National Qualifications

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National qualifications are built up of unit standards. Almost all qualifications have compulsory unit standards that must be completed. Qualifications may also have elective sections where you are required to complete a minimum number of unit standards or credits from a list.

Some qualifications have a structure which has a core section and strands. The core may have compulsory or elective unit standards which cover generic skills applicable to all trainees. All trainees need to complete the requirements of the core section of a qualification. The strands may have compulsory or elective unit standards that focus on a specific subject area. Trainees choose one strand only and compete the requirements of that strand.

What is a unit standard?
A unit standard describes the skills and knowledge needed to complete a unit of work and the standard of performance to be reached. All unit standards are registered on the National Qualifications Framework, assigned a level and a credit value, and may contribute to the award of a National Certificate or Diploma.

What is a compulsory unit standard?
A compulsory unit standard must be completed for a person to achieve the requirements of that section of the qualification.

What is an elective unit standard (strand)?
These are unit standards a trainee can elect (or choose) from a group of unit standards. You, will have to choose enough of them to add up to the credits required to complete your course. Being able to select unit standards from the elective groups allows you and your employer to build a qualification that meets the needs of both of you.

Levels
Each unit is given a level (from 1 to 10) according to the difficulty or complexity involved in achieving the unit. Qualifications are also given a level based on the level of the unit standards that make up the qualification.

Credits
Unit standards are also given a credit rating which indicates the time it should take to learn the unit content. Each credit is estimated to take about 10 hours of learning. The 10 hours includes: prior knowledge, class or instruction time, time to process information, time to practice a skill and time spent being assessed for competency.

Qualifications have a total number of credits to be reached to be awarded the qualification.

Can you transfer credits between qualifications?
Credits can be transferred to any other number of qualifications. For example, say two National Certificates require the same computing skills - both qualifications will contain he same unit standard which counts towards both.

Training and Assessment
Most companies will have workplace trainer/assessors who can train and/or assess performance in unit standards. FITEC provides assessment materials for most unit standards. Where units require additional training to that learnt by doing the job, FITEC often provides training materials to assist in delivering this training . Training providers (polytechnics and other private establishments) may provide training and assessment away from work for some unit standards.