Design Principles for National Certificates
National Certificates will have the following features:
SCQF level and SCQF credit points
- National Certificates can be set at SCQF levels 2-6
- National Certificates at levels 2 and 3 will be made up of Units to the value of 54 SCQF credit points
- National Certificates at levels 4, 5 and 6 will be made up of Units to the value of 72 SCQF credit points
All component Units in a National Certificate will be allocated to a level appropriate to their position in the SCQF. The majority of the credit points must be at the level of the Group Award.
Mandatory Section
- All National Certificates will have a mandatory section.
- National Certificates may contain alternative Units within the mandatory section but all alternatives must reflect the title of the National Certificate. If alternative Units are used, they should, in general, serve the same purpose within the National Certificate and should be at the same SCQF level of demand as the Units which they are substituting.
- For National Certificates at SCQF levels 2 and 3 this mandatory section will be a minimum of 27 SCQF credit points.
- For National Certificates at SCQF levels 4, 5 and 6 this mandatory section will be a minimum of 36 SCQF credit points.
Core Skills
- To meet employment and progression needs, all National Certificates will incorporate opportunities to develop Core Skills.
- National Certificates should clearly include opportunities for candidates to develop Core Skills to the levels required by the occupations or progression pathways they support. This would normally mean all five Core Skills should be developed in every National Certificate.
National Certificates should facilitate credited attainment of specific Core Skills if these are seen as critical to the aims of the Group Award. In this case they should appear within the mandatory section either as a discrete Unit or embedded within another Unit.
National Occupational Standards
- National Certificates must be aligned to National Occupational Standards or other professional or trade body standards, as appropriate to the Group Award.
National Courses
- Include a maximum of three graded Course assessments if this is appropriate to the Group Award area.