Creative & Cultural Skills has a remit to ensure that all vocational qualifications, national occupational standards and apprenticeships on offer across the UK are:

• informed by current and future skills needs
• based on current working practice
• based on labour market intelligence
• informed by relevant UK public policy.

We play an important role in the development of a broad range of vocational qualifications for adults, and also more general qualifications for 14-19 year olds.

We work with a number of partners to ensure that qualifications meet our employers’ needs. These partners include:

• Awarding organizations (including AQA, City & Guilds, Edexcel, OCR, Plasa Awards and others)
• QCA (Qualifications & Curriculum Authority)
• Ofqual (Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator
• SQA (Scottish Qualifications Authority)
• DCELLS (Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills)
• CCEA (Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment).
   

Our National Awards and NVQs are changing!

As part of a UK-wide reform of vocational qualifications, Creative and Cultural Skills is currently working with employers and industry, Awarding Organisations and key stakeholders to develop new qualifications based on our National Awards and NVQs in the following occupational areas:

• Archaeology
• Community Arts
• Cultural Heritage
• Design
• Live Events and Promotion
• Music Business
• Technical Theatre (Rigging, Lighting and Sound and Costume and Wardrobe) .

These new qualifications are being developed for the new Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) to ensure that they offer learners and employers greater flexibility and choice in developing skills for working in the sector. For more information on the QCF, please see http://www.qcda.gov.uk/8150.aspx

Development of the new qualifications is well underway, and we’re working with Awarding Organisations to ensure that the new qualifications will be available to replace the existing qualifications as they near the end of their accreditation period (31/12/10). We’ll be launching a consultation on draft units at the end of February, so if you’d like to get involved and have your say in the development of these qualifications, keep on eye on our website, or contact us on dearbhaile.church@ccskills.org.uk for more details.