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Coady, Sally; Tait, Tony; Bennett, JimGive Us the Credit: Achieving a Comprehensive FE Framework.FE Matters. FEDA Paper.Further Education Development Agency, London (England).ISSN-1361-99771997-00-0038p.Further Education Development Agency, Publications Dept.,Mendip Centre, Blagdon, Bristol BS18 6RG, England, UnitedKingdom (6.50 British pounds).Collected Works Serials (022)FE Matters; vl n20 1997MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.Access to Education; Case Studies; Change Strategies;*Credits; Curriculum Development; Education WorkRelationship; Educational Benefits; *Educational Change;Educational Policy; Educational Practices; EducationalQuality; *Employment Qualifications; Flexible Progression;Foreign Countries; Instructional Materials; MaterialDevelopment; Postsecondary Education; School BusinessRelationship; *Student Certification; *Systems Approach;Technical Institutes; *Vocational EducationGeneral National Vocational Qualif (England); NationalVocational Qualifications (England); *United Kingdom

It is widely agreed that the United Kingdom's post-16qualification system must be made coherent and intelligible to users.Developing a credit-based certification system is the key to increasingparticipation in further education (FE) and achieving a broader, moreflexible curriculum. The benefits of a credit-based certification frameworkfor learners, providers, and employers are evident in case studies of eightFE colleges in Wales that participated in a 3-year pilot project to embedcredit-based certification systems in FE. The case studies provide importantlessons on the following aspects of development and implementation ofcredit-based certification: designing programs, assessing on a continuousbasis; planning across colleges; offering sampler courses; reaching thedisaffected; unitizing access programs; mapping common elements; andimproving life chances. The benefits of credit-based certification in FE arealso evident in six case studies that were conducted in England to examinethe application of a credit-based certification framework to accomplish thefollowing: develop learning materials and improve quality; use a discretegeneric model to unitize the curriculum; facilitate progression from schoolto work; facilitate progression from FE to higher education; base resourcingon credit; and promote institutional change. (Contains 20 references) (MN)

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Further EducationDevelopment Agency

Give us the credit: achievinga comprehensive FE frameworkSally Coady, Tony Tait and Jim Bennett

FE MATTERSFEDA paper

About the authors

Sally Coady has worked in FE for 14 years.Since 1993 she has contributed to creditdevelopments in England and Wales. This hasincluded a secondment to FEDA where shesupported colleges in Wales implementingcredit-based curriculum projects and workedas part of the FEDA credit team. She has alsobeen involved in establishing credit equival-ences for a range of NVQs in Wales. She is nowback at Gwent Tertiary College where she ismanaging several credit development projects.

Tony Tait co-ordinates FEDA's work on creditframeworks. He also works on FEDA'sparticipation and achievement programme,focusing particularly on progression issues.

Jim Bennett is assistant principal at LlandrilloCollege. From 1990-96 he worked as FEDAOfficer for Wales and led FEDA's credit workin the principality.

Caroline Mager, head of Curriculum andQualifications at FEDA, also contributed to andco-ordinated the development of this report.

Published by the Further EducationDevelopment AgencyCoombe Lodge, Blagdon, Bristol BS18 6RGTelephone 01761 462503Fax 01761 463140 (Publications Department)

Registered charity no: 1044145

Editor: Angela DewsburyDesigner: Mike PopePrinted by Blackmore Limited,Shaftesbury, DorsetCover illustration: John Richardson,Photomedia section, Gwent Tertiary College,Crosskeys Centre

ISSN: 1361-9977

© 1997 FEDA

All rights reserved. No part of this publicationmay be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted in any form or by anymeans, electronic, electrical, chemical, optical,photocopying, recording or otherwise, withoutprior permission of the copyright owner.

2 FE MATTERS FEDA paper

Acknowledgements

FEDA wishes to thank all the colleges whichsupplied information, and photographs, for thecase studies included in this paper:

Carmarthenshire College

Co leg Glan Hafren, Cardiff

Dearne Valley College, Rotherham

Deeside College

Gwent Tertiary College

Llandrillo College

Manchester College of Arts and Technology

Neath College

Pembrokeshire College

Solihull College

South Thames Unitisation Project, LewishamCollege and Woolwich College

Swansea College

Wirral Metropolitan College

The photograph on page 20 is reproduced withkind permission of Wirral Metropolitan College,taken by David Kelly.

4

ContentsForeword 4

1. Establishing a framework 5

Need for change

Why is a new framework necessary?

Moving towards a credit-based system

Designing the system

Benefits of a credit-based system

Next steps

Using the framework now

Wales pilot project

2. Applying the credit framework in Wales 12

Case study 1: programme design

Case study 2: continuous assessment

Case study 3: cross-college planning

Case study 4: taster courses

Case study 5: reaching the disaffected

Case study 6: unitisation of accessprogrammes

Case study 7: mapping common elements

Case study 8: improving life chances

Further achievements in Wales

3. Colleges and credits: applying thecredit framework 21

Applying the framework in England

Case study 9: developing learning materialsand improving quality

Case study 10: South Thames unitisationproject

Case study 11: progression through credit

Case study 12: facilitating progression

Case study 13: basing resourcingon credit

Case study 14: institutional change

Key applications of a credit-based system

Key terms 32

Acronyms 33

References and bibliography 34

FE MATTERS FEDA paper 3

ForewordThere is a widespread consensus that ourpost-16 qualification system needs to be madecoherent and intelligible to users. The DearingReview of Qualifications for 16-19 Year Olds hasgone some way to establishing a frameworkaccessible to more learners, with delineatedlevels of attainment and progression pathways.

However, to meet the needs of all learners andcreate a framework for lifelong learning furtherdevelopments are required.

FEDA believes that further progress shoulddraw on the work carried out in England andWales during the last four years to develop thecredit framework first proposed in 1992.Developing qualifications and funding systemsin this way would:

give individuals engaged in alllearning a more effective way tomeasure progress

provide the basis for an overarching16-19 certificate or qualification

offer a more accurate measure forachievement of national targets

provide a vehicle for more equitabledistribution of funding.

FEDA's work on credit is widely endorsed byFE colleges and other providers. The WelshOffice has funded credit developments in Walesfor the past three years and the FEFC Wales nowuses credit as a basis for funding.

The case studies in Section 2 of this paper illus-trate how learners in Wales are already bene-fiting from this credit system. Section 3 reportson the different ways colleges which havedeveloped credit-based systems have appliedFEDA's credit framework and the case studiesin this section spotlight examples of how col-leges in England have applied the framework.

The report on widening participation by HelenaKennedy, entitled Learning works (July 1997),recommends that a national credit frameworkbe established, a proposal which has beenbacked by the FEFC.


The benefits which have emerged underlinewhy FEDA is proposing that a national credit-based system be developed to meet the needs ofthe nation in the 21st century. Developments todate not only show that much is already pos-sible; they also reveal how much more could beachieved if the funding and qualifications envi-ronment was more conducive.

Tony TaitEducation Staff, FEDA

6

1. Establishing a framework

Need for change

Despite considerable improvement in furthereducation participation in recent years, no morethan 20% of adults take part in any form ofpublicly-funded education or training (Centrefor Economic Performance, 1996). This iscompounded by the low level at which peoplein the workforce are qualified. UK statisticsshow that the number of 16-18 year olds ineducation is low compared to other countriesinternationally and failure is high.

In 1995, the National Commission revealed inits report Learning to succeed: after 16 that 40% of17 year olds do not succeed in achieving theirintended qualification. In 1994-95, nearly 20% ofthose who took A-levels failed to reach theminimum pass grade (Education Statistics for theUK, 1996). The effects of this wastage ofpotential and resources are well documented(see, for example, Unfinished business, AuditCommission). The implications for the UKeconomy are serious. As more and more peopletake on the belief that large numbers of unqual-ified unemployed adults are victims of and con-tributors to our social problems, the pressuremounts on the FE sector to provide solutions.

Colleges are striving to widen participation andto offer a broader and more flexible curriculum.However, in 1996 the Further Education Fund-ing Council (FEFC) calculated that nearly 80%of students older than 19 were following pro-grammes which did not fall within Sir RonDearing's national qualification framework (fig-ure supplied by FEFC from its internal data-base). An absence of programmes which meetthe needs of adult learners is a problem, and thisis largely due to the learning required notfalling within the existing framework: either itis a small part of a larger qualification or theskills and knowledge required are new or dif-ferent and there is not yet a national award toaccredit them.

Learners in the UK still have the choice of morethan 14,000 qualifications overseen by morethan 100 awarding bodies. This covers full-time

and part-time learning opportunities whichmay involve qualifications, awards andcertificates and could have an academic,vocational or applied learning focus.

This picture reveals the urgent need for acomprehensive accreditation system which willensure that learners, tutors and employersknow where all qualifications and courses standin relation to one another, a system which willensure that all learning is recognised.

Why is a new framework necessary?

Education providers should be aiming to offerlearning opportunities which are:

accessible to as many people as possible

adaptable to changing requirements ofthe population and workplace

flexible so that more people can learnthe right skills at the right time

rigorous and relevant with appropriateforms of assessment

valued and understood so that learnersknow where they stand and employersknow what to look for.

An extensive range of provision is required tomeet all these needs. The vast suite of learningopportunities which will result will need to belinked in some readily understandable way viaa common language for describing achievementwhich is understood by all relevant parties.

The current framework for providing theselinks is not clear, flexible or responsive enoughto satisfy the requirements of large numbers oflearners for whom the following act as barriers:

lack of clarity of specifications to ensurethat learning can be matched toindividuals' starting points, academicability, learning aptitude, levels ofconfidence and personal resources

an absence of a mechanism for estab-lishing equivalences across learning path-ways and no facility to transfer credit

7


the difficulty within most qualificationsof gaining credit for the componentparts

the difficulty in transferring andaccumulating credit from differentsources into recognised awards, leadingto duplication of learning and effort,which both demoralises learners andwastes resources

the lack of a mechanism which ensuresthat all qualifications and awards arecustomised, relevant and up to date.

A basic framework was proposed by Dearing inhis Review of Qualifications for 16-19 Year Olds.While it will help by introducing clear levels, itdoes not provide a common means to specifyqualifications and then compare their size. Theextent or volume of achievement at a particularlevel is an important way to compare thevarious awards available.

Without a universal framework for measuringand describing achievement, learners cannot becertain of their current position on the edu-cation ladder. For example, what value does aGNVQ have compared to GCSEs, AS-/A-levels,NVQs and others outside the main familyof qualifications?

As a result it is difficult for learners to assessaccurately what new learning programmes areavailable to them, or what route they shouldtake to achieve a specific learning goal.

For example, a student wanting to go on aparticular course may be unsure of whether herexisting achievements will provide access on tothis course, or what learning attainment isnecessary to fulfil entry requirements.

Students faced with such a confused picture asto where their learning careers can take themnext may become demotivated and, as a result,not continue with learning.

The lack of a universally-recognised frameworkalso creates problems for admission tutors: theirtask of shortlisting candidates is made moredifficult because comparing achievement acrossqualifications is impossible.


Employers are affected too: they do not under-stand the content and relative value of qualifica-tions brought by candidates applying for jobs;they also find it difficult to identify the best qual-ifications and courses for existing employees.

Moving towards acredit-based system

The framework being developed in FE allowslearners to earn credit for their achievementsfrom all types of provision, and will establish acommon way to express the value of differenttypes of learning achievements. It will:

support achievement of national targetsby recognising part achievement ofqualifications

help to move the national qualificationsframework further forward

help to generate new qualificationssuch as an overarching qualificationand baccalaureate

make possible a system of creditaccumulation and transfer

allow learners, providers, planners andfunders to understand achievementmore effectively and make comparisonsbetween different attainments

increase students' motivation to learn

allow learners to place the value of theirachievements in context with the worldof learning and employment

equip learners to recognise what newlearning they require, what opportu-nities exist, and which route to take

enable students' performance to bemeasured and recognised in the courseof existing learning programmes.

The framework will be used to give a value toexisting qualifications and awards, without nec-essarily altering their characteristics. It pre-serves the diversity of existing provisionbecause it describes important differences

between qualifications rather than removingthem. For example, awards of different sizes canbe developed for specific purposes while mak-ing clear their size relative to other qualifications.

If adopted as a national system, it will allowlearners to plan efficient progression routes notjust within FE, but also from pre-16 to FE andfrom FE to higher education (HE).

To progress the development of credit-basedsystems within post-14 education FEDA aims to:

ensure that policymakers, planners,civil servants and politicians are awareof the benefits of the credit framework

ensure that the architecture andspecifications of the credit frameworkare robust and fully developed

identify any difficulties which wouldneed to be addressed to implementcredit-based qualifications

support regional and local develop-ments for implementing credit-basedsystems and providing information onkey issues and good practice

ensure that credit can be carried acrossthe FE-HE divide and across the UK,Europe and beyond.

Designing the system

FEDA believes that to provide a workablecredit-based system, achievement should bebroken down into units of assessment. The sizeof the units should be determined by decisionsabout sensible, coherent groupings of know-ledge, skills and understanding. Attentionshould be given to ensuring that coherence andthe integrity of subjects are preserved.

The system allows for units to be many differentsizes. The larger the unit, the greater the creditvalue and the more credits the learner can earn.The framework also involves specifying allachievement in terms of units of assessment,comprised of learning outcomes. Each unit willhave the following elements:

Title a well-defined and specific

(subject) name

Learning outcome what a learner is expected to

know, understand and do

Assessment

criteria

standards for achieving

outcomes

Level level of difficulty (eight would be

needed, covering from the

National Curriculum to

HE/professional qualifications)

Credit value a numerical value derived

from unit size

Learning outcomes are a key feature of the unitspecification. Together with assessment criteriathey make clear what a learner needs to achieve.They also allow common achievement to becompared and identified between differentawards. Such a system has the potential forgreater flexibility and choice for learnersbecause they can tailor their learning on a unitbasis, rather than a qualification basis. The unitsof learning are in more manageable amounts,and since students are awarded credit(s) forcompletion of a unit their motivation to learn isincreased and sustained. Also, because learningis broken up into a greater number of chunks,assessment can cover a greater part of what islearned within the programme.

Learning will be more adaptable becausechanges can be made more easily through units.The learning outcomes provide a universal lan-guage for describing all achievement. This isaccompanied by a numerical measure ofachievement: the credit values and levels.

A learner can achieve individual units and haveeach recorded in a standard way through creditsat various levels.

FEDA proposes eight levels, encompassingachievement from the National Curriculum topostgraduate and professional qualifications.Detailed level descriptors have been developedfor the first four levels, known as Entry andlevels 1, 2 and 3. FEDA wants to extend thedescriptors to encompass HE, postgraduate andprofessional levels and qualifications.

9


Because many qualifications for example,modular AS- and A-levels, GNVQs and NVQsare already expressed in units they can be quiteeasily incorporated into this framework.

The 'credit value' of a unit is formed byagreeing the notional learning time set for alearner to achieve each unit's learningoutcomes. This does not mean that learnershave to spend a particular amount of timebefore their achievement is recognised; it is justused as a means of comparison to determine thesize at which the unit should be set. Achievingthe learning outcomes is what counts, not howthe learner gets to that stage. So, for example, a30-hour unit at level 3 earns one credit, while a60-hour unit at the same level has a credit valueof two, and a 90-hour unit a credit value ofthree. Thirty hours is used as the base value forone credit since it is a small enough amount oftime to allow flexible use of units, and largeenough to be reliably assessed.

These units will form a database of nationalunits. Education providers will be able to chooseunits from this database to build a portfolio ofcourses to offer their students.

There also needs to be scopefor units to be devised by edu-cation and training providers,so that they can respond toinnovation, local need and anydemand for customisedawards. Specified combin-ations are required for achiev-ing specific qualifications.

Offering flexibility andinnovationEducation providers whodecide to design their ownunits, because existing ones donot cover the desired aspects,should ensure that:

learning outcomes areclear and coherent

the unit has been ascribeda level and a size

the area is not covered adequately byany other national qualification

unit certification is not available withinany national qualification.

FEDA believes that these criteria should becommon and should be used by awardingbodies to accredit units.

The use of units as the basis of this frameworkmeans that colleges are not confined to a singlemethod of delivery. The learning outcomes of aunit can be achieved via college-based pro-grammes, work-based learning, accreditation ofprevious experience, distance learning andother routes (see Figure 1). Those using amodule-based method of delivery will alsohave considerable freedom as to how to incor-porate these units. The relationship betweenunits and modules has been made deliberatelyflexible. For example, the outcomes of a singleunit could be achieved via one module, orthrough two or more modules. Alternatively, asingle module could deliver outcomes whichcontribute to a number of different units.

MODULE A _141IPOP.MIZEM

r MODULE B _14111)11iMI:1=111

MODULE C

MODULE D

UNIT X

MODULE E J1111001001

IMODULE F t MODULE H

MODULEIMODULE G

FIGURE 1: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN UNITS AND MODULES


I.©

Providing credit transcriptsThe value and level of units (and hence thequalifications and awards which are derivedfrom them) achieved by learners, could beindicated on a nationally-recognised andaccepted credit transcript. This could serve asthe front sheet of the National Record ofAchievement and be used by admissions tutorsand employers to select candidates. Studentscan stop and start their learning career as theyplease; any new credits achieved, at whateverstage in their learning, can be added to theirtranscript. This can be a portfolio of theirsuccess which they can carry with themthroughout their career and develop as they go.

An example of what a credit transcript mightlook like is given in Figure 2.

Applying credit-based systemsDeveloping a unit-based qualification system,where all qualifications and their unit compo-nents have been assigned a credit value, wouldhelp education providers to establish a range ofrelated credit-based systems. These couldinclude one for funding and resourcing, one forstaff appraisal and one for quality improve-ments. Developing credit-based systems inthese areas would be of use not only to thecollege institutionally; learners, funders, plan-ners, employers and the community as a wholewould also benefit because the whole operationbecomes more transparent.

A unit-based system also offers colleges advan-tages at a planning level. Units can be groupedin different ways, according to the nature of thelearning outcomes that they represent, to assistwith different aspects of planning. For example,this can:

e help you to map the curriculum andidentify areas where there are gaps,duplication and overlap

* clarify progression issues and showwhich units are prerequisites for others

O clarify the relative costs of providingparticular units.

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

Record of Achievement Credit TranscriptCredit Total:

Student Name Jo Smith ENTRY LEVEL = LEvEL 1 0Student Reg. No. 96202020 LEVEL 2 26 LEVEL 3 1101

Date of Birth 198o LEVEL 4 4 LEVELS

Date of Transcript 2001 LEVEL 6 LEVEL 7

DATE PROVIDER QUALIFICATION /UNITS ACHIEVED CREDIT VALUE LEVEL

1987 Old School 4 GCSEs 20 2

GNVQ Unit Leisure & Tourism 3 2

1988 First Bank Ltd NVQ Unit Banking 4 1

First Aid Cert 3 2

2001 New College GNVQ Business 36 3

AS French 9 3

NVQ Unit Accountancy 4 4

FIGURE 2: EXAMPLE OF A CREDIT TRANSCRIPT

Indicating which units are common to differentqualifications will show which transfer routesare possible and reveal how aspects of the samelearning can be used by learners to achieveadditional awards.

Benefits of a credit-based system

For learners

A credit-based framework offers the means to:

explain to others the relative valueof the qualification or award theyhave attained

O provide an employer with a clearerpicture of what they know

e identify more easily new learningchoices from a universal andcontinually updated national databaseof units

O transfer what they learn between careerpaths, colleges and even countries

e develop a portfolio of achievementsvia the credit transcript in theknowledge that all units count asrecognised achievement

O place their achievement in context withtheir (and others') learning experience

O build a unique, lifelong learning plan.

11FE MATTERS ffg Oh 9

For providers

The framework offers:

a flexible architecture which allowseducation providers to respond tochange, to strengthen their existingprovision and to create new andvaluable learning opportunitieswhich are tailor-made to the needs oftheir students

the means to identify areas of overlapor duplication in their curriculum offer,which they can address

the ability to compare existing qualifi-cations without necessarily having toredefine their inherent characteristics

a national database of units from whichnew components can be added toexisting programmes and qualificationsin a measurable way

the potential for closer collaborationbetween industry and educationthrough a universally recognised andunderstood framework of learningachievement and values

the ability to identify and communicatemore effectively the resourcing andfunding of education and training

a way to assess their learning provisionand plan for the future from a market-led perspective

a rational basis for comparing studentsover time.

For the employer

Such a framework provides the employer with:

a means to understand better and tocompare the value of achievements offuture applicants and current employees

the chance to use credits as a means tospecify minimum job requirements andto express the qualifications and skillsthey need from job candidates

10 F E MATTERS FEDA paper

a clearer way of identifying andassessing on-the-job training andadditional opportunities

a more skilled and flexible workforce

an easy way to reward training.

Next steps

The framework, in its current state of devel-opment, has been successfully applied in manyfurther education colleges nationwide andFEDA's work on credit is now widely endorsedby many education providers. The frameworkhas been piloted specifically by all FE colleges inWales. Open College Networks (OCNs) applythe credit framework specifications and accreditan increasing volume of achievement, so there iswidespread experience within FE colleges ofapplying such a framework.

The framework is also supported by bodiessuch as the Association of Colleges, Edexcel(formed from the merger of Business andTechnology Education Council (BTEC) andUniversity of London Examinations andAssessment Council in September 1996),Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals(CVCP), the London Training and EnterpriseCouncils (TECs), the Labour Party and theLiberal Democrats.

The FEFC has recently commissioned FEDA todevelop a strategy for implementing credit-based systems in further education as part ofthe Kennedy Committee work on widening par-ticipation. This committee, chaired by HelenaKennedy QC, reported in July 1997 and recom-mended that a national credit framework be setup within five years.

The benefits the framework offers have quicklybecome apparent. The next step is to achievenational agreement on a system so that all qual-ifications and their unit components carry acredit value and level. It will take time for creditto become a universal currency. The more insti-tutions that recognise it, the greater the benefitsto the learner, employer and provider.

12

Using the framework now

Colleges can use the framework now foraccreditation of learning through OCNs, theEdexcel/BTEC award framework, AwardScheme Development and Accreditation Net-work (ASDAN) and other credit-based qualifi-cations and awards. They can also use it for:

developing progression routes:

-- internally

with other providers such asschools, community education andadult education establishments

into higher education

formalising records and transcripts oflearner achievement

creating opportunities for partial andinterim accreditation

achieving curriculum mapping,analysis, design and development

developing a framework for designingresource-based learning materials

improving teaching, and studentinvolvement

improving assessment and studentfeedback

designing the internal resourcingmechanism

increasing flexibility and encouragingmodularisation and resource-basedlearning

improving quality and quantifyingimprovement across institutions

developing a guidance framework

contributing to effective marketing andpresentation of college provision.

Ways to achieve some of these objectives areoutlined in Section 3. Colleges can also makeuse of FEDA's national credit network. Thisincludes more than 400 organisations corn-

mitted to credit-based developments. As well asholding regular meetings, it offers a devel-opment database, a newsletter updatingmembers and a World-Wide-Web site includingforums for making contacts, sharing goodpractice and discussing issues. FEDA canarrange training and consultancy for colleges.

Wales pilot project

All colleges in Wales were involved in pilotingthe framework, a three-year programme fundedby the Welsh Office to embed credit-basedsystems within further education. Its aim was todevelop a credit framework, based on the criteriaoutlined by FEDA's predecessor body, theFurther Education Unit, in A Basis for Credit?(FEU, 1992). In so doing it would seek to:

address problems in the qualifications'structure, with which the FE sector hadlong been grappling

contribute to the philosophy offlexibility which colleges wereembracing as a means to become morecost-effective and better equipped tomeet growth targets set by the FEFC.

Achieving such flexibility would result in asector offering provision more suited to theadult learners which it would need to attract toeffect that growth. As a result of this project, theFEFC (Wales) now uses credit as the basis forfunding, as from 1997, and there is a nationalcredit scheme in place for Wales. The followingsection looks at the experiences of eight collegesin the year 1995-96 as they put the credit-basedsystem into use. Their practical experiencesoffer key messages to the Department forEducation and Employment (DfEE), to theFEFC and to the sector as a whole as to thebenefits of this framework. The case studies alsoprovide invaluable feedback on different waysto apply this system, which can inform the nextstages of development.

13FE MATTERS FEDA paper 11

2. Applying the creditframework in WalesThe Wales FE credit framework and system,known as CREDIS, has been developed throughthe Welsh Office-funded Modularisation andCredit-Based Development Project 1993-97.Managed by Fforwm (the independent organi-sation of FE colleges in Wales), this project hasallowed FE staff in Wales to develop togetherthe FEDA specifications for an FE creditframework which can articulate with HE.

So far, 7,000 units of assessment have beenapproved, mapping the bulk of the FE cur-riculum. These units are stored on the CREDISdatabase which has been produced as a CD-ROM, allowing any unit to be located easily viaclick-and-point search facilities. The CD alsocontains information on guidance, tracking,funding, programme design and qualityassurance. A CREDIS transcript has beendeveloped to reflect all lifelong achievement.

The case studies that follow illustrate how thiscredit-based framework can help with:

accreditation, by breaking downlearning into smaller parts

mapping provision and existingqualifications to identify overlap andcommon elements between what wasbeing offered and what needed to beoffered. This has led to:

--+ better student progressionarrangements

, clearer information producingbetter guidance, feedback andmotivation

) learning programmes which allowstudents to chart theirown progress

+ the potential for widening choicethrough new provision andthrough common teaching ofexisting provision.


Case study 1: programme design

At Deeside College, the demand for pro-grammes in information technology (IT) is sohigh that the college was able to recruit 150students without any external advertising.

However, it became clear that existing forms ofaccreditation did not suit this group of newrecruits, of whom 90% are employed in localindustry. Staff in the computing section of theDepartment of Business Applications took thisas an opportunity to design their own awardtailored to suit their learners.

The units they devised encompassed thelearning outcomes students would need toperform IT tasks in a work environment. Theselearning outcomes include ones often omitted inother awards, such as achieving a basic under-standing of computer hardware, the jargon, thehistory, and the uses of IT in industry.

Learners can choose to receive a new Businessand Technology Education Council (BTEC)award on completion of these units, whichprovides progression for those who alreadyhold a Royal Society of Arts (RSA) certificate.

Previously, the college offered ComputerLiteracy and Information Technology (CLAIT)and Integrated Business Systems certificates,both awarded by RSA. These lacked theflexibility required by part-time employedstudents who want recognition for learningwhich enhances their performance in work.They also did not allow learners to specialise ina particular IT application or to combinelearning in different applications at more thanone level.

All of the IT classes originally offered learningin all applications. They now specialise in eitherword-processing, database design andmanagement, or spreadsheets. Students havemoved groups according to their preferredoption and needs. The approach is essentiallystudent-centred. One learner commented:

I haven't attempted level 3 yet because I knowfrom looking at the unit that I'm not ready.

14

A STUDENT AT DEESIDE COLLEGE REAPS THE BENEFITS OF A SPECIALLY

DESIGNED WORK-BASED IT AWARD

Lecturers are fully committed to this newapproach. Her Majesty's Inspectorate (HMI)Wales recently awarded the department agrade 1 in Teaching and Curriculum Design.

Curriculum map as a focus

The units designed by the computing staff havebeen used to map the provision on other ITprogrammes. The GNVQ advanced award in ITcovers the same learning outcomes, so staff usethe units to plan their delivery of this course.

This mapping has allowed the college toprovide a weekly course to employees fromBritish Aerospace, who study units from aGNVQ course and others from part-time ITprovision. The learning they required wasmapped against available units. In this way thecollege has provided cost-effective provisiontailored to local industry. The staff are talking toa local employer about providing similartailored provision to learners on shifts whocannot attend classes regularly.

A common timetable for lead seminars whichintroduce key skills will be made available to allgroups across the college. Learners can thenselect the topics and times most suited to them.

All core IT programmes andGNVQ core skills in IT are nowdesigned around the units. Inthis way the unit is also themodule of delivery. Some arebacked up by self-study pack-ages and tutorials.

All staff, especially non-specialists, have been in-formed of what the studentsshould be able to do on com-pletion of each unit, not just onwhat they will be assessed.Assignments are shared acrossall IT programmes and stan-dard tests have been designed.Learners not achieving the fullGNVQ units can seek accredi-tation from the local OCN fortheir achievements.

Case study 2: continuous assessment

The site principal at Newport campus of GwentTertiary College considers combined teaching akey area of development. Staff have unitisedlarge parts of the curriculum and are mappingoverlap in different learning pathways. So farthe following changes to the curriculum havebeen achieved:

A-levels in computing, mathematics,biology, sociology, law and businessstudies have been unitised; the unitsfrom the computing A-level weremapped against GNVQ advanceddiploma in IT and these twoqualifications are delivered together

GCSEs in English and mathematics arebeing offered on a unitised basis to 100students on GCSE programmes

an RSA certificate in computerapplications is being piloted; the localOCN awards the credit for this

the college has received approval to runa BTEC pilot award in key skills forlifelong learners for A-level students


a technology in business course is upand running; this is based on Pitman'scomputerised accounts and book-keeping syllabus which the collegerestructured into a unitised format

IT skills on three ten-week computercourses are accredited via unitisedprogrammes; at the first level,'Awareness', students receive creditsfrom the local OCN, and at levels 2 and 3the City and Guilds certificate anddiploma, which have also been unitised

credit-bearing short courses are nowplanned to update skilled hairdressersin cutting and blow-drying skillssome of these students already holdqualifications and are returning to learnnew techniques; whole qualificationsare inappropriate yet credits are flexibleenough to be awarded for theadditional learning achieved

a short course in programme logiccontrol has been set up for a localemployer, accredited by the local OCN.

Interim awards increase motivationMost of the learners on the one-year technologyin business course are women returners. The uni-tised course allows learners to earn credits forsuccessful completion of skills via continuousassessment. The lecturer believes that:

the assessment methodology is moreappropriate to students who need agentle introduction to assessment, tobuild up their confidence

the students benefit from their progressbeing recognised early on in the course

the students are more motivated as aresult of achieving the credits

the portfolio-building skills involvedare of additional value to the students.

The lecturer found that devising such a pro-gramme highlighted the need for learners totake responsibility for monitoring their own

F E MATTERS FEDA paper

progress. When delivering the programmes, herfocus has had to become more student-centred.

Learners are enthusiastic about the targetedfeedback provided by the award of credits:

I didn't think I could do accounts. I've been ahairdresser but now that I've got credits Iwant to go on to develop my new skills andknowledge as far as possible.

The interim award of credit has made thelearning seem more important.

I can see the point to each exercise becauseI've got the outcomes which I'm beingassessed against.

Quality of curriculum designimproves

A lecturer on the computer awareness coursecommented that:

The internal verification for the OCNprogramme has provided a quality frameworkwhich has improved documentation for record-keeping and monitoring of progress, thetiming of assessments, and identification ofweaknesses in the course.

The students have been encouraged to takeownership of their learning:

Students have identified outcomes achievedwhich have not been recognised and this hasbeen fed back to the course team.

The A-level biology programme was redesignedusing units from the CREDIS database and thendesigning modules around them. It is now moreflexible and is offered on a one- or two-yearbasis. Students on the one-year programmeattend modules delivered to years 1 and 2 of thetwo-year programme. Students keep their ownrecord of assessment and all sit the A-level aswell as modular tests in practical, essay writingand structured questions.

The lecturer is confident that unitisation has ledto improvements in the programme:

16

The modules have been designed to developunderstanding progressively. This buildslearners' confidence and ensures a firmfoundation for the more difficult modules.Students are working consistently andalthough first-year students complained oftoo much assessment, the second-years hadlost all fear of tests when it came to thefinal exams.

The results are encouraging. All but one of thenine students achieved A-level the studentwho failed didn't turn up for two examinations.Of these nine, those achieving A /B grades hadearned, on average, 22 credits for the accreditedpart of their programme; those achieving D/Egrades, 14/16 credits. The pass rate was higherthan usual and there was zero drop out. Thelecturer pointed to two issues which may not beeasily solved, but of which colleges planningmodular provision need to be aware:

for tutors there is a lot of marking andpaper work; modularisation is complex!

units studied in previous modules areoften referred to in delivery to avoidfragmentation; this will need to beaddressed once provision has beenredesigned to allow students to pick upindividual modules.

However, students are enthusiastic:

It made the course well organised and I likedhaving to learn the work as we went along. Itmade it seem much easier.

The campus principal commented:

Unitisation gives better opportunities forprogression between qualifications, work andtraining and education. We would like to seeall examining bodies adopting thespecifications as a basis for their awards.Unitisation is essential to enable portability ofachievement. Currently, we are resourcingnational and local certification of somelearning programmes. It might be costly butthe benefits are enough to justify it.

BEST s,4

Case study 3: cross-college planning

Llandrillo College has achieved maximumchoice for learners through modularisation andthe implementation of a college-wide timetable.Management staff at the college realised thatflexible accreditation is required to providerecognition for learning and regular feedback.All accreditation schemes are now unitised or,in the case of A-levels, modular.

From April 1996, the college began a pilot of alearner transcript for a sample of students. Thisdescribes all learning in terms of credits at alevel as defined by FEDA's framework. Ithas been pivotal in designing curricula andsystems to improve recruitment, retention andachievement. The learner transcript and thesystems to produce it are vital for trackingstudents and offering guidance on appropriatemodular programmes.

All learners go on an induction programme,accredited by the local OCN, to help them tochoose appropriate courses. Since this wasintroduced there has been a 20% increase incourse take-up.

All access programmes at the college are part ofa matrix of access modules which can becombined, subject to rules of combination, intoindividualised programmes. Universities havecommented on how well-prepared Llandrillostudents from this course are for this next stepin their learning careers.

Examples of breadth in the programmes includethe availability of a European Law module onhumanities, social science and enterprise routes.Learners studying this were enthusiastic aboutthe choice on offer. Students on the accessprogrammes also talked of the benefits. One,who had switched from an access course in thecommunity to access to enterprise on the mainsite, commented:

The cross-referencing of assessment criteria onpieces of assessed work has enabled me to chartmy own progress. Being on a course in thecommunity, the induction programmeprovided me with invaluable informationabout the college.

17

FE MATTERS FEDA paper

STUDENTS FROM LLANDRILLO COLLEGE TAKE THE ACCESS TO SCIENCE COURSE AS A ROUTE TO UNIVERSITY -

THE STUDENTS PICTURED HERE ARE NOW STUDYING SCIENCE AT BANGOR UNIVERSITY

Learners on the access to science route and theaccess to health science route are taughttogether for the bio-chemistry module. Thesestudents valued the flexibility that theprogramme offered. Two students on the accessto health science programme intend to studyphysiotherapy at university. One said:

The modular structure means I can take anoption in science instead of 'Sociology of Health'which most students on this route opt for.

The other added:

Without the science option we would not havebeen able to consider doing physiotherapy atuniversity. This has made it possible for us toapply to the HE course of our choice.

Open learning opportunitiesThe college has been working on softwaredevelopments which will give learners from thecommunity, in small- to medium-sized enter-prises (SMEs), and users at two libraries imme-diate access to databases in North Wales con-taining information about learning opportuni-ties. The CREDIS database of units, establishedby the Wales Fforwm Project, is being linked todatabases containing details of relevant openlearning materials on loan in libraries and in thecollege, and on the tutorial support and associ-ated qualifications available.

i6 FE MATTERS FEDA

Case study 4: taster courses

There are approximately 80 students on GNVQart and design courses at CarmarthenshireCollege's Alban Road site in Llanelli. In 1994,the college ran a part-time taster course in thecommunity, alongside the full-time pro-grammes. This was to test the market's interestin such a course, which offered an introductionto graphic arts.

A unit in life drawing was one of six selected asbeing most relevant to the largest number ofstudents. Completion earns one credit, awardedby the local OCN. Out of the 19 students whotook the taster course, three progressed to year 1of the advanced GNVQ in art and design, oneprogressed to year 2 and two progressed to theintermediate award.

Because of the success of this course, the collegedecided to offer part-time access provision atthe town centre site in Llanelli. Full-time accesscourses are available at the Carmarthen campussome 20 miles away, but there was clearly aneed to provide similar opportunities locally ona part-time basis. Nine students progressedfrom last year's taster module and there arenow 16 students on the part-time access to artand design course. The drop-out rate on theprogramme has been zero compared to between3% and 7% on other programmes.

The access programmes are open to everyoneand all applicants are interviewed. The modularstructure means students can decide whetherthe subject suits them and they can be assessedto identify the level of progression appropriate.

The programme tutor said:

The ethos of the taster course was to giveeverybody a chance. Those who progressed toGNVQ are getting on with it and enjoying it.Since the taster course was so successful weare offering elements of the full-time provisionat the Llanelli site, enabling the widercommunity to benefit from this route tohigher education.

One student in his second year of the advancedGNVQ in art and design left school at 16 withGCSEs in art and Welsh. He had tried since thento achieve qualifications which would lead himinto a career. He left several courses beforecompletion, with little to show for his efforts.He then took the taster units in graphic arts.This short course was enough to show him thathe was good enough at design to go further. Thecollege has provided him with accreditation ofprior learning (APL) for the units normallystudied in the first year of the course and he issitting the phase tests with first-year students.

A UNIT ON LIFE DRAWING FORMS A KEY PART OF THE

ACCESS TO ART AND DESIGN COURSE AT

CARMARTHENSHIRE COLLEGE

A student who joined the taster class as a hobbywhen her children began school realised thatshe was good enough to do an advanced quali-fication. She said that before the taster:

The thought of the work involved to get aqualification frightened me because I wasn'tgood enough this course built my confidence.If it hadn't been available I wouldn't be herenow I'd still be at home.

Another woman studying full time foradvanced GNVQ in art and design, commented:

I had the chance years ago to get a diplomaand only did two out of the three years. This ismy chance to prove I can do it. I've worked allmy life in jobs related to art but the tastercourse taught me things about drawing whichI wanted to follow up. When they offered usthe chance of progressing to this course Ithought it was a wonderful opportunity.

Case study 5: reaching

the disaffected

In Co leg Glan Hafren, Cardiff, lecturers wantedto motivate more young people with poor basicskills to take up vocational training. They recog-nised that learning opportunities at level 1 werethin on the ground, a finding confirmed by theFEFC Wales 'Heads of the Valleys Project'.Research by South Glamorgan Training andEnterprise Council (TEC) estimated that in theyear 1994-95 there were more than 1,000 youngpeople in South Glamorgan not taking part ineducation, employment or training. To makethings worse, existing level 1 qualificationsforce learners to make choices which tie them toinflexible pathways. So staff decided to designcredit-based programmes in core and vocationalskills and to create delivery modules tomotivate and encourage these young people tocontinue with their training.

While the college has found it difficult to attractthese young people, many of the units designedfor a full-time programme are now being usedas part of various part-time community pro-vision programmes in the city. Units in commu-nication and vocational skills are providing a


progression route for learners from family lit-eracy courses. Students on English as a secondor other language (ESOL) programmes are alsobeing offered the vocational units to enrich theirlearning of English. Some young people arebeing recruited to the college from schoolreferral projects, and staff plan to begin a full-time course, based on the original design. Theproject manager has identified that the key tofuture success is to achieve co-operation andpartnership among the various local agencies,TECs, LEA, community and voluntary workersand other colleges.

Case study 6: unitisation ofaccess programmes

Neath College's access provisionwas first unitised in 1995. The pro-gramme now offers 159 units ofassessment and 56 modules. Studentnumbers on access to HE pro-grammes have increased from 20students in 1994-95 to 66 students in1995-96. The five pathways IT,

health and social care, humanities,media, science and engineeringshare a common core of literacy,numeracy and communication. Anumber of common units are alsoavailable via shared modules,allowing students to select unitsoutside their primary pathway, toadd breadth to their learning.

Central to this provision is the accessto FE pathway. This is being fol-lowed by 25 learners who previous-ly would only have been able to joinbasic literacy or numeracy pro-grammes. The numeracy units havebeen designed to provide priorknowledge and skills for GCSEmathematics and this pathway isconsidered more coherent than theprevious progression from City andGuilds Numberpower. In 1994-95,75% of learners on this programmeprogressed to other programmes oremployment.

The unitisation of the science and engineeringcurriculum has prompted further developmentsin this area. A new BTEC award is beingdesigned, containing units from the science andengineering pathway and NVQ units at levels 2and 3 in laboratory operations. The full awardwill be offered to part-time students wishing toprogress to Higher National Certificate (HNC)or Licentiateship Royal Society of Chemistry(LRSC) programmes. Other students will beable to access parts relevant to their needs.Learners who have acquired the underpinningknowledge prior to working in a laboratory willonly need the NVQ units assessed.

N

STUDENTS AT COLEG GLAN HAFREN PRACTISE THEIR

HAIRDRESSING SKILLS

18 FE MATTERS FEDA paper20

Case study 7: mapping common

elements

Pembrokeshire College had already mapped itsBTEC national diploma in health studies againstaccess to health, using units from the CREDISdatabase to modularise the course. These twogroups were then combined, when an access tohealth care course did not go ahead due to lackof interest. The access modules embrace learn-ing which occurs during the two-year BTEC inhealth studies award. Students can progressfrom this modular provision to a variety of HEcourses, including nursing at diploma anddegree level, biological sciences, radiography,occupational therapy and Bachelor of Science(BSc) pediatry. Since progress is tracked at unitlevel any students who cannot complete theBTEC national programme can be awardedcredits for their achievements at point of exit.Students can transfer from the BTEC diploma tothe access programme if this was more suited totheir circumstances.

Case study 8: improving life chances

In 1995, Swansea College launched a partner-ship with the local education authority (LEA),several schools and the university to provideappropriate learning opportunities to thecommunities of the east side of Swansea. This isone of the most economically-deprived areas inWales. Since the launch, more than 3,000enrolments have been made on a variety ofprogrammes, including first aid, languages, ITand parenting skills. All of the provision ismodular, and accredited mainly by the OCN,although other awarding bodies, such as RSA,are also used.

The classes are targeted at groups whose partici-pation in further education is lowest: singleparents, ethnic minorities, the unemployed anddisaffected youth, and people with low levels ofliteracy and numeracy.

Members of the partnership began by identi-fying the barriers to participation. They thenworked to overcome these by providing classes

at times which suit themajority of the learners, byoffering childcare, and byremitting fees. Severalprogrammes are run inschools; classrooms whichlay empty because offalling rolls are now fullyoccupied. This brings afinancial benefit to theschool and at the sametime enhances its standingwithin the community.

The college surveyed theneeds of the communityand designed programmesbased on these needs. Allof the programmes arepart time to be convenientfor the learners and tomake accreditation forsmall segments of learningachievable. Successfulcompletion of most 10-week programmes leadsto one credit.

STUDENTS ON THE SCIENCE HEALTH STUDIES ACCESS COURSE AT

PEMBROKESHIRE COLLEGE GET DOWN TO BUSINESS

21


The project manager has been delighted by thepositive attitude to accreditation:

Initially people said they didn't wantaccreditation, but sensitive assessmentmethods and the pleasure of receiving anaward has changed attitudes completely. Ontop of that learners can now clearly see what itis they've achieved and are beginning to planthe next stages.

We've worked hard to map routes throughfrom these modules to programmes on themain site. One student recently progressedfrom a module in Mediterranean cookery to anNVQ 2 in catering. Another route innumeracy takes learners through fromNumberpower to pre-GCSE units and finallyto a GCSE in mathematics.

Of course we want these credits to betransferable too and are working with staffnow to ensure that students don't have torepeat learning.

The award for East SideStudent of the Yearwent to a single parentwho enrolled on severalprogrammes includingIT and Talking to YourChildren. She now hasa substantial portfolioof credits to add toher curriculum vitae,increasing her chancesof employment.

All 40 centres run bySwansea College arenow being used.Guidance is provided atall the main sites andmany of the smallerones by officers fromthe East Side Initiativeand the University ofSwansea's adult andcontinuing educationdepartment.

Further achievements in Wales

In the final year of the CREDIS project, 1996-97,work has taken place in every college in Wales toimplement more unitised, modular provision onthe basis of the credit framework. Colleges haveconcentrated on embedding different aspects ofCREDIS within their strategic plans. FEFC Waleshas developed its unit-based funding model toapply credit value as the basis of funding,wherever possible. Credit values have beenestablished for GCSEs, A-levels and GNVQunits. A start has been made to credit rate thoseNVQs most often delivered in FE colleges.

Different groups of colleges have collaborated'on projects to improve credit-based routes forstudents from 14 years old onwards, to developmore streamlined credit routes between FE andHE and to develop credit-related studenttracking systems capable of producing tran-scripts of achievement. All but six of the 26 col-leges in Wales have set up special projects toexplain the benefits of flexible credit-based andunitised training programmes to employers.

A

"

OFFERING A CHILDCARE SERVICE WILL OVERCOME ONE OF THE BARRIERS TO

PARTICIPATION FOR SOME POTENTIAL STUDENTS WITH CHILDREN


22

3 Colleges and credits:applying the creditframeworkWhile the framework has been piloted in Wales,many similar developments have been going onin FE colleges throughout England. This isdespite the fact that a credit framework is not yetnational policy. Colleges have used theframework for a range of applications at an insti-tutional and local level. They are doing this notjust because they anticipate at some future pointsuch approaches will tie in with nationalsystems: they have found it relevant to initiativesthey have had to achieve in the here and now.

As early as 1992, some colleges, such as Solihulland Wirral Metropolitan, began to adopt theframework for a range of purposes, includingaccreditation of adult programmes throughOCNs (see additional case studies that follow).Between 1992 and 1995 more FE institutionsmade plans to explore and implement credit-based approaches to increase flexibility, cost-effectiveness, participation and opportunities forprogression. During 1994-95 a total of 25 collegestook part in a college-based implementation pro-ject organised by FEU (one of FEDA's predeces-sor organisations) and funded by the Employ-ment Department. More than 400 organisations,mainly FE colleges, joined the FEU national cred-it accumulation and transfer (CAT) network.Regional and city-wide initiatives began in anumber of areas with development fundingfrom various sources including the EmploymentDepartment, Welsh Office, TECs, private sectoremployers and educational foundations.

As a result, developments in 1997 include thefollowing significant initiatives:

Milton Keynes and North BucksFramework

Derbyshire Regional FHE Network

Greater Manchester Unitisation Project

Leicestershire Progression Accord

London CAT Consortium

North East Midlands CreditConsortium

Solihull, Warwickshire and CoventryCredit Consortium

South Thames Unitisation Project

NW Credit Consortium

Wirral Unitisation Consortium.

Some of these are outlined in the case studiesbelow. There are also many single institutioninitiatives, at different stages of development,which have achieved differing levels of success.This interest from the sector has prompted anumber of awarding bodies, in addition toOCNs, to develop awards using credit frame-work specifications.

Although only relatively small numbers of insti-tutions sought to unitise and use credit-basedapproaches in the early 1990s, there are now alarge number of colleges setting out on thisroad. This indicates a growing awareness of therelevance of the credit framework to currentconcerns about participation, efficiency, reten-tion, flexibility and quality.

Credit-based developments have not beencostly. Support for college developments inEngland has been found from within their ownbudgets, through bids to TEC developmentfunds and, in a number of cases, via directfunding from businesses.

In 1996, FEDA evaluated the progress of thosecolleges involved in the first wave of creditdevelopments between 1992 and 1995.Although they were operating in an envi-ronment not fully supportive of credit systems,their work has revealed how widely credit canbe applied. Their experiences also show thatcolleges operating in an environment which iscredit-based in terms of qualifications andfunding are more efficient, flexible andeffective. The work in Wales mirrors this.

The case studies that follow illustrate some ofthe developments that have taken place in col-leges in England. Key applications of a credit-based framework are then summarised.Together they indicate the range of advantagesthe FE sector as a whole would receive if anational credit framework were established.


Applying the framework in England

Case study 9: developing learningmaterials and improving quality

Wirral Metropolitan College, a key provider ofeducation and training for Wirral and itsenvirons, was one of the first colleges in thecountry to recognise the potential of credit-baseddevelopments. In the early days it successfullypioneered credit accumulation and transferwithin consortia and franchised programmes. Italso accredited areas of the curriculum, previ-ously unaccredited, which had been designed tomeet the needs of specific groups.

The college's aim is to provide a qualitycurriculum offer which has the potential tomaximise individual achievement, to promoteaccess, transfer and progression and realiseefficiency and effectiveness gains all withinthe context of sharply reducing funding.

The college has used unitisation and curriculummapping as an opportunity to deploy resourcesmore effectively and efficiently. This has alsoprovided a starting point for designing specificlearning materials. The college reviewed itsexisting systems for programme delivery andorganisation to help embed more effectivesystems for co-ordinated curriculum planning,subject co-ordination, resources deploymentand development, and quality management.This included analysing the process for devel-oping new programmes, examining curriculumdelivery and ways in which this could bechanged to increase efficiency and effectiveness.Measures identified included ways to:

develop resource-based learning ordistance learning

deliver together qualifications whichare within the same curriculum area butat different levels

combine for delivery purposes differentgroups/units /subject elements

use different types of staffing resourceto support learning.


The English workshops are one example of suc-cessful implementation. They were set up in1988 and developed alongside moves to embeda unitised curriculum. Present materials areproduced in-house to help students developtheir skills, to meet the needs of the new syl-labus and to make good use of the collegenetwork, offering flexibility and accessibility toa wider range of students. An IT system wasdesigned, called the Customised MenuLearning Resource System, to co-ordinate,present and describe how resources may be ofuse to the learner in their study. The systemallows the tutor to collate the most relevant ITsubject resources available on the IT networkand present them to the student on a point andclick menu. The staff also add a documentwhich signposts the student to all resources andexplains their relevance to the subject, and thelearning outcomes to be achieved. The GCSEEnglish Module workpacks can be printed outand used as a paper-based resource, but, moreimportantly, they can also be used across thenetwork. The GCSE English presentation con-sists of the following modules:

Module 1 Getting started

Module 2 Personal narrative

Module 3 Response to reading

Module 4 Media and non-literary texts

Module 5 Response to Shakespeare

Module 6 Summarising

Each module leads to another level of thepresentation. Students can communicate withEnglish workshop tutors via e-mail to get sup-port in working through materials or to send inassignments for marking, so they don't have tobe on site to take part. This approach alsoimproves resource management, since materialscan be accessed from anywhere on the network.

Further developmentsA number of issues still present continuingchallenges to the organisation. These include:

overcoming the barriers to educationalchange

24

staff concerns over rationalisation

ensuring the quality of the teachingand learning

finding the correct balance betweenefficiency and effectiveness in delivery.

The college is now working to ensure that thegood practice evident in the GCSE workshops isextended to other areas of the curriculum. Thiswork is underpinned by a practical applicationof the credit framework: specifying and recog-nising the importance of signposting resourcesto the learner and to specific learning outcomes.

Case study 10: South Thames

unitisation project

The South Thames unitisation project was initi-ated by the principal of Lewisham College andthe principal of Woolwich College in responseto the Audit Commission's report, Unfinishedbusiness. This report deplored the 'drop-out'rate in FE colleges such as Lewisham andWoolwich which serve populations with base-lines for National Training and EducationTarget below national norms, where studentshave poor learning skills and where the age pro-file leans heavily to the adult, in particular thesocially and educationally disadvantaged adult.

The project aimed to investigate the feasibilityof "constructing a discrete generic model (ormodels) for unitising the curriculum which, iffollowed, could be used to unitise anycurriculum or subject area".

While the overriding criteria for selecting theareas to be unitised were diversity and a mix-ture of the academic and vocational, individualareas were chosen because they:

covered key skills (Numeracy/Maths,English and Communications)

had little or no current accreditation(ESOL)

had only partial accreditation (Stage 1Fashion and Motor VehicleMaintenance and Repair)

had accreditation which did not satisfythe colleges' needs in terms of flexibilityand cost-effectiveness (IT).

Project members, with the help of the LondonOpen College Federation (LOCF) unitisationproject, have written and piloted units ofassessment in these areas. The project hasshown that the credit framework first elabo-rated by the FEU (now FEDA) is applicable toany curriculum area.

Local collaboration

The South Thames unitisation project is a modelof a successful collaborative venture. Lewishamand Woolwich Colleges collaborated inmanaging the project, in working as teams towrite the units, and through joint staffdevelopment. The project has also been linkedwith a TEC (SOLOTEC),an OCN (LOCF) and aregional consortium of educational providers(the London CAT Consortium).

Project members took part in the LOCFunitisation project, a venture with 20 London FEcolleges and adult education services toproduce units of assessment in English,Numeracy, IT and ESOL. Either in collaborationwith LOCF, or alone in the case of Fashion andMotor Vehicle Maintenance and Repair, theSouth Thames unitisation project has producedabout 400 units of assessment. These areincluded in the London CAT ConsortiumCATalogues and are in use in the two colleges.

Although the project formally came to an endon 31 March 1997, its legacy will continue intothe future. The lessons learned, the method-ologies devised and the enthusiasm generatedamong a growing number of colleagues are nowdeeply embedded within the two colleges. Thiswill ensure the further development of a uni-tised curriculum within the mainstreamdelivery structure. Both colleges are preparingwhole-college credit frameworks for LOCFrecognition and other ventures are nearing com-pletion, including the creation in LewishamCollege of an accredited unitised vocationalprogramme for students with disabilities orlearning difficulties.


The project's final report recommends thatLewisham College, Woolwich College andSOLOTEC continue their collaboration andinvestigate the feasibility of setting up aregional CAT system to support local initiativessuch as Relaunch South London.

Increased flexibility and choiceThe project members concluded that the fullpotential of the credit framework cannot berealised within a relatively small part of two col-leges' curriculum offer. More widely, there are anumber of barriers to progressing further at alocal level. These, in particular, are the fact that:

a framework is not yet national policy

there has not yet been substantialsuccess in credit-rating nationalqualifications

an agreed protocol has not beenreached for exchanging approved unitsbetween unitisation initiatives.

Nevertheless, what has already been achievedhas encouraged greater choice and flexibility.This success can be measured by the steadyincrease in the number of students registeredwith LOCF for accreditation. In 1995/96, 1,014learners in the two colleges sought assessmentthrough LOCF 'database' units; in total theyachieved 1,775 credits. In the current academicyear, exactly 2,000 learners are registered withLOCF (Lewisham 1,526; Woolwich 474) with acorresponding increase in the number of creditsthey are expected to achieve. These figures donot include those enrolled on LOCF pro-grammes which have been separately approvedas independent entries but were created largelyfrom units already approved and produced bythe unitisation projects, so they do not representthe total number of learners who have benefitedfrom the project's work.

For learners, choice has been increasedbecause they:

can choose to progress horizontally, to awider range of skills, or vertically to ahigher level of skill


need no longer be confined to a level oflearning dictated by their leastdeveloped skill (particularly evident inthe Woolwich College ESOLprogramme, which is fully unitised).

For college managers and curriculum leaders,unitisation has:

provided a common language forpractitioners to talk to each other whichtranscends divisions and forms oforganisation, making it easier todevelop strategic policies on key skills

provided a tried and tested frameworkwithin which managers and teachingstaff are able to disaggregate thecurriculum and find out what isactually there; this allows a swiftresponse to new curriculum demands(such as the Internet and multimedia)and new forms of delivery (such astaster courses, pre-access courses,Summer Schools and Saturday Schools)and colleagues feel confident toinnovate because they can be sure that aflexible accreditation system is availablewhich is recognised by FEFC and canbe potentially funded

contributed to the development ofprogression routes, including to HE

Improved teaching and learningUnitisation has allowed learners to raise theirlevel of motivation and achievement by:

making the curriculum moretransparent and accessible

breaking assessment down intomanageable 'chunks'

recognising achievement atintermediate stages

enabling progress at their own pace

facilitating transfer betweenprogrammes by showing what unitshave already been covered and whatwill have been missed.

26

Because learning outcomes and assessment crite-ria are clearly defined, the nature and level ofachievement are more transparent to tutors andlearners and to employers and admissions staff.

A major issue for the two colleges is how tocreate quality assurance (QA) systems that arerigorous and consistent but at the same timecost-effective and not bureaucratic.

Lewisham and Woolwich Colleges have insti-tuted internal QA systems which are similar inessentials. They are based on the NVQ/GNVQsystem of internal verifiers, familiar to manycolleagues, whose task is to ensure that all lec-turers concerned with delivery towards a par-ticular unit of assessment are involved ininternal standardisation and that consistency ofstandards is maintained.

Case study 11: progression

through credit

Dearne Valley College (formerly RockinghamCollege) lies within the Rotherham district,close to its boundaries with Barnsley andDoncaster. It has 11,500 enrolments and offers acurriculum with a strong vocational biascovering the service industries, construction,education, health and social care, businessadministration and management.

Between 1992 and 1996 the college receivedmore than £7 million of European funding tosupport SMEs in the regeneration of the DearneValley. This provided new and refurbishedbuildings on a site donated by British Coal. Afurther £2m of government funding provided ahigher education block and Telematics project(which combines information and telecomm-unications technology) managed by theUniversity of Sheffield. The college now has anestablished industrial liaison team which workswith employers and vocational specialistsacross the college to identify and meet trainingneeds. Currently, 35% of students are enrolledon training programmes linked through localemployers. It also has an HE partnership withthe University of Sheffield which includesBarnsley College and Rotherham College.

Like most colleges, during the past decadeDearne Valley College has improved respon-siveness and flexibility. The curriculum is uni-tised, allowing roll-on roll-off access or multipleentry points. It is supported by resource-basedlearning and new technology. From September1997 all units will carry credit and by September1998 students will have credit transcripts.

The college plans to use the credit framework inpartnership with employers and HE to promoteachievement and encourage regeneration in thearea. Most students follow vocational pro-grammes, so the college is particularly inter-ested in using credit allocated to vocationalqualifications at level 3 and above to negotiateHE entry and fast track arrangements. Althoughthe F/ HE partnership has agreed the use ofvocational credit in principle, in practiceprogress is slow. This is because, in the absenceof a nationally-agreed credit framework, eachunit requires full justification of its credit value.Discussion is also complicated by a lack ofunderstanding in HE of vocational qualificationsand how these may relate to undergraduate andpostgraduate study. However, this debate isvaluable with vital consequences for developingthe local workforce and for regeneration.

Many employers request a mix of units fromdifferent qualifications for their employeesrather than entire qualifications. Theoretically, acredit framework can satisfy this requirement,but the current funding methodology mitigatesagainst using units from the national frame-work. This has pushed the college to extend itsframework via the OCN and the Welsh databaseto deliver customised training.However, whereappropriate units exist in the national frame-work, this strategy is wasteful of time and effort.

The next stage of development is to promote thecredit framework and credit transcripts withemployers. The industrial liaison team will beasked to pilot this during the next academicyear. The principal benefits will be described interms of flexibility and motivation. Credit givespurpose and coherence to lifelong learning. Bythe end of this phase the college hopes to havefirm progression agreements in place with itsHE partners in a number of vocational areas.


Case study 12: facilitatingprogression

The Leicestershire Progression Accord (LPA) isa collaborative progression agreement linkingschools, colleges and the three local universitiesin Leicestershire. It operates at two levels. Part IAccord links schools with the FE sector, andPart II links FE institutions and school sixthforms with HE.

The LPA is designed to accredit a wider range oflearning than that accredited through tradi-tional qualifications. Learners who successfullycomplete the LPA requirements gain prefer-ential offers from receiving institutions and HEdepartments. In the case of the Part II Accordthis is currently a four-point reduction on thestandard A-level or GNVQ-equivalent offer. ForPart I Accord students must gain at least fivecredits, one from each of the five curriculumareas. For Part II, three out of the five must be atlevel 3. The five curriculum areas, in whichstudent achievement is accredited, are knownas 'elements'. Units are produced for each ofthese and approved by a panel. These elementsreflect important, but often unaccredited areasof the curriculum: learner skills and attributesdemonstrated through a programme of careerseducation and guidance; the personal and inter-personal skills demonstrated through broad-ening enrichment activities, and the practicalapplication of the key skills of IT, numeracy,and communications.

This year the first pilot cohort of Year 13learners applied for HE courses using theAccord and 54 of the 120 received either con-firmed or insurance offers. As a percentage ofoffers to applications made across the three uni-versities this represents a 'success' rate of 69%.Those involved in managing Accord will betracking the destinations of this cohort and theuniversities will be tracking their performancefor the first year of their courses. Next year amuch larger cohort of learners have been regis-tered for the LPA at least 1,800 students. Thevast majority of these learners will not wish tocomplete the full Accord, as they will wish toprogress to non-participating universities.However, their institutions are keen to register


them so that they gain a partially accreditedLPA. This is because the scheme gives areassuch as careers and enrichments more credosand currency in learners' eyes where they carryaccreditation. The programme uses the Code ofPractice for Careers Education and Guidance,designed by the local careers service. All LPAinstitutions must work towards this code andtheir careers programmes will be moderated bythe careers service. This will allow institutionsto bring their provision in line with recentOFSTED and legislative requirements whileensuring their learners gain credit from the pro-gramme. This is particularly important to the 17schools involved in the Part I Accord.

The LPA is to be incorporated within the newnational record of achievement, Profile, as anaccredited component. To achieve this, the keyskill elements of the LPA are being reviewed inthe light of the Dearing recommendations. Sofar, units for the key skills of 'Improving ownlearning and performance' and 'Working withothers' have been produced.

Case study 13: basing resourcing

on credit

In 1991, Solihull College identified the unitisedcurriculum as its key strategy for achievingflexibility. It believed that credit would allow itto design a curriculum which would allow theirlearning to be accredited. To achieve this thecurriculum had to be unitised so that creditscould be allocated to the units of learningoutcomes that students achieved.

The college has made slow, though steady,progress. Most of the curriculum is now uni-tised through NVQ, GNVQ, OCN and otherunitised qualifications including modules ofA-level which the college defines as units.Nearly 2,000 credits are attached to the OCNunits that the college offers and GNVQ, GCSEand some A-level, NVQ and BTEC programmeshave been temporarily credit rated. So far onlystudents with OCN credits have been accredited.The college will accredit students with creditsachieved through units of other qualificationsonce these have been nationally agreed.

28

In the early years of attempting to unitise thecurriculum, the college focused on develop-ment and not at all on resourcing. This meantthat parts of programmes which had beenunitised could not be offered as separate unitsbecause they were resourced as whole courseswith one qualification at the end. It was onlywhen the college began resourcing via units thatreal progress was made, allowing students totake advantage of a flexible offer. This year, 4,773students followed units from mixedqualifications (excluding A-level and GCSEstudents). The number last year was 3,998.

Central to Solihull's resourcing model are thefollowing three organisational principles:

the curriculum is organised in areas forresourcing and quality purposes, eachbeing defined by the units for which itis responsible; hence the LanguagesCurriculum Area is responsible for thequality and resourcing of languagesacross the college; this has also beenapplied to key skills so that thecurriculum areas responsible fornumeracy, communications and IT holdthe resource for their respective unitsand their staff act as consultants to theother curriculum areas to help themdeliver their key skills provision

learning provision is divided into threecategories: taught modules, resource-based learning and caseloaded delivery

activities outside the units tutoring,induction, verification and so on areidentified and resourced separately.

Each curriculum area is resourced on thenumber of units it offers. Each unit attracts acertain number of notional guided learninghours and has the potential to be converted tocredit. The unit is multiplied by the anticipatednumber of students expected to enrol. Thecollege carefully distinguishes between thelearning provision and the units of assessmentso that the resourcing follows the units ofassessment, that is the credits, and not how thestudent accesses the learning to enable them toachieve the credits.

S CI)P AMIABLE

Tables 1 and 2 (below) illustrate the basis onwhich the college resources intermediateGNVQs. The design framework is built aroundunits of assessment not modules of delivery.Delivery modules may well embrace a numberof units or parts of units from GNVQs or otherqualifications and include caseloaded andresource-based learning provision. The keyskills units, for example, are not delivered asdiscrete modules.

TABLE 1: CREDIT AND RESOURCE ALLOCATION FOR AN

INTERMEDIATE GNVQ

Level 2 Guided hours Credit rating

GNVQ units

i. mandatory 40 2

2. mandatory 40 2

3. mandatory 40 2

4. mandatory 40 2

i. optional 40 2

2. optional 40 2

communications* 40 2

numeracy* 40 2

IT* 40 2

learning to learn' 40 2

managing self 40 2

working with others* 40 2

whole Int GNVQ 480 24

additional unit 40 2

GCSE 120 6

* These hours are to be allocated to the curriculum

area responsible for the key skills to fund key skill

consultants for each curriculum area.

These are delivered through tutoring and are an

example of caseloaded delivery. These hours are

added to the named tutor's hours.p

TABLE 2: FURTHER STAFF HOURS ALLOCATED TO

INTERMEDIATE GNVQ

Activity Staff allocation per

group of i6

Tutoring includes induction,

monitoring the learning

conversations and portfolio

development. The resource is

based on a caseload of

six hours per student.

96


Case study 14: institutional change

At Manchester College of Arts and Technology(MANCAT), the curriculum portfolio is diverseand tends to be strongest in non-traditionalareas, whether this be in delivering distancelearning programmes to 'blue chip' companiesor developing access programmes fordisadvantaged adults and minority groups inthe inner city. Curriculum priorities are toprovide flexibility and quality and the college isknown for its responsiveness.

Shortly after publication of A Basis for Credit?,MANCAT committed itself to curriculumunitisation. This was launched with cross-college staff development in February 1994. Theaim was to use a whole college approach to thecredit framework to:

provide a 'vehicle for curriculumchange', encouraging studentcentredness

map the entire college curriculumbuilding a database to provideincreased choice for students throughimproved information available foradvice and guidance

encourage flexible modular delivery toincrease student participation

improve student retention, motivationand achievement

provide the potential for improvedmanagement information includingresource monitoring and value-addedcalculations

maximise FEFC income through therecurrent funding methodology.

An earlier initiative was to focus on the qualityof college 'threshold services', particularlystudent induction.

The credit framework was identified as themeans by which unit accreditation could beachieved, thereby encouraging modularisationand resource-based learning, the improvementof tutorial systems as well as the managementof learning.


The approach adopted was to seek a 'big bang'rather than incremental change on a college-wide basis, albeit that the strategic planidentified refinement and improvement over athree-year cycle. The first phase was to:

map the curriculum using a unitisationproforma to set up a database

improve tutorial systems and supportto ensure coherence was maintained,and developed, in individual learningprogrammes

focus development around the college'slearning resource function and inresourced-based learning centres.

However, with the benefit of hindsight, thecollege realised that the 'big bang' approachwas a mistake. It led to uneven implementation.It would have been better to adopt a morephased and structured approach.

Despite the mistakes made, the benefits thathave been achieved include:

providing a clear focus for curriculumchange and development

more flexible curriculum delivery

accreditation of student achievement,where previously they would have'nothing to show'

improved understanding ofaccreditation, quality and managementinformation system issues

greater ability to optimise recurrentfunding through 'additionality'(secondary leaning goals) and partialachievement.

r 1'17" b,..6:,

Key applications of a

credit-based system

Promoting institutional changeThe credit framework provides a strategic focalpoint for change across an institution. Since it isdesigned to be used for systems other than justaccreditation, it means that colleges receiveseveral initiatives for the price of one.

Having the same language and instruments formeasurement across a number of initiativesfor example for funding and resourcing, qualifi-cations, staff appraisal and reporting achieve-ment creates many benefits. Curriculummapping, modularisation and flexibility orquality initiatives are possible without using thecredit framework, or using it only in isolation.However, used as a strategic focal point theframework unifies disparate initiatives acrossan institution and provides a cost-effectivemechanism for simultaneous staff and cur-riculum development.

Mapping the curriculum

Colleges have used the credit framework as astraightforward tool to map the curriculum fora variety of purposes. Curriculum mapping isoften used as the first stage in:

designing new provision

looking for more cost-effectivecurriculum delivery includingco-teaching and developingcommon modules

deciding on assessment needs

introducing quality assurance systems.

Because the framework is based around units,colleges can look at their existing provision, anddevise new units which will fill any gaps. In sodoing, they can fulfil learning outcomes whichother qualifications miss out, often ones whichare crucial to specific learner groups, forexample, part-time employed students. Iflearning is broken down into units, it is quiteeasy to identify where there are common ele-ments among different qualifications. This has

immediate benefits by making resource usemore efficient. Once colleges have discoveredwhere overlaps in learning occur, across dif-ferent courses on their curriculum, they canthen plan for delivering these aspects concur-rently. Not only does this free up staff time, butstudents benefit from the variety that a freshlearning environment, and possibly a differenttutor, can offer, and from seeing the linksbetween different subject areas.

Achieving flexibility, unitisationand modularisationInstitutions have used the credit framework asan effective way to disentangle and makeclearer to staff and students issues surroundingunitisation, modularisation and flexibility.

The framework has made colleges better able tomeet the needs of local businesses and thecommunity. It has allowed them to customiseprovision and offer recognised awards for areasnot covered by existing qualifications where:

their needs are local and specific

the qualifications available are notsufficiently up to date, do not offer unitaccreditation and are inflexible.

The credit framework has offered institutions aclear way to distinguish between units ofassessment and modules of delivery. Theyreport that the credit-based approach offers amuch more flexible and all-encompassing insti-tutional approach than rigid, blocked, time-based modular systems. Credit-based uniti-sation has allowed FE institutions to developmore flexible provision, whether it is confinedto a single programme area or is implementedas a college-wide unitisation initiative.

Providing assessment in stages

Breaking learning down into smaller chunksgives the opportunity to offer assessment incontrolled stages. This can be particularly bene-ficial for students returning to learn who needtheir confidence built up and for whom.assessment is often a barrier to taking that step.Using this framework as a means to provide


units which offer a more precise and sensitiveapproach to assessment can be an effective wayto remove or at least reduce this fear. Anotherbenefit is that learners achieve recognition fortheir achievement early on in the course. Thevalue of the motivation this generates shouldnot be underestimated, particularly in a climatewhere increasing participation in FE is a keygoal. While staging assessment may mean thattutors have to devote more time to assessmentactivity, they will, as a result, know whether ornot students have gained the necessary under-standing to progress to the next stage. In this waythey can ensure a firm foundation has been builtbefore they move on to more difficult modules.

Targeting provision

Colleges can use the unit-based feature of theframework as an opportunity to design coursesto cater for specific target groups. For example,research has shown that young people with lowlevel basic skills are invariably being failed byexisting provision. Colleges are using the frame-work to design programmes which deliver coreand vocational skills via modules designed toencourage these young people to enjoy learningand hence to continue with their training.

Increasing choice

Experiences of colleges using the frameworkhave revealed the immense potential that it hasto offer in widening choice for learners. Bymapping units common to different qualifica-tions, colleges will automatically be opening upa greater number of learning pathways for theirstudents. Learners are not caught in the trap ofhaving to commit to a particular pathway earlyon, because they can transfer between coursesand hence change routes as they go. Collegesare providing taster courses based on units toallow students to discover whether they areconfident enough to take a full course in thesubject. Students who decide not to progresswill not have had their time wasted; any unitsachieved will have earned them credits.


Improving teaching and learningOrganising the curriculum into units improveslearner motivation, involvement and under-standing of progress. The unitised curriculumprovides a high level of feedback to learnersand avoids duplication of learning. Learnerscan access parts of a course relevant to theirknowledge and intended pathway. Similarly,where accreditation has been developed, stu-dents who drop out of a course before the end ofthe programme will have earned credits for anyunits achieved.

Using the credit framework for development atcourse-team level places learning outcomes atthe centre of staff discussions. It encouragescourse teams to question the purpose, structureand delivery of the curriculum, to be moreaware of quality and to identify and tackleproblems. The unitised curriculum also makesteachers more aware of their accountability tolearners and managers. Colleges can createlearning materials based around the units,allowing them to offer better curriculumsupport for smaller components of the pro-vision.

Enhancing qualityThe credit framework can also be used toaggregate achievement across the institution.Aggregating credit is a more comprehensiveand sensitive measure of overall outcomes thanfull qualifications and may be used to monitorinstitutional, faculty, course, or even tutorperformance against targets. Some institutionshave used the framework to enhance qualityand to measure improvement in a common way.

Maximising use of resources

Breaking down whole courses into units ofassessment makes it possible for colleges toidentify parts of provision which might bemade more widely available within theinstitution and to new customers. In some casescolleges have reported that had they notunitised provision, they might have written offwhole areas of provision as not viable. Unitisingthe curriculum has allowed them to see how

32

their human and physical resources could beused in new ways, either by slotting intoexisting provision or providing self-standingshort courses. It has also helped managers tomake better informed, fairer and more rationaldecisions about course and departmentalclosures and amalgamations which do notdamage learner opportunities.

Defining progression agreementsMany colleges have used the credit frameworkfor progression agreements and to set targets interms of credit values and levels. Suchagreements provide an incentive to learners. Acollege can use the framework to describe itscourse entry requirements in a commonlyunderstood format. Institutions are developingcredit transcripts and other recording mech-anisms which allow learners to place all of theirachievement on a single document whichmeasures and describes it in a common way.This helps colleges to see instantly what astudent has achieved, making it easy to set pro-gression agreements. A credit transcript forWales is being piloted and regional credittranscripts are being developed in England.External progression agreements, both feedinginto college courses and leading to courses inother institutions and in higher education, arealso greatly enhanced.

Marketing provisionColleges have used the credit framework leveldescriptors in their prospectus to give aconsistent indication of the level of qualificationand courses on offer.

The credit framework level descriptors areexplained in the prospectus and then appear inthe title of each course or qualification on offerin the college. The level is used to indicate tolearners, in a straightforward way, whichcourses might be most suitable for them andhow courses and qualifications compare withone another. It also helps the college to marketless well-known awards, such as OCN credits,within the same framework.

Offering guidanceColleges have also found the levels frameworkuseful for providing guidance to new andexisting students. It has helped them to meet thenew lifetime learning agenda and to prepare foran environment where adults seek to improveskills not necessarily via full qualifications.Many colleges have found it valuable to planand market the curriculum through unitisationand modularisation, to meet the needs of 16-18year olds as well as the increasing demands ofadult learners and employers.

Summary

Use of credit means units and modulesdo not need to be a standard size.

Units of assessment and modules ofdelivery form a key concept forunderstanding achievement and forplanning and funding provision.

Using the credit framework for fundingpurposes can simplify the relationshipbetween funding and the curriculum.

Colleges have adopted credit-basedsystems because they have helped themto deliver their own targets and goals.

Colleges claim that developmentswould go further if uncertainties aboutnational policy on qualifications andfunding were removed.

A nationally co-ordinated framework isvital to provide consistency for allusers, with a universal standard set forcredit values and ratings.

Once FEDA's framework achieves nationalrecognition, it will mean that all learners in theUK can undertake programmes in the know-ledge that their learning achievements will bemore widely recognised and more transparentand portable.


Key termsCredit framework: a set of specifications fordescribing and comparing achievement

CATS: Credit Accumulation and TransferSystems

Learning outcomes: what a learner can beexpected to know, understand and do

Assessment criteria: statements of morespecific learning outcomes

Unit: coherent set of learning outcomes (ofany size)

Module: a subset of a programme of delivery(of any size)

Size: the extent of learning represented by thenotional learning time required to achieve theunit, expressed in hours

Level: degree of complexity, learner autonomyand range of achievement required to attainthe unit, derived from agreed level descriptors

Credit value: the value of a unit based on theagreed learning outcomes, size and level,expressed as the notional learning time dividedby 30 hours

Credit rating: overall estimated value of thewhole qualification, or associated units, basedon the intention of the designers rather than onan analysis of the learning outcomes

Credits: based on credit value and awarded tolearners by appropriate awarding bodies forthe achievement of units, when appropriateassessment procedures have been followed

Credit equivalence: a total value based on acombination of one or more of the following:credit values, credit ratings or credits awarded


34

AcronymsAPL Accreditation of Prior Learning

ASDAN Award Scheme Development andAccreditation Network

BTEC Business and Technology EducationCouncil

CAT credit accumulation and transfer

CLAIT Computer Literacy and InformationTechnology

CVCP Committee of Vice-Chancellors andPrincipals

DfEE Department for Education andEmployment

ESOL English as a second or other language

FEFC Further Education Funding Council

FEU Further Education Unit

GNVQ General National VocationalQualification

GCSE General Certificate of SecondaryEducation

HMI Her Majesty's Inspectorate

HNC Higher National Certificate

IT information technology

LEA local education authority

LOCF London Open College Federation

LRSC Licentiateship Royal Society ofChemistry

NVQ National Vocational Qualification

OCN open college network

QA quality assurance

RSA Royal Society of Arts

SME small- to medium-sized enterprise

TEC training and enterprise council


ReferencesAudit Commission (1993) Unfinishedbusiness. HMSO

Dearing, Sir Ron (1996) Review ofQualifications for 16-19 Year Olds. SCAA

Department for Education and Employment etal. (1996) Education Statistics for the UK. TheStationery Office

Further Education Unit (1992) A basis forcredit? Developing a post-16 creditaccumulation and transfer framework. FEU

National Commission on Education (1995)Learning to succeed: after 16. NationalCommission on Education

Steedman, Hilary and Andy Green (1996)Widening participation in further educationand training: a survey of the issues (a reportto the Further Education Funding Council).Centre for Economic Performance

BibliographyAbramson, M ed. (1988) The new nationalagenda for student flexibility and choice:towards a credit-based culture. University ofCentral Lancashire

Carroll, Sue (1996) Marketing materials:promoting choice in modular and unit-basedprovision. FEDA

Donovan, Kevin (1996) Student tracking.FEDA

Faraday, Sally (1996) Getting the credit: OCNaccreditation and learners with learningdifficulties and disabilities. FEDA

FEDA (1997) FEDA'S 2020 Vision: why weneed a credit-based qualifications system.FEDA

Further Education Unit (1993) A basis forcredit? Feedback and developments. FEU

FEU (1993) Discussing credit: a collection ofoccasional papers on credit. FEU

34 FE MATTERS FE DA paper

FEU (1995) A framework for credit: a commonframework for post-14 education and trainingfor the twenty-first century. FEU

FEU (1995) Framework guidelines 1: levels,credit value and the award of credits. FEU

FEU (1995) Framework guidelines 2: learningoutcomes, units and modules. FEU

FEU (1995) Framework paper 1:modularisation, unitisation and flexibility: acredit-based approach. FEU

FEDA (1997) Assuring coherence inindividual learning programmes. FEDA

Robertson, David (June 1994) Choosing tochange. Higher Education Quality Council

Working Parties of London Together (1993) Acredit framework for London. Working Partiesof London Together

36

FEDA publication series

Developing FE: Volume

1. Student tracking2. Case loading3. Assessing the impact: provision for

learners with learning difficultiesand disabilities

4. Adults and GNVQs5. On course for next steps: careers

education and guidance for studentsin FE

6. Marketing planning7. Managing change in FE8. The effective college library9. Appraisal in FE where are we

now?10. Clarity is power: learning outcomes

and course design

FE Matters: Volume

1. Environmental education in FE:part 1

2. Environmental education in FE:part 2

3. Towards self-assessing colleges4. Colleges working with industry5. Evidence for action: papers prepared

for FEFC's Learning andTechnology Committee

6. Student retention: case studies ofstrategies that work

7. Getting the credit: OCNaccreditation and learners withlearning difficulties and disabilities

8. Moving on from Key Stage 4: thechallenges for FE

9. Monitoring student attendance10. Educational Psychologists in FE11. Assuring coherence in individual

learning programmes12. Adult learners: pathways to

progression13. A real job with prospects: supported

employment opportunities for adultswith disabilities or learningdifficulties

14. Transforming teaching: selecting andevaluating teaching strategies

15. Information and learningtechnology: a developmenthandbook

16. Delivering Modern Apprenticeships17. Planning a merger of FE colleges18. Tackling drugs together: addressing

the issues in the FE sector19. Security is not an option learning

in a safe environment20. Give us the credit: achieving a

comprehensive FE framework

FEDA bulletins: Volume

1. Developing college strategies forHuman Resource Development

2. Enhancing GCE A-level programmes3. Impact of voucher schemes on the

FE curriculum4. Quality assurance in colleges5. Maintaining quality during

curriculum change6. Action planning and recording

achievement7. Implementing modular A level.8. Comparing content in selected GCE

A levels and Advanced GNVQs9. Engineering the future10. Charters in FE: Making them work11. Access to accreditation12 Back to the future: Modern

Apprenticeship schemes13. Competing for business: colleges and

the Competitiveness Fund.14. Developing an information strategy

for a college15. Strategic approaches to processes,

cultures and structures


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