NVQ vs a Masters???

colino

OK for clarity, NVQs were set up to be building blocks of attainment and recognition of skills in particular vocational fields. At their heart they were designed to demonstrate uniform competence in specific skill sets and, additionally, be transferable skills that as a career developed, could easily join together to form a coherent roadmap of attainment.
Fast forward to where we are now, a level 1 is for those that are able to write their own name, level 2 is to give an award for something so palpably common sense, the college/employer would sack the individual working through it if they failed to meet its standards.
Expanding on my original point, not only is this employer backward in failing to recognise the greater commitment, intellectual capabilities and mindset of a Masters attainer over the NVQ employee, they probably aren't the type of employer you would want to be working for.

Breezay

Turner1974 wrote: »

Like I said, I've helped teach NVQ LV 2 in health and social care for a full year. So I do understand the difference. And don't fool yourselves into thinking the 'V' in NVQ (lv 2)is a massive chunk of the course.The vocational part of the course is extremely limited. They have one unit(unit 5) where they do 60 hours in the field, and even this is optional(you can do unit 11 instead).Think I'd understand more if it was level 3, because that does warrant the V in it's title.
I get what you're all saying though, they want proof. Just find it strange that she could teach NVQ 2 with her masters but still doesn't qualify for it.

I have an AVCE in Health & Social Care.. It's Level 3 (So equivalent to A Levels) & I didn't have to do any actual vocational skills! My course was entirely coursework based.. So even at Level 3, there are no guarantees that there will be any training. Funnily, I got a job in a care home.. They didn't offer me any more than minimum wage, although apparently it would go up after a short while. No one was being paid more than min. wage, even those with the NVQs in H&S Care. The home I was at offered to train people with NVQ Level 2 in H&S Care, but obviously as I had a Level 3 qualification, it wasn't really relevant to me.

I think they're having her on a bit. If they do offer her the training, make sure that she won't have to pay for it (I was told if I did any extra training under my current qualifications, that I would probably have to fund it & so was told to lie about what I had already - by the home!). And of course, if she does have to fund it herself, make sure it's worthwhile by making sure she would definitely receive a pay rise by having the qualification.

Homes can be quite difficult to work in.. I left the one I was at because they kept putting me in situations that I hadn't been trained to handle. Like asking me to lift residents or leaving me in a room with 10-15 residents at a time. If someone had got hurt, I wouldn't have been covered by their insurance & I wouldn't be able to help them. Something that seemed to concern me more than it did the manager of the home. I ended up leaving because I didn't feel as though I was being looked after & because of that, I didn't feel as though I could adequately care for the residents. It was awful, the residents were so lovely, I just couldn't put them at risk like that.

wantsajob

If her Masters is that useful, perhaps she could get a job at a higher level with higher pay, where they won't moan about crappy NVQ's.

Blackpool_Saver

why would a person with a masters want to work as a care assistant?

Person_one

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

why would a person with a masters want to work as a care assistant?

I'd hazard a guess that 'want' hasn't really come into it.

Employment situation isn't the best at the moment, haven't you heard?

dorsetlady

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

why would a person with a masters want to work as a care assistant?

She probably doesn't want to but it may be the only job she can get. I have an ordinary degree and have to work as a health care assistant.

Blackpool_Saver

Person_one wrote: »

I'd hazard a guess that 'want' hasn't really come into it.

Employment situation isn't the best at the moment, haven't you heard?

no, wasn't aware of it to be honest.........

Turner1974

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

why would a person with a masters want to work as a care assistant?

She doesn't want to, but it's not a good time for finding work.So it will do until something better turns up

Torry_Quine

I'm surprised that all they want is level II as it really isn't much at all. My cousin got his SVQ III with his work and it didn't increase his wage at all so good to hear that being trained can make a difference.

I think that what she needs to do is show the work that she did for her masters which is equivalent to the level II which I wouldn't think would be difficult. If however she has to do it it really won't take much time at all. When my cousin did his level III it took only a few months.

Aesop

Turner1974 wrote: »

My fiancee recently got a job with a care home after several months of looking for work. They told her that for a £1 more an hour she needs an NVQ level 2 in health and social care. She told them she doesn't have it but does have a Masters in social care. They told her that this wasn't enough and she couldn't have the pay increase. I've helped teach NVQ2 health and social care before at a local college so know it's pretty basic stuff. Am I right in thinking they're just ripping her off or is there a specific reason why a masters isn't sufficient?

I work for a training company and firstly, NVQs no longer exist.

They have been taken over by Diplomas in the relevant subject, ie Diploma in Health and Social Care.

Or the company may want your Fiancee to undertake an Apprenticeship in Health and Social Care.

Your Fiancee would only need to do a Level 2, unless she was working in a supervisory/management position, in which case she would need to do a Level 3.

http://www.businessballs.com/nvqs_national_vocational_qualifications.htm

http://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/qualifications_and_training/N_V_Q/NVQ_and_knowledge_sets.aspx

It was my understanding though, if you have a qualification which is higher than the Diploma you wish to study for you, are not eligible to study it? Although this may be for government funding purposes. I suppose if you wanted to do a qualification and were prepared to pay for it, it wouldn't matter if you had a higher qualification.

A masters is equivalent to a Level 5 Diploma, which would make it higher than an Level 2.


Although a Diploma/NVQ/Apprenticeship proves competency in the job and it may be this particular care home prefers their employees to have this qualification. If they are prepared to pay for your Fiancee to undertake the study, I would do it, but if they are not, then she can refuse.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/QualificationsExplained/DG_10039029