May 2010 - CfA eBriefing

Welcome to the CfA May eBriefing

Helen Gerlach

Welcome to our 2010 May eBriefing where spring has really sprung at last with the fantastic news of our recent winning bid to become the UK’s leading authority for six key pan sector areas, covering Business, Administration and Governance, Management, Leadership and Enterprise (including HR), Marketing and Sales, Customer Service, Languages, and Industrial Relations.
You can read all about our winning bid by clicking here.

This month with the sun out and skies of blue, make sure you read all about our upcoming events that are being held across the country, to introduce you to the brand new Business & Administration NVQ/SVQ qualifications. Our expert team will be on hand throughout each event, kindly sponsored by EDI, and you'll find clear booking instructions on how to book your place further down in the eBriefing.

We're also showcasing a successful apprentice in Bolton and there’s up to date news on a £30m boost to Scotland.
If you know of something that your colleagues would benefit from knowing, then share it with us and let us know too! Your contributions are always welcome.

If you would like to comment on any of these stories or have a feature of your own to contribute, please contact Helen Gerlach.

Remember to keep sending us your Apprenticeship Case Studies and we’ll feature you in the next eBriefing!

In this month's issue
CFA SECURES WINNING BID TO BECOME NEW PAN SECTOR AUTHORITY
We need you – Request for contributions	EDI Business & Administration Qualifications
CfA events	Delivering Diplomas Magazine
Business & Administration in Bolton	Apprenticeship Standards for Wales
Scotland gets £30m boost	Question of the month

If you know somebody who would like to receive our eBriefings, please pass it on or ask them to contact us with their email address. To subscribe to the CfA eBriefing, please email Helen Gerlach.

CFA SECURES WINNING BID TO BECOME NEW PAN SECTOR AUTHORITY

The Council for Administration (CfA), has announced its winning bid to become the UK’s leading authority for six key pan sector areas, covering Business, Administration and Governance, Management, Leadership and Enterprise (including HR), Marketing and Sales, Customer Service, Languages, and Industrial Relations.

As part of our one-stop-shop approach to supporting pan sector work across the UK, the CfA will act as the lead partner alongside the following organisations, ensuring the Partnership is capable of delivering high quality performance and value for money in six pan sector areas:
CFE Research and Consulting, the National Centre for Languages (CILT), the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), Customer First, Direct Selling Association (DSA), the Institute of Administrative Management (IAM), the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM), the Institute of Professional Administration (IPA), Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative (SFEDI), The Performance Group Ltd (TPGL) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

To find out more please click here

We need you – request for contributions

In order to make our publications and communications relevant, up-to-date, interesting and useful, the CfA is keen to source eBriefing contributions from you, our readers.

Your contributions could be in the form of a case study about one of your apprentices or on the wider work you are doing with apprentices. It could be a snapshot of a project you are working on or even relevant industry news, that you think we would all benefit from knowing.

We'd be delighted to feature you in upcoming editions of the eBriefing - so come on contact us now!

CfA events

conference If you’re involved in the delivery of Business & Administration qualifications, across the four nations, then these are the events for you. Last week we held workshops in London and Leeds and have even more coming up in the next two weeks, to help you prepare to implement the new Business & Administration qualifications.

All events take place from 10.00 – 16.00
Cardiff Tuesday 18th May
Belfast Thursday 20th May
Birmingham Monday 24th May
London Tuesday 25th May
Glasgow Thursday 27th May

To reserve your place for this event please CLICK HERE to access the online store.

Please also remember that you can request to be invoiced from the store instead of using a credit card. Just select your preference during checkout.

For any event queries please call 020 7091 9620 or email us at sales_marketing@cfa.uk.com

Business & Administration in Bolton

Ben Green, 20 has successfully completed his Apprenticeship Level 2 in Business Administration at Bolton Community College and Business Management Degree at the University of Bolton.

Leaving high school in June 2005, Ben studied for his A-levels at Sixth Form College. In 2007, he successfully secured full-time employment in a supermarket, before securing a Business Administration Apprenticeship at Bolton Community College.

Ben said: “I left college unsure of what I wanted to do, so I got a job in a supermarket while I considered my options. I had a few friends who worked in administration and I liked the sound of an office-based role where I could use my communication, organisation and ICT skills.

“After some initial research, I decided a Business Administration Apprenticeship would be the perfect entry route because I could get qualified, earn money and gain valuable work experience at the same time.”

Click here to find out more and read about Ben’s recent promotion!

Scotland gets £30m boost

Did you know that over 30,000 people in Scotland are set to benefit from new work or training opportunities? This opportunity follows the Scottish Government successfully securing more than £30 million in European social funding for some 73 projects in Scotland that will help people to train and develop their skills either to find or go further in their employment field.

Please click here to find out more

EDI Business & Administration Qualifications

EDI Logo EDI is currently working with the CfA to migrate both the current NVQs and VRQs onto the QCF framework. It is expected that both sets of new qualifications will be available for centres from 1 August 2010.

The developments in these qualifications will provide improved choice and flexibility for learners. The current NVQ qualifications will be replaced by a total of nine qualifications across the four levels. These qualifications will retain the ‘NVQ’ title and offer a choice of different sizes of qualifications. The qualifications being developed are:

EDI Level 1 NVQ Award/Certificate in Business and Administration

EDI Level 2 NVQ Award/Certificate/Diploma in Business and Administration

EDI Level 3 NVQ Certificate/Diploma in Business and Administration

EDI Level 4 NVQ Certificate/Diploma in Business and Administration

The current VRQ qualifications will be replaced by a certificate sized ‘knowledge’ qualification at each level. The new qualifications will include optional units for the first time enabling learners to tailor the qualification to their own interests and future career.

If you would like more information about the Business and Administration QCF suite of qualifications, please contact EDI Customer Enquiries enquiries@ediplc.com.

visit EDI

Delivering Diplomas Magazine

The Spring 2010 issue of Delivering Diplomas magazine, dedicated to the 14 to 19 Diploma is now available.
With practical advice and guidance to support anyone involved in the Diploma, it showcases detailed case studies from all members of the Diploma consortia, plus comment and advice from key organisations and government agencies, and the latest Diploma news and policy information.

Among some of the topics featured in this issue of Delivering Diplomas are:

Practical case studies of PLTS, Extended Project, and Work Experience in action
A look at the most common Diploma questions being asked by practitioners
A main feature on Functional Skills, assessing what exactly being “functional” means
Advice for examiners, looking at appealing marks, internal moderation, and rewriting exam board assignments
A research report analysing the Diplomas programme, this issue focusing on why students have chosen to study a Diploma
Advice on delivering ASL and PLTS

Visit the website at www.deliveringdiplomas.com to register and receive every issue.

Apprenticeship Standards for Wales

Wales We are pleased to inform you that the Draft Specification of Apprenticeship Standards for Wales has now been published on the Welsh Assembly Government website.

It lays out the minimum requirements that need to be met by recognised Welsh apprenticeship frameworks and can be found here

Question of the month

Q: Are there any proxy qualifications or relaxation rules for Functional Skills?

A: The CfA can confirm that there are no proxy qualifications for Functional Skills. To ensure a smooth transition from Key Skills to Functional Skills, the government is extending the relaxation rule that currently applies for Key Skills so that learners starting an Apprenticeship before September 2016 will satisfy the Apprenticeship requirement for the relevant Functional Skills qualification if they have achieved the below within the previous five years and before September 2012:

Key Skills communication at the equivalent level or GCSE English (Grades A* - C) or A level or AS Level English Language or Literature (Graded A – E)
Key Skills Application of Number at the equivalent level or GCSE Maths (Grades A* - C) or A Level or AS Level Maths, Pure Maths or Further Maths (Grades A* - E)

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In this month's issue