Vocational Qualifications (QCF, NVQ, NQF) Business Skills Level 1-3. OCR Report to Centres

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1 Vocational Qualifications (QCF, NVQ, NQF) Business Skills Level 1-3 Business Skills Level 1 Award Business Skills Level 1 Certificate Business Skills Level 2 Award Business Skills Level 2 Certificate Business Skills Level 2 Diploma Business Skills Level 3 Award Business Skills Level 3 Certificate Business Skills Level 3 Diploma OCR Report to Centres Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations

2 OCR (Oxford Cambridge and RSA) is a leading UK awarding body, providing a wide range of qualifications to meet the needs of candidates of all ages and abilities. OCR qualifications include AS/A Levels, Diplomas, GCSEs, Cambridge Nationals, Cambridge Technicals, Functional Skills, Key Skills, Entry Level qualifications, NVQs and vocational qualifications in areas such as IT, business, languages, teaching/training, administration and secretarial skills. It is also responsible for developing new specifications to meet national requirements and the needs of students and teachers. OCR is a not-for-profit organisation; any surplus made is invested back into the establishment to help towards the development of qualifications and support, which keep pace with the changing needs of today s society. This report on the examination provides information on the performance of candidates which it is hoped will be useful to teachers in their preparation of candidates for future examinations. It is intended to be constructive and informative and to promote better understanding of the specification content, of the operation of the scheme of assessment and of the application of assessment criteria. Reports should be read in conjunction with the published question papers and mark schemes for the examination. OCR will not enter into any discussion or correspondence in connection with this report. OCR 2014

3 CONTENTS Vocational Qualifications (QCF, NVQ, NQF) Business Skills Level 1 Award Business Skills Level 1 Certificate Business Skills Level 2 Award Business Skills Level 2 Certificate Business Skills Level 2 Diploma `Business Skills Level 3 Award Business Skills Level 3 Certificate Business Skills Level 3 Diploma OCR REPORT TO CENTRES Content Page Business Skills Level 1-3 1

4 OCR Report to Centres June 2014 Business Skills Level The qualifications and standards Structure and content Assessment Team: All qualifications in this suite closed for registration at the end of 2013 and as a result the number of centres operating them is progressively reducing as they complete the qualifications with their learners. Those centres now delivering have consolidated their expertise and with the advice from EQAs have ironed out any issues that related to the assessment that had existed. The general feedback is that centres assess the qualifications well and where they use Real Work Environments (RWE) these are appropriate and work well. There are sufficient numbers of assessors on the teams to deal with the learners. Generally occupational competence is not an issue as the bulk of units are taken from Business and Administration or Customer service and the assessors also work on these qualifications. It is reported that the requirements for CPD are met and well documented. Resources: The centres with the largest numbers of registrations are colleges and these have all required resources available. The majority of centres use RWE or placements to gather evidence. The bulk of learners are on level 1 and 2 and these are used as developmental programmes to help gain employment. RWEs are checked by the EQA and generally these are found to be suitable and some are very good quality. Health and Safety is checked at visits and centres are meeting the requirements. Other resources are mainly staff and portfolios. EQAs report that generally portfolios are good and easy to follow with many centres creating standard formats to help the learners and staff involved. Candidate Support: EQAs report that support and guidance for learners is good and this is confirmed through interviews with learners. This is helped by the fact that most are college based courses with regular attendance and taught elements. Inductions have been of good quality although there have obviously been no new starters since the end of last year. As most courses have been developed in colleges the units selected are often set by the centre and the programmes managed accordingly. Where this is not the case it is clear that units have been selected by assessors working with the learners though initial assessment activities. Assessment and Verification: EQAs report that assessment is suitable and earlier issues around classroom based assessments have been addressed and are no longer a factor. The bulk of the assessment is through the use of work placements or RWE managed by the centres. 1

5 OCR Report to Centres June 2014 It remains that the majority of the units taken are from Business and Administration and Customer Service with some from the ITQ suite. These are assessed to the relevant assessment strategies of the parent qualifications. Reports indicate that full use is made of the variety of assessment methods and observation continues to be well conducted and recorded. The use of activity logs in placements has continued to be a good source of evidence and an effective way to manage the placements and evidence gathering. In general the findings of the EQA visits are that the assessment of these qualifications is well conducted. IQA has been undertaken appropriately and at suitable levels of sampling and other activities. Management Systems and Records: EQAs have found that the reaming centres received good management support for the delivery of these qualifications even though they are being discontinued and that a representative of management is often present for all or part of visits. They have suitable systems in place to track and monitor learner progress. EQAs report that centres generally prepare well for the visits and provide suitable information to enable visit planning by the EQA. Visits are well conducted and all required information is provided for the EQA. Centre s have appropriate policies and procedures in place for the delivery of the qualifications and associated activities. Assessment Summary: With slowly reducing numbers the levels of sampling by EQAs has often been at a high percentage regularly 100%. Only a small number of centres who have DCS used it. Most of the sampling has been on completed portfolios with no new registrations. EQAs have gained a good view of how the centre is operating and assessment is conducted which overall has been of a good standard. 2. Sector Developments Business Skills Qualifications are very much cross sector skill areas drawing from Business and Administration, Customer Service, Management, ITQ, and some other related qualifications in the same sectors. There is no particular legislation or regulations that relate specifically to the qualification or the sectors involved. The qualifications closed for registration at the end of 2013 and for levels 1-2 the final certification date is the 31 st December Centres will need to ensure that all claims are made, EQA visits conducted and the claims processed before this date. For level 3 the certificate date runs a further 6 months until the end of June

6 OCR (Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations) 1 Hills Road Cambridge CB1 2EU OCR Customer Contact Centre Education and Learning Telephone: Facsimile: general.qualifications@ocr.org.uk For staff training purposes and as part of our quality assurance programme your call may be recorded or monitored Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations is a Company Limited by Guarantee Registered in England Registered Office; 1 Hills Road, Cambridge, CB1 2EU Registered Company Number: OCR is an exempt Charity OCR (Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations) Head office Telephone: Facsimile: OCR 2014