As a provider of adult education, we at the College of Central London set out to do the right job by keeping up to date with the national picture and the needs of learners and employers.

The government asked the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and Ofqual to implement the QCF in England in 2008 following two years of tests and trials.  The purpose of this is to ensure that education becomes more responsive to the demands of employers and learners. They'll be more relevant to employers’ needs and more accessible to a wider range of learners.

An essential tool in this reform of vocational qualifications is the QCF.

What is the QCF?

It is the Qualifications Credit Framework, it's the new framework for creating and accrediting qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.  It will give a wider range of learners the opportunity to get the qualifications they need, in a way that suits them.  QCF qualifications are designed with the help of employers so learners can be assured that they're gaining skills that employers are looking for. 

The QCF:

• recognises smaller steps of learning and enables learners to build up qualifications bit by bit
• helps learners achieve skills and qualifications that meet industry needs
• enables work-based training to be nationally recognised.

It means that qualifications can be more easily recognised, as they are classified both within a nationally agreed set of levels, and credit rated in a standard way to express scale.  The QCF is also devised to link clearly with European countries’ qualifications systems to make it easier to cross-reference qualifications between countries

The College of Central London’s role

We are responding to these changes by adopting the new courses developed by accrediting bodies as they become available.  Here we work in partnership with the various organisations to ensure that the new QCF courses are used.  Our graduates may begin to use the credits from these studies put them together in new flexible ways.  This will enhance awareness by employers and is intended to improve individuals’ employability.  Many of our courses are already operating in their new QCF version.  However as this is an ongoing process, not all accrediting bodies have yet completed the change.  However you can rest assured that we will move to the QCF compliant structure at the optimum time.