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Plumbing Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF)
Plumbing Training - September 2010
Introduction ...
You may have heard about changes being proposed for City & Guilds NVQ training and also wondering how this might affect construction trade qualifications, especially if you are thinking of taking the Certificate in Plumbing Studies Level 2 (6129) course.
The changes are not due to come into operation until late in 2010 and will not fundamentally alter the level of knowledge and training requirements, as they are intended to greatly improve learning capability by making the course units easier to understand, more flexible and allow for interchangeable skillsets.
In addition, the new qualifications will also not affect the ability of AbleSkills to take you through a structured course development, in order to train you through the required levels to be fully ready and industry compliant within your chosen occupation.
This applies whether you commence at entry level or if you are in a mid career change ! You will still be able to train through to obtain the necessary qualifications, which can take you from‘domestic-through-to-commercial’ electrical, plumbing, gas installation, tiling or in any of the other associated building trades.
Not all of the changes have been finalised as yet, but rest assured, as AbleSkills is both an approved City & Guilds and APHC Training Centre, we will regularly post the proposed changes on our website, as soon as they are released.
You will be the first to know the latest updates, which will help keep you fully informed of current developments ... so please keep checking back on our site regularly!
The new City & Guilds Plumbing qualification, entitled the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) is to be launched in September 2010.
The Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF 2357) is being developed to replace the current NVQ for:
- Technical Certificate in Plumbing Studies Level 2 (6129).
Current NVQ Plumbing Training and Qualifications at AbleSkills ...
Until the changeover, commencing September 2010, the established City & Guilds entry qualification for Plumbing training is:
The Technical Certificate in Plumbing Studies (6129) - Level 2. The required first step plumbing qualification which provides the foundation knowledge and practical skills on the recognised industry standard route to entering the industry as a fully trained and qualified plumber.
Individual course units provide the necessary knowledge and core competencies including, Key and Common Plumbing Principles, Health & Safety, Hot and Cold Water Systems, Sanitation, Central Heating and other required learning modules.
All plumbing training facilites, workshops and classrooms are self contained in a dedicated new teaching block at the AbleSkills training centre, enabling each student to train in their own working unit with all the necessary tools and equipment required.
The Technical Certificate in Plumbing Studies (6129) - Level 2 : Weekend Training. Specifically designed to make plumbing qualifications accessible to everyone , especially those individuals who are unable to attend throughout the working week due to other commitments.
The Technical Certificate in Plumbing Studies (6129) - Level 2 : Home Study Plumbing Theory. A personalised method to learn at your ‘own pace’ as well as in your ‘own time’. Working from a carefully compiled and integrated work manual that gives you all the required knowledge units you will need to pass the 6129 Level 2 Theory in one folder. Each completed unit comes with its own Self-Assessment section to ensure you have fully learnt and understood each learning set as you progress and are ready to be verified for practical training at the AbleSkills centre.
City & Guilds Plumbing Course (6129) - Level 3 : Gas, Unvented, Energy Efficiency and Water Regulations. The natural progression for those who have already achieved City & Guilds 6129 at level 2 and ideal for serious career progression in the plumbing industry on a self employed basis. Includes training in complex water and drainage systems and gas supply systems.
City & Guilds Plumbing Course (6129) Level 2 and Level 3 can also be undertaken consecutively in a complete 2 part course training schedule.
There are, in addition, a number of other course combinations, including:
Plumbing with Part P. A ten week Plumbing and Electrical package to obtain both Plumbing and Electrical Domestic Installer qualifications to enable a greatly extended ability to carry out plumbing work and register for Part P as a competent person for domestic installations.
Able Skills 5 Day Intensive. A first step introduction to basic plumbing and covering bathroom and kitchen features, and home emergency tasks. Useful and straightforward approach which maximises potential when considering taking the 6129 course itself.
AbleSkills 5 day Advanced. A further and secondary introduction to more complex plumbing tasks including a detailed understanding of domestic plumbing and central heating systems. Also a considerable support if preparing to undertake the 6129 course.
Complete Bathroom Installation. A three week course that brings together the necessary skills training in Plumbing, Tiling and Plastering in order that course students may be able to provide a more comprehensive service.
Green Energy :
Skills training for the installation of energy efficient forms of heating water is going to be a very necessary and vital part of a trainee student course.
Able Skills - in conjunction with NICEIC, CITB and City & Guilds – are helping to lead the way and have opened an Energy Saving Training Centre to provide the necessary approved training.
Key courses are available, including important plumbing installation skills for the newer efficient ‘green energy’ domestic heating technologies such as Ground Source and Heat Source Pumps.
QCF background ...
Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) is the new Government framework for recognising achievement, through the award of credit for units and qualifications.
The Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) will be implemented across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
It provides more flexible routes to full qualifications, achievable in smaller steps.
New standardised titles have been introduced which will make vocational qualifications easier to understand.
A new centralised database, due in late 2010, will help to track credit and provide learners with an online record of their achievements.
QCF basics ...
A QCF qualification will be made up of manageable ‘chunks’ of learning.
Credit is awarded on the completion of a unit.
The required qualification credits will have a credit ‘value’ which is a measure of the notional ‘learning
time’ and may be used in a set rule of ‘combination’.
Progression is assisted by the accumulation and transfer of ‘credit’.
This allows for more flexible career pathways, with reduced repetition, as learners can build on previously ‘banked’ credit as they move through sizes and levels.
How QCF will work ...
All units in the QCF use the same unit template, consisting of:
- Learning outcomes - what a learner needs to know, understand or do.
- Assessment criteria - which specify if the learner has met the outcomes to a defined level.
A ‘credit value’ and level are assigned to every unit.
The ‘credit value’ is a measure of average time, where one credit = 10 hours of notional learning.
Many units will still include guided learning hours too.
IMPORTANT : Some units will appear in more than one qualification and the credit can be transferred between qualifications, as long as it forms part of the ‘rules of combination’.
Rules of Combination ...
- Rules of combination set out the combination of credit - through units - that must be achieved
to complete a qualification.
- The rules list the mandatory and/or optional units to be accumulated, including what can
be transferred from other QCF qualifications.
- Credit can come from more than one level, but more than 50% of the credit must be at the level
of the qualification. Some qualifications still require 100% at one level.
- Opportunities to count certificated achievements from outside the QCF can be identified
in the rules of a QCF qualification as ‘exemptions’, to avoid repetition of learning.
Equivalent QCF units can also be identified.
- Non certificated learning and achievement can be assessed and awarded under ‘recognition
of prior learning’, previously known as Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL).
