NCVYS's new qualification for the young people’s workforce

Earlier this month, NCVYS were delighted to announce the release of two new Level 2 qualifications for the young people’s workforce. The award and certificate-sized qualifications are an excellent foundation for staff or volunteers in the voluntary and community sector working with young people. They cover three core areas: personal development; work-based skills and working with young people.  It is the first time NCVYS have developed a qualification.

The qualifications, which can be easily delivered in bite-sized chunks, are designed to complement others already on the market such as the JNC-recognised frameworks in Youth Work Practice, or the CWDC suite of qualifications, but do not replicate or replace them as they differ in structure, content and primary audiences. They provide clear linkages and progression routes into a number of different pathways including health and wellbeing, youth work, sports and citizenship. Alongside release of the Level 2 qualifications, NCVYS will also continue to explore the potential for an accompanying Level 3 qualification/s in 2012/13.

Gethyn Williams, NCVYS Director of Workforce Development said: “The workforce told us they wanted qualifications that were flexible, accessible, manageable and appropriate to their roles. We’re delighted to be able to respond to these needs. There are millions of volunteers and staff working with young people right across England. At a time of immense challenge for young people and the services that support them, it is vital we equip the workforce with the skills and training they need.”

To build the case for qualification NCVYS has worked with the awarding organisations ABC Awards and ASDAN Education and the sector skills body the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS).

The business case was supported by intelligence developed under NCVYS’s workforce development service built up over the past five years, which included the delivery of the £4m Progress project on behalf of the Children’s Workforce Development Council in 2010/11  

We hope development of the qualification will build opportunities for the sector to develop skills at a time when options may seem limited following the closure of CWDC. Over the past year NCVYS has consulted further with employers and their workforce through the Catalyst consortium, a NCVYS coordinated partnership that includes the National Youth Agency, The Young Foundation and Social Enterprise UK. Our next steps will involve the development of learning resources to accompany the delivery of the qualifications, and to test these in the field.

Further information is available on the NCVYS website here
To view the full qualification please visit the ABC Awards website

This qualification was developed by NCVYS under the Catalyst consortium, a NCVYS coordinated partnership. Catalyst is a consortium of four organisations working with the Department for Education (DfE) as the strategic partner for young people, as part of the Department’s wider transition programme for the sector. Catalyst will work to deliver three key objectives over a two year period. It will strengthen the youth sector market, equip the sector to work in partnership with Government and coordinate a skills development strategy for the youth sector’s workforce. For more information about Catalyst please see our website.