At Care & Development Resources  we support staff to obtain NVQs in Health and Social Care Levels 2, 3 & 4 (in both Children and Young People and Adults), Mentor Award and A1 Assessor Award. We are also able to offer opportunities to undertake Business Administration, Customer Service Levels 2-4 and Registered Managers Award. Our training provider has recently begun to offer Learning Disabilities Framework Induction Award (LDQ) and 7300 Trainer Skills as well.

The qualification undertaken depends on the role of the staff member. The staff member, through their role, provides evidence of their ability to complete the tasks required in their job. By gathering evidence for the performance criteria and knowledge of the NVQ, the staff member will finish the required number of units to complete the whole award.

Primarily, the training provider offers qualifications to all care and nursing home staff. If you work in care within the voluntary, independent and private sector and wish to undertake a NVQ please contact Simon Scott, placement officer,  Tel: 0113 2121360 Email: simon@Care & Development Resourcesesources.co.uk).

There are a number of reasons why some staff are required to undertake an NVQ.

If you work in residential care (children or adults) it is a requirement under Care Standards. Domiciliary workers are required to begin an NVQ within 6 months of working in their role. The need to undertake an NVQ is also written into the contract of other social care workers.

The General Social Care Council is the body that regulates social care workers. They have currently registered all Social Workers and will soon start registering ‘those within the domiciliary care services and their managers’. In order to register staff will be required to obtain a care qualification of which NVQ is one option. 

The level of NVQ offered to you will be appropriate for your role and help you meet these requirements. If you work within a residential care setting you are also regulated by the Care Standards which required staff working in residential settings to hold a care qualification.

If you wish to undertake a non-care related NVQ please contact us to discuss this further.

Advice and guidance on applying for an NVQ can be obtained from the NVQ training provider. Following this you need to discuss your application with your manager. Once it has been agreed that you can undertake an NVQ a date for you to begin can be agreed. This may mean your name is added to a waiting list until the next NVQ group begins.

Staff undertaking a Level 2 or 3 qualification are expected to complete within 12 months. This period can be extended if the NVQ candidate has special needs or due to personal circumstances require additional time.

Each candidate is supported according to their individual needs. Your assessor will work with you to assist you to collect and provide evidence in a manner that works best for you. In some cases we are able to provide additional equipment i.e. Dictaphone to assist the NVQ candidate to provide evidence

All staff undertaking an NVQ are expected to allow at least 2 hours a week of their own time to their own NVQ. 

All staff are supported by their work place to undertake their NVQ for the first 12 months. Staff are allocated 2 hours a week in work time. In some settings this is taken weekly although many NVQ candidates and settings find it better for this to be taken as 8 hours every 4 weeks. This aids the setting to employ relief staff if required.

You will be allocated an Assessor who will support you to produce evidence and complete your NVQ. The Assessor may be someone who has an assessor qualification in your work setting or a Peripatetic Assessor who is attached to the NVQ Team. 

Each candidate is also allocated an Internal Verifier who supports the Assessor and can help the candidate in the Assessor’s absence.

This will be negotiated with your Assessor on an individual basis. They usually meet with their candidates every four weeks.

A work-based Assessor is an Assessor who is based in your work place and will often be a member of your work team. A Peripatetic Assessor is a member of the NVQ Team who will visit you in your work place to assist you to complete your NVQ.

An Internal Verifier usually works as a member of the NVQ Team. Their role is to ensure the quality assurance of all NVQ awards through your assigned training provider. Once a candidate’s unit has been agreed as completed by the Assessor it is given to the Internal Verifier. 

The Internal Verifier then checks the unit and, if s/he agrees with the Assessor's decision, applies for the unit certificate. The Internal Verifier also supports the Assessor in his/her role. 

During the lifetime of a candidate's award the Internal Verifier will visit the candidate and conduct a candidate interview to ensure the candidate is being fully supported to gain their NVQ.

An External Verifier works for the awarding body used by the Assessment Centre. The External Verifier usually visits the Training provider twice a year to ensure the quality assurance of awards for which the training provider is responsible.

 On these occasions the External Verifier will ask to look at a number of candidate files and will meet with a small number of candidates.

There are four core units in a Health and Social Care NVQ (all levels).Your Assessor will assist you to choose units that are applicable to your work role once you have looked at the list of option units.

Evidence is gathered through tasks that you carry out in your work role. The methods used to gather evidence will be planned with your assessor. A number of methods can be used:

Observation - the Assessor observing the candidate during their work activities;
Reflective account - the candidate can write about their work;
Witness Testimony - others with whom the candidate works can write about the candidate’s actions;
Oral and/or written questions;
Discussion – between the assessor and the candidate;
Work products i.e. records made by the candidate.

You do not need to have a computer and it is not necessary to produce your work in a word processed form, although many candidates prefer to do this. All staff should have access to the Internet through their workplace and should have a work email address.

On completion of your award your will get an NVQ Level (depending on the level undertaken). You will also have a certificate showing you have completed your NVQ. Often obtaining a NVQ will be a gateway to other positions or qualifications.

For further information on this please contact Care & Development Resources