Qualification frameworks
The framework for higher education qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FHEQ) was first published in 2001 and revised in 2008. It has five levels - numbered 4 to 8, with bachelor’s degrees located within level 6, master’s degrees in level 7 and doctorates in level 8. A similar higher education qualifications framework was agreed for Scotland in 2001. Its different number of levels reflect the different education system, but the two frameworks share many common purposes and features, including common structures, qualifications titles and qualifications descriptors at postgraduate levels.
These two frameworks are an integral part of quality assurance in higher education. Higher education institutions use them in planning, delivering and monitoring their study programmes and the awards that come from them, and external quality assurance procedures focus directly on how effectively institutions manage their use of the frameworks.
The numbering of the FHEQ levels correspond with levels 4 to 8 in the National Qualifications Framework (NQF)/Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) for the vocational qualifications system and can assist with transfer and progression between different levels and types of study. The FHEQ also aligns with the Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher Education Area to assist students’ and graduates’ international mobility.
The FHEQ is based on the concept that qualifications are awarded for the demonstrated achievement of learning outcomes and attainment, rather than the length or content of study. It provides the basis for a shared understanding, for higher education and its key stakeholders, of the link between standards and qualification levels. It aims to support a consistency of approach and transparency about expectations for students and employers by providing a series of general qualification descriptors which summarise the levels of knowledge and understanding and the types of abilities that holders of different qualifications are likely to have.
Credit frameworks
Credit is a means, used by many higher education institutions for a substantial number of years, of quantifying the amount or volume and complexity of work normally associated with learning outcomes. In the United Kingdom (UK) the unit is based on 10 notional hours of learning – knowing that some learners will take more and some less time. The difficulty or complexity associated with the learning is represented by a level numbered like the FHEQ from 4 to 8 and the NQF/QCF from 1 to 8. The credit level descriptors used across the UK are generally derived from those developed through the Northern Ireland Credit Accumulation and Transfer System (NICATS) project.
Both Scotland and Wales have integrated credit and qualifications frameworks. In England and Northern Ireland, various large consortia have shared approaches to credit practices for many years, using a common 'language' to support curriculum development within and between institutions, and through this supporting consistency in approach to standards.
Credit provides a tool for describing and comparing learning in terms of volume and intellectual demand and can therefore assist students in planning and accumulating learning towards an award. Credit can also help in transfer between institutions (both nationally and internationally) if students wish or need to interrupt their studies or move.
In 2008, QAA, on behalf of the Credit Issues Development Group (established by the Burgess Group), published the Higher education credit framework for England: guidance on higher education credit arrangements in England following consultation with the sector and other bodies. Those institutions in England that elect to use credit are encouraged to use this credit framework in conjunction with the FHEQ in order to promote consistency of approach across the sector in the use of credit.
The English higher education credit framework provides advice and guidance on the use of credit in the design of programmes leading to the main qualifications referenced at each of the levels in the FHEQ. It provides advice on the minimum total volume of credit for the qualification and the minimum credit at the level of the award that is typically used in the design of the main qualifications. The credit level can be referenced against its NICATS derived level descriptors.
The English higher education credit framework has been designed to be complementary to the implementation of the FHEQ and it therefore uses the same levels and refers to the main qualification examples in the FHEQ. However, not all higher education institutions in England use credit-based systems in the design and management of curricula and the standards of qualifications. The English higher education credit framework is therefore not an essential or formal part of external quality assurance procedures. However, where a higher education institution uses credit, the management of its use could be discussed and the credit framework would provide an appropriate point of reference.
The Joint Forum for Higher Levels which includes QAA, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, the Learning and Skills Council, the Higher Education Funding Council for England and a range of stakeholders, has developed a set of ‘Overarching principles and shared operational criteria’ for a common approach to credit. These are designed to help those working at the interface between the vocational education and training sector and the higher education sector to develop a common understanding of how credit is used in the two sectors. A number of Lifelong Learning Networks and Skills Pathfinders have begun to use them in support of their work.
August 2008
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