Consultation on the consolidation of qualifications

We asked, you said – SSSC consultation

In spring 2011, we launched a consultation on the qualifications we accept for registration. We had a tremendous response, with many of you involved in developing the final proposal that went to our Council for approval in October this year.  Frances Scott, SSSC Qualifications and Standards Manager led the consultation and takes you through what this means for you.

Why make changes?

Making sure that we have a skilled and trained workforce is vital and we have worked with the sector over the years to make sure that we accept the right qualifications for each group on our Register and develop relevant qualifications. This means workers will have the skills and knowledge to continue to meet the needs of their employers and people who use services and carers.

We asked you...

Earlier this year we consulted on a proposal to consolidate the lists of qualifications we accept for registration.  The proposal was to remove qualifications that are now not available for people to achieve and that this would be done once the date for compulsory registration is reached for each group of workers. Or if that date has passed as it has for some groups eg residential child care workers, practitioners in day care of children services, these now unavailable qualifications would be removed with a lead in time period.

We then proposed that remaining national qualifications including SVQs in Health and Social Care and Children's Care, Learning and Development and equivalent HNCs would become the standard qualifications for registration.

Why?

By making the lists of qualifications simpler it would help employers with workforce planning as they would know which qualifications would be needed for their workers now and in the future and workers would instantly know what qualifications would be acceptable for their particular role.

You make the difference

Thank you to everyone who responded to the consultation on the proposals and who came along to the events to find out more from me and the SSSC team, posted on our website and generally got involved in this development. Your involvement and participation in developing the proposals has been invaluable. Getting your views and ideas is really important and we had a terrific response to the consultation paper and the events with lots of comments and feedback.

You said...

People broadly agreed with the proposals with many recognising that this will make it simpler for people who need to apply to register.  Here are the key points that you highlighted:

You'd like some of the specialist awards to continue to be included. You asked us If people already registered with an older qualification would have to gain a new award on re registration. You'd like people who hold a predecessor award but hadn't been registered before required registration to be able to use this award when they then applied to register.   For example, someone who had gained a qualification but hadn't been employed in a relevant post and then moves into a role where registration is compulsory.

We did...

We looked at the specialist awards and we'll continue to accept the following:

BA Social Pedagogy (Aberdeen University) for all previously specified parts of the Register except Managers of Day Care of Children Services

Diploma and Certificate in Deafblind Studies for all previously specified parts of the Register

SVQ 2, 3 in Playwork for all previously specified parts of the Register except Managers of Day care of Children Services from December 2011

Previously specified Montessori awards for support worker and practitioner levels in Day Care of Children Services.

The proposals don't change the current arrangements so anyone already on the Register with a predecessor qualification will continue to have it accepted.We have amended the proposal to take account of this concern:

Workers, who hold a qualification that we previously accepted for the relevant part of the Register, can apply to register using that qualification.  This applies even if they haven't previously been on the register or are registering for the first time after the required registration date.

What happens next?

The qualification criteria on our website will be updated soon. 

SSSC consultation on proposed consolidation of qualifications

The SSSC is currently consulting on the proposed consolidation of qualifications for registration.

There are a number of criteria which applicants for registration must meet and one of these is that they hold (or gain) a relevant qualification from a list of acceptable qualifications. After consultation with the sector, the SSSC set these for each part of the Register. We took an inclusive approach to accepting qualifications for the registration of groups of workers allowing members of the existing workforce who held predecessor awards to apply for registration on the basis of those qualifications. This allowed employers to focus resources on supporting those staff who did not hold relevant awards.

Although this inclusive approach was welcomed it has resulted in long lists of acceptable qualifications, including predecessor qualifications which are no longer available. We have subsequently received feedback from applicants and employers that the extent of the lists can cause confusion.

The phased introduction of required registration means that members of the existing work force will either hold or be in the process of gaining a qualification from the current qualification lists for the part of the register that is appropriate to them. 

The proposal to streamline and consolidate the qualifications would mean that once a required registration date had been reached for a part of the Register, the list of acceptable qualifications for new entrants to that workforce would be limited to a smaller number of national qualifications. These qualifications would need to be current and map directly to the National Occupational Standards for the sector.

Your views on our proposed changes to the qualification criteria for registration are important to us and will inform Council’s final decision.

The SSSC apologises that the SVQs in Playwork have been omitted from the consolidated qualifications lists for consultation.  This is an oversight.  Please be assured the Playwork SVQs will be included in the final day care of children qualification criteria.

The consultation closed on 5 August 2011.

Consultation on proposed consolidation of qualifications