About Qualifications

OFQUAL Wheel (3.09Mb)

A qualification is intended to show employers, teachers and learners what someone has learnt and can do as a result of that achievement. There are a large number of qualifications and the way they are described and marketed can be confusing. Here we explain the key characteristics of recognised qualifications and how these can best be understood.

The National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) set out the levels against which a qualification can be recognised in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. These frameworks help learners to make informed decisions about the qualifications they need, and help employers and providers assess what qualifications a candidate has. The NQF and QCF are comprised of nine levels, and set out the basis on which qualifications are approved, so that everyone can have confidence in the standards of qualifications and the consistency between these qualifications in terms of levels, size, content, use of titles, etc.

Qualifications are best understood by their level of difficulty, size and, of course, their content. Each accredited qualification has a level according to the qualifications framework it is on. Levels are a standard way of comparing how challenging a qualification is and what learners should be able to do once they have successfully completed it. Qualifications which are not accredited are not nationally recognised. Defining the size of a qualification is dependent, in part, by the framework to which it is accredited. All accredited qualifications can be found on the National Database of Accredited Qualifications, where you can also view the level and a basic outline of the content of a qualification and the units it contains.

The Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF)
Working closely with employers and learners, the QCF has been developed to make it easier to understand qualifications, to make qualifications more flexible and accessible to learners, and to allow more work-based training to be included and recognised. Initially vocational qualifications will be accredited onto the QCF.

All qualifications on the QCF have titles which consistently describe what is in the qualification (its content), how challenging it is (its level) and how much work it involves (its size). On the QCF the size of the qualification is indicated by its title and credit value. QCF qualifications have three sizes: award, certificate, and diploma. Awards consist of 1-12 credits; certificates 13-36 credits; and diplomas 37 credits and above. A credit represents ten notional learning hours, and credits therefore describe how long a qualification takes to complete.

Please note that where on the QCF the terms award, certificate and diploma refer to the credit value of the qualification, on the NQF these terms do not represent a standard qualification size, and are more descriptive. The new Diploma, for 14-19 learners, refers to a different structure of qualification: please see the Diploma's webpage.

To download the full Ofqual guide to Explaining Qualifications, click here