correctly identify all candidates as either present or absent. If you have multiple groups taking the Reading test at different times during the day, please ensure details are collated and recorded together on the original IC.
As we have indicated in previous issues of Skills for Life and Employability news, we’re intending to introduce the same On-demand system for these tests as now operates for adult literacy. We’ll keep you posted about timescales for this.
New Employability qualifications (7546) – now accredited!!!
The new Award and Certificate in Employability and Personal Development are due to go live later this month. We have just received formal confirmation from Ofqual that the full suite of qualifications has been accredited to the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) for all ages.
These new qualifications are intended to replace the Certificate in Preparation for Employment (3797), although we’re also pleased to confirm the registration end-dates have been extended for 3797 at all levels until June 2009.
We’re currently finalising the qualification handbook and other support materials; these will be available on our website shortly. All current 3797 centres with activity within the past two years will be eligible for fast-track approval.
Qualification numbers
| NDAQ number | Title |
|---|---|
| 500/4080/7 | Entry Level Award in Employability and Personal Development (Entry 2) (QCF) |
| 500/4081/9 | Entry Level Certificate in Employability and Personal Development (Entry 2) (QCF) |
| 500/4083/2 | Entry Level Award in Employability and Personal Development (Entry 3) (QCF) |
| 500/4079/0 | Entry Level Certificate in Employability and Personal Development (Entry 3) (QCF) |
| 500/4082/0 | Level 1 Award in Employability and Personal Development (QCF) |
| 500/4078/9 | Level 1 Certificate in Employability and Personal Development (QCF) |
Launch events
As we indicated last month, we’re holding a series of launch events this month and throughout the autumn. Dates are:
London – 16 June
Cardiff – 17 June*
Glasgow – 24 June
Birmingham – 27 June*
Belfast – 28 August
Newcastle – 8 October
London – 13 October
Warrington – 14 October.
To attend, please contact customer.events@cityandguilds.com.
Fees now finalised
The following fees will apply from when the qualification is launched until our general fee review in September:
| 7546-01 | Registration | Fee per unit | Certification | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual units | £10.00 for access to any unit/level |
£5.00 | - | (from) £15.00 |
| Award (Entry 2-3 or Level 1) |
£10.00 for access to any unit/level |
£15.00 (three units required) |
- | £25.00 |
| Certificate (Entry 2-3) |
£10.00 for access to any unit/level |
£25.00 (five units required) |
£5.00 | £40.00 |
| Certificate (Level 1) |
£10.00 for access to any unit/level |
£25.00 (five units required) |
£10.00 | £45.00 |
Proposed changes to ESOL Skills for Life notional Guided Learning Hours
QCA has announced a reduction in the recommended notional Guided Learning Hours (GLH) for ESOL Skills for Life from 300 GLH to 120-140 GLH for the full mode qualification, and from 100 GLH to 60-70 GLH for the stand-alone Speaking and Listening qualification.
We understand that this change is being proposed for various technical reasons, including accommodating the new Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) in due course. It is important to appreciate that the original GLH were only intended as a notional figure; by comparison there are no recommended GLH at all for adult numeracy/literacy or the key skills qualifications.
The change to GLH will not impact on funding as this will continue to be load-banded. The actual amount of time and resources needed to deliver these qualifications will continue to depend on proper initial assessment of individual candidate need.
ICT Skills for Life (3804) assignments – still on CD
We included a reminder about the current arrangements for accessing our Entry level ESOL Skills for Life assignments on CD-ROM in last month’s Skills for Life and Employability news. Please be aware that for the time being similar arrangements also apply to ICT Skills for Life (3804).
All of the current live assignments are contained on one CD (stock code CD-01-3804). This can only be supplied to the designated ICT Skills for Life Co-ordinator at approved 3804 centres. The CD will in most cases have been dispatched with your Qualification Approval letter, although if you have not received it please contact your local City & Guilds office.
In due course we will be migrating the ICT Skills for Life assignments to our website, with similar security arrangements to those now operating for Entry level Adult Numeracy/Literacy.