New Social Care Wales Qualifications | QCS

New Social Care Wales Qualifications

September 25, 2017

It has been announced that there will be a radical shakeup for Health and Social Care and Childcare, resulting in new Social Care Wales Qualifications.

A sector review outlined a number of actions that they are committed to. One action was to develop a new suite of Health & Social Care and Childcare Qualifications for Wales. These will replace more than 200 qualifications currently eligible for funding on programmes of learning funded by Welsh Government or local authorities.

From September 2019, these will be the qualifications available to deliver in schools, further education and work-based learning. They will be the qualifications that feature in apprenticeship frameworks for learners of all ages undertaking related apprenticeships.

What Happens to Current Social Care Wales Qualifications?

Current qualifications will continue to be funded until this point. There will be a transition period to allow learners who are already undertaking qualifications to be funded to complete their qualifications. A consortium of City & Guilds London Institute and the WJEC (formerly the Welsh Joint Education Committee) are the awarding body partner chosen to deliver these contracts. This consortium brings together expertise in qualification development, assessment design and delivery from a general and vocational qualification perspective.

This partnership should ensure parity between qualification and assessment provision across the two official languages of Wales. This is along with providing a strong change management strategy to support the qualification system with effective training, support and resources.

Anyone with an existing qualification for their job will not have to change to the new system. Their existing qualification will remain valid.

What Are the New Qualifications?

What are the new 20 qualifications? It has caused me considerable difficulty in trying to find out from senior people within SCW. I now understand from colleagues who are involved in training that they have yet to be decided! Consultations are underway and committees are considering aspects of what will be needed. As far as I am able to ascertain, they should be decided within the next few weeks at the earliest.

The intention is there to simplify and make more relevant qualifications and presumably more easily transferred qualifications, time will tell.

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Mike Kemp

Welsh Regulation Specialist

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