Regulated Qualifications UK

[sarahmac]

I know these qualifications have popped up here before or perhaps on the sister board, but I'd never done much of a deep dive into the various companies and quality control companies that 'accredit' the various programs.

Last night, I browsed through a number of the sites and then continued on to look at other centers and providers as well. For example, in addition to Qualifi and some of the others above, I ran into organizations like LRN (approved by Ofqual) and EduQual (approved by SQA, in Scotland), which accredit/approve programs at numerous centers. It's been quite interesting to see how many different providers offer these certificates and diplomas parallel to the university system.

As the OP pointed out, progression charts show that some awards can progress up to a top-up Bachelor's or Master's degree. Yet, for most of the providers, it appeared as though only a fraction of the awards did so. Does that mean that, in the UK, many people stop after receiving these Ofqual/SQA-approved certificates and diplomas? Or is it simply that there are not as many articulated agreements for these progression pathways and that it's up to the individual students to negotiate admissions and advanced standing with universities when they want to top-up their degrees?

Thanks in advance for any clarification you can shed on these issues!

"Does that mean that, in the UK, many people stop after receiving these Ofqual/SQA-approved certificates and diplomas?"

Yes. Something to understand is that the goal of these qualifications is not to provide progression pathways. They are qualifications in their own right. The UK has a split system between academic theory-based courses, and more applied coursework-based ones that typically have a vocational component.

The CMI ones, for example, require you to be working as a manager with supervisory responsibilities. Your center has to sign off proof that you are as part of the course completion, and some of the coursework is based on things you do at work (my sister did the Level 5 Management and Leadership a couple years back).

Some universities offer a top-up as a bridge program to allow people to make the transition from the vocational system to the academic one. But the qualifications don't exist for that purpose.

In some sectors, formal academic theory is not even the usual way of becoming qualified for certain job roles. Think of the sort of jobs you get an Associates for at Community College in the US. You're less likely to come across them online or available at a distance, but the bulk of these vocational qualifications are for nursing assistants, care assistants, paramedics, plumbers, electricians, autoworkers etc. These are normally done at Level 3 to 5 via the vocational path. 

Of these, it's usually only the health and social care ones that are available online at higher levels, since they are aimed at people moving toward healthcare facility administration. Most of the distance ed ones are business oriented. I've only seen one engineering one.

"Is it simply that there are not as many articulated agreements for these"

Yes. I removed the progression pathways part of that statement because that is not what the majority of these qualifications are. They are qualifications in their own right. Some universities offer progression pathways, but the qualifications were not designed to facilitate it. It is the universities' response to the qualification's existence, not something the qualifications were intended to do. They are the ones offering the path, the qualification is not the path.

But it is true that there are few specific articulated agreements. Most are also not articulated as Americans would think of it in terms of community colleges and universities. They are simply the qualifications the university would like to see you have. It is far more common for universities to advertise their Top-Ups with entrance criteria of: "[insert specific named example here with level and credits], or equivalent". The "or equivalent" bit is the bit that matters here.

"It's up to the individual students to negotiate admissions and advanced standing with universities when they want to top-up their degrees?"

Sort of. See above. You cannot usually gain advanced standing outside of a dedicated top-up program though (exception for some programs: Open University).

Something else to understand is that even in cases where top-ups are not offered, the vocational qualification pathway allows you to qualify for certain levels of study. 

So while you may not be able to get advanced standing, you may be able to access a level of study you otherwise would not have been able to access. For example, completing a diploma program equivalent to the bachelor level and then applying for a regular master's degree. This is not something all universities allow, but it is more common at former polytechnics.