Centre News - February 2009

Correct qualification structures

Every unit making up an ILM qualification is placed on the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) and has a corresponding level. However the way units combine into a full qualification can vary so make sure you are following the correct qualification structure by following the qualification specifications.

There has been some confusion surrounding which units (and their corresponding levels) comprise a full qualification at Level 5 and Level 7. It is vital to follow the qualification structure detailed in the qualification specifications, for example in the ILM Level 5 Award in Management, all optional units must be at level 5.

Download the Level 5 Management Specifications
Download the Level 7 Management Specifications

Direct Claim Status (DCS)

When a centre has demonstrated best practice over a set period their ILM External Verifier (EV) can recommend them for Direct Claim Status – allowing the Schedule of Results (SoRs) for a particular qualification or suite of qualifications to be sent directly to ILM for certification. However DCS centres are still required to copy in their external verifier when sending SoRs. This is to ensure their EV can maintain an audit trail of candidates they may not have seen.

Please note, if the EV is not receiving copies of DCS centre’s SoR’s they may withdraw DCS.

SCQF success

ILM is one of a small number of organisations recently approved to become part of the Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework (SCQF). Until now the SCQF has only included the Scottish Universities, FE Colleges and the Scottish Qualification Agency (SQA). By extending the range of organisations operating within the SCQF, the opportunities for Scottish learners to earn credit has increased and therefore advanced their standing on other programmes.

There are differences between the SCQF in Scotland and the QCF in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the biggest being the number of levels. We are now busy reviewing all our units and qualifications to enable Scottish learners to receive SCQF credit at the appropriate level. The QCF does not extend to Scotland but the credit values of ILM’s qualifications will be the same in both frameworks.

£20 million facilities funding

The LSC Skills Capital Projects Fund is now accessible to non-FE college providers in England. The aim of the fund is to support training providers with the development of equipment and facilities for publicly funded training. For 2009-2010 financial year, £20million will be available on a matched-funding, pound for pound basis. Any provider that is considering applying for capital funding should in the first instance contact their LSC regional partnership team to discuss the proposal. The proposal should be educational based as this is the foundation by which every proposal will be assessed and funding will be allocated according to how well proposals address the LSC’s skills priorities.
Please note that expressions of interest need to be registered with the LSC by 28 February 2009.

Remember ILM Level 2, 3 and 4 VRQ Awards (shown below) are now eligible for Train to Gain's 'SME Flexibilities' funding in England along with a range of individual units. We are still awaiting the decision on the eligibility for funding for the Level 2 Certificate in Team Leading which meets the revised definition of a ‘Full Level 2’ qualification (minimum 13 QCF credits) and will update centres trough Centre news when this happens.

* The Learning Skills Councils terms Awards ‘thin qualifications’
**Standard Learner Number (SLN) is the guided learning hours (glh) per unit or qualification divided by 480 (which is the nominal time for a full-time student). The programme weighting reflects the extra costs of some types of programme, here Business Improvement is given an engineering weighting rather than management weighting as units come from engineering.

Email matters

With the introduction of Learner Records (LRs) and the benefits of free ILM studying membership it’s more important than ever before to include learner email addresses on our registration forms.

Learner records

A learner with no email address will still have a Unique Learner Number (ULN), a Learner Record (LR) and gain the benefits of credit accumulation and transfer (CAT). However, they will not have access to their LR as the system will not be able to their login details to them. As a consequence the learner will not be able to view their record or delegate access to others.

In addition learners without login details cannot approach QCA directly for LR access. Instead they must approach the centre where they completed their last QCF qualification. This centre will have to retrospectively send the candidate’s email address to QCA so that the learner can receive their password. So to avoid extra work and to give your learners access to their records please let us know their email address

(There are some very exceptional circumstance where an email proxy could be used eg with prisoners who are not allowed to access the internet. In this case the learner has an email address, therefore can get a password but the email account would be accessed on their behalf by a tutor or other administrative support. QCA are still working on these procedures.)

Studying membership

Every learner on an ILM programme gets free studying membership for one year – or the life of their course, whichever is longer. By providing us with learner email addresses on our candidate registration forms we can encourage learners to sign up for their membership and get these great benefits:

• Harvard's 'Stepping up to Management' online package
• Skills files and resource guides
• Edge online
• Jobs board
• Book loans, e-books and e-journals
• Leisure discounts

New qualifications

Facilities management, mentoring for young learners and managing equality are all new subjects covered in the latest release of ILM VRQ qualifications.

Download - Level 3 Qualifications in Facilities Management
Download - Level 4 Award in Managing Equality and Diversity in an Organisation
Download - Level 2 Award in Mentoring for Young Learners

Correction

In December's Centre news we provided a pdf of the mandatory assessments for qualifications in Team Leading, First Line Management and Management at Levels 2, 3 and 4 which had been laid out in a more useful format. There was a small error on the Level 4 management assessments so please download the corrected version

Sign up for Centre News

Make sure every tutor, manager and member of centre staff that works with ILM receives this monthly mailing. Contact us at customer@i-l-m.com with additional email addresses and spread the news. Please include your name, job title and centre number in your email.