National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs)

Brookes offers a range of National Vocational Qualifications to staff interested in gaining qualifications for skills and knowledge used in the work place.

NVQs are practitioner qualifications that are:  themed around units; evidenced via discussion, live examples and observation of tasks performed at work; and assessed by coaches/mentors experienced in your particular field of work.  The units are directly related to the National Occupational Standards (NOS), and the role of your NVQ assessor is to ensure that you gain a good understanding of the NOS descriptors that relate to your field, and then to help you meet the NOS requirements.

NVQs are open to individuals and groups: they are offered as assessment-only processes, or may have development activities added on, by agreement. Many OCSLD workshops are written to mesh with the National Occupational Standards: so can be directly used to provide underpinning knowledge for NVQ units.

NVQ units appear at different levels and these relate to nationally formulated levels as described on page 2 of this link to National Qualifications Framework. In the workplace context, NVQ level is determined by the level of complexity at which you are employing your skills and knowledge, and the level of responsibility that you are taking for others, for resources and for information. OCSLD will consult with you on level as part of your initial discussion around NVQs.

Titles of popular Brookes NVQs can be found below, though there are many hundreds of options and OCSLD can assist with exploration. Mandatory and optional units belonging to each occupational area and level are given, and links to current NOS are provided:

Please note that OCSLD offers NVQs to Oxford Brookes University staff only.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Contact Kay Tillyer by email on ktillyer@brookes.ac.uk or by phone on 01865 485917