In this month's issue

CfA award 1 million S/NVQ certificates

The CfA’s latest S/NVQ statistics reveal that Business & Administration has hit a very important milestone. Over 1 million S/NVQ certificates in Business & Administration have now been awarded.

Since their introduction in 1987, S/NVQs have grown significantly in both popularity and status, with more and more people now opting for a vocational learning route. The occupational area of Business & Administration is increasingly a popular choice for learners of all ages as it is recognised as being a good option in gaining fundamental business skills which can also be transferred into many other occupational areas.

Over the years, the CfA has seen the role of the Business Administrator transform considerably. The development of technology and the implementation of anti-discrimination laws have had a huge impact. Today, there is a diverse range of roles available to workers with Business & Administration skills. Today’s Business Administrators are highly skilled and play an essential role in all UK companies.

Jenny Hewell, CEO at CfA commented: “I am delighted that we have reached this very significant milestone. The CfA has worked hard over the last decade to champion the role of the Business Administrator and ensure they receive the recognition they truly deserve. We are now seeing a lot of welcomed change in the sector with more and more young people taking up Business & Administration S/NVQs and Apprenticeships.”

Go to CfA website

Revised L3 Student Handbooks available for pre-order

The Second Edition of the CfA’s Level 3 Student Handbook is now available to pre-order.

Full of useful information, this revised edition of the Student Handbook covers ALL units at Level 3, incorporating all 2007 Standards Incremental Change modifications. The Handbook clarifies the skills that candidates will be expected to develop for each unit and demonstrates real life examples of working situations that will enable candidates to generate evidence. The user-friendly assessment exercises ensure that candidates are fully conversant with life in the office environment.

Visit http://www.cfa.uk.com/shop_online.html to pre-order your copy. The Level 3 Second Edition will be available for despatch before Christmas.

Go to the CfA online shop

YA cohort 5 proposals

If you are planning to submit a proposal for cohort 5 of the Young Apprenticeship programme, you should now be aware that all bid documents are now available to download from the LSC YA campaign website. Please click in the link below to access:

http://217.160.210.43/lsc_campaignresources/login.asp

Deadline for submissions is 12pm Monday 3rd December, no submissions will be accepted after this time.

The CfA will be reviewing all proposals between 3rd and 14th December. Contrary to previous cohorts, this year's proposal submissions will not be returned for further information. The proposals will be judged on the information provided only therefore please ensure all appropriate information is included on final submission.

If you would like guidance or assistance prior to submitting your final proposal on 3rd December, please feel free to contact me on 020 7091 9626 or by email at sara.vanderheld@cfa.uk.com

Email Sara

Scotland consultation: Revision of BAMA framework

This month the CfA began its review of the 2005 Business & Administration Modern Apprenticeship (BAMA) framework for Scotland.

The CfA is consulting with Scottish employers, learning providers, apprentices and key stakeholders to review the current components of the BAMA framework.

To take part in this review please download the relevant questionnaire from below.

	Employer questionnaire
	Current BAMA apprentice questionnaire
	BAMA graduate questionnaire
	Training provider and key stakeholder questionnaire

This is an important consultation and we urge learning providers to actively encourage your employers and apprentices to take part in this review.

For further information about the review, please contact Kelly Saliba on 020 7091 9635.

Email Kelly

PLTS & CT events - places available in leeds

There are still places available for the PLTS (Personal, Learning & Thinking Skills) and CT (Critical Thinking) event in Leeds. However, places are limited so do make sure you secure your place soon.

The event will introduce PLTS and CT as concepts and will demonstrate how these methods can be used in the delivery of qualifications.

This event will take place in Leeds on 22nd Nov 2007 at the Park Plaza Hotel from 10.30am until 3.30pm.

For further information regarding this event, please contact Sara Vanderheld on 020 7091 9626.

Email Sara

Consultation: Incremental Change

The CfA is currently consulting on the proposed incremental changes to the Business & Administration National Occupational Standards (NOS).

Moving forward, annual changes will be made to the standards rather than once every 3 years, as previously. This change in approach has been designed to ensure that the standards are constantly evaluated, are fit for purpose in today’s business environment and meet employers needs across all sectors in England, Wales, NI and Scotland.

There is still time to take part in the consultation and have your say, please download and fill in the consultation questionnaire and fax back to Sara Vanderheld on 020 7091 7340.

Deadline: Friday 23rd November 2007

Download questionnaire

City & Guilds and ILEX - working in partnership

The City & Guilds Certificate and Diploma for Legal Secretaries are now both recognised by the CfA as technical certificates for Business & Administration apprenticeship frameworks.

These popular qualifications are offered by City & Guilds in association with their partner, ILEX (the Institute of Legal Executives), and they are currently running an ambitious marketing campaign to raise awareness.

To learn more about these qualifications, visit the City & Guilds website www.cityandguilds.com, enter 7462 in the search engine and follow the links to Legal Secretaries.

Benefits of these qualifications include:

	ILEX's reputation means these qualifications are the standard against which others are judged
	widely recognised by employers and used for recruitment purposes
	over 130 centres throughout the UK with wide distribution
	can be delivered full time, part time or as distance learning programmes
	mapped to Level 2/Level 3 NVQs in Business & Administration
	allows exemptions when undertaking higher level ILEX professional programmes
	completely new syllabus/assessment for legal Secretaries from September 2007
	essential online resources for tutors downloadable from website
	well supported by course books available direct from ILEX
	assignments available free direct from City & Guilds' website

Go to City & Guilds website

Diploma Update

BAF Diploma (Business, Administration and Finance)

In November, the Diploma Development Partnership (DDP) will look at specification submissions from awarding bodies. Awarding bodies are in the process of developing specification for accreditation during the spring term. Schools, colleges and learning providers, who will deliver the diploma, need the support of local employers. If you think you could lend practical support to the delivery of this new qualification, please contact Anna Lemmon on 020 7091 9632.

Diploma in Public Services

The Diploma Development Partnership (DDP), based on consultation with employers, has developed the draft content of the Diploma. In order to finalise this content, the DDP will hold three regional consultation events at the beginning of next year, the first of which will take place in York on the 10th of January. Keep reading the CfA eBriefing for further details.

Email Anna

To subscribe to the CfA eBriefing, please email tracie.jaiswal@cfa.uk.com

The CfA is not responsible for the content of any external links from this newsletter.

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