Objective of the qualifications

These qualifications replace the A1 and A2 qualifications. They are part of the new suite of qualifications for assessors, internal quality assurers (IQA) and external quality assurers (EQA).

This specification includes the qualifications for assessors. They were needed to meet the emerging needs of the developing qualification frameworks and to reflect changes in the practice of assessment.

These qualifications will be required for:

• Any assessors and verifiers involved in National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) for the next three years. Those who deliver these qualifications will need to be qualified to meet the requirements of the NVQ Code of Practice and Sector Skills Councils assessment strategies.
• Assessors and quality assurance staff who deliver QCF qualifications that use the term ‘NVQ’ in their title
• Depending on the assessment strategies set by individual Sector Skills Councils, some staff, who are assessing and quality assuring qualifications within the QCF that do not use the term ‘NVQ’ in their titles, but whose purpose is to confirm occupational competence, will need to hold IQA or EQA qualifications.

These qualifications would be helpful for teachers in schools who deliver vocational qualifications with applied learning, such as BTEC Firsts and Nationals.  Ofqual has confirmed that practitioners who hold the A, V or D units will not have to prequalify, but must be aware of and operate in accordance with the relevant new qualification.

The units in this specification can be approached as individual, stand-alone units but in different combinations they provide the appropriate qualification for:

• assessors of competence in the work environment
• assessors of vocationally related achievement
• those wishing to gain an understanding of the principles and practices of assessment.