Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

ITO
CPQs
LCP
RCC
RPL
Cross Crediting, RCC and RPL
Workplace Verification - What is Workplace Verification?
Workplace Verifiers
Workplace Assessors
Employer Specific Qualifications
Gaining Unit Standards outside of Qualifications
Workplace Assessors
Support Resources
Workplace Literacy Project
Providers

ITO

What do ITO's do?

Provide leadership within the sector/industry on matters relating to workforce skills and training:

• to develop and action strategic workforce plans to assist the sector or industry to meet current and future competencies/training needs
• to work with the sector to set standards, establish national qualifications and monitor the assessment of those standards
• to manage the delivery of training

ITOs do not deliver training - the coaching/training/mentoring/learning support is the workplace's responsibility (either employing someone or contracting the service in)
ITOs do support workplaces to: embed a culture of learning and development into everyday systems and activities; assess competencies; build learning pathways; and register credits and national qualifications.

CPQs

What does CPQs stand for?

Career Pathway Qualifications - a series of qualifications from levels 2 - 5+ established by Careerforce on behalf of the health and disability sectors.

LCP

What does LCP stand for?

Limited Credit Programme - a TEC description for a set of unit standards equalling a minimum of 20 credits and contributing towards a National Certificate.

RCC

What is RCC?

RCC is recognition of current competencies. Current competencies can be seen on the job by a workplace verifier or workplace assessor. RCC is also the process whereby the trainee provides evidence to Careerforce, via their workplace, of their existing skills and knowledge to meet the competencies in a unit standard. Where matches of evidence to competencies are established unit standards can be awarded. Workplaces may use their own training material and related evidence of competency to recognise current competencies. Careerforce will benchmark the evidence against the unit standards and identify where the evidence meets the competencies and where the gaps. The gaps can then be filled by either the workplace adding to its materials or using Careerforce resources. This process is sometimes referred to as recognising training evidence.

RPL

What is RPL?

RPL is recognition of prior learning. This is a process whereby a person who has an existing national or international qualification is requesting that Careerforce compare the competencies in that qualification with Careerforce unit standards or a Careerforce qualification. The currency of the knowledge also needs to be ascertained. Where there are relevant competencies then unit standards or a full qualification can be given. This is typically an expensive and timely process for individuals.

Cross crediting, RCC and RPL

What is Cross Crediting?

Cross crediting is analysing if one or more unit standard/s meet the requirements of a current unit standard/s.

What is the procedure for all RCC, RPL and Cross Crediting requests?

The applicant will complete an application form clarifying what they want, what evidence they have to support their application and how they believe the evidence they have meets the competencies they are asking for.

There is an application fee of $150 payable in advance. This will pay for a contractor to complete an initial analysis of the information and to produce a report. The report will identify the actions required to proceed with the application for example, the additional evidence and the amount of time required to analyse the additional information and evidence. This subsequent time will be charged at an hourly fee, set between the applicant and the contractor and paid directly to the contractor. Upon receiving the report the applicant can decide whether to proceed or not.

Once the process has been completed the contractor reports the results to Careerforce who reports the results to NZQA.

Are there any cross crediting fee exceptions?

If all the unit standard/s the applicant is asking to have cross credited are or have been managed by Careerforce then Careerforce will complete this work. In this instance there is no fee including no application fee. The applicant still needs to complete the form identifying the unit standards to be cross credited.

If the applicant wishes to have unit standards which are not managed by Careerforce cross credited to Careerforce CPQ unit standards and these have already been confirmed as permissible cross credits, then Careerforce will do the cross crediting charging a $30 administration fee per application. An application can include more than one unit standard. If the cross credit requests have not been analysed then the cross crediting RPL process applies including the application fee of $150.

Workplace verification

Workplace verification is:

1. Capturing naturally occurring evidence in the workplace to confirm urrent competencies.
2. Capturing naturally occurring evidence in the workplace to confirm transference of knowledge and skills or learnings into practice.
3. Confirms practice meets organisation's policies and procedures.

Workplace verifiers

What is a workplace verifier?

Someone in the workplace who has agreed with their workplace to take on the role of verifying workers competencies. They are someone who:

1. Knows what competency (skill, knowledge, attitude) they are verifying.
2. Knows the standard the competency has to meet and will record the results.
3. Knows and can apply the organisation's policies and procedures.
4. Knows who they are verifying and is prepared to give feedback to that person.
5. Has a workplace role which allows them to see or hear the competency as part of their everyday work.
6. Will record and report results to meet moderation requirements.
7. A workplace verifier is generally not an assessor and could be a client or consumer as long as they can meet the above requirements.
8. Workplace verifiers get supervised by workplace assessors.

Workplace assessors

What is the role of new workplace assessors?

1. Overseeing workplace verification and supporting workplace verifiers.
2. Supporting moderation processes
3. Formal assessment as required
4. Coaching, mentoring especially with regard to not yet achieved outcomes
5. Managing marking if required by the workplace.

Employer specific qualifications

Can we set up a specific programme for an employer?

IN 2006, TEC confirmed that courses that have been developed for a specific employer or courses that are restricted to the staff of a specific employer are ineligible for student component funding. Careerforce is supporting the intent of this and will no longer develop specific employer requested qualifications but will develop qualifications that are part of the pan sector learning/competencies pathway.

Gaining unit standards outside of qualifications

Will Careerforce register a unit standard for a trainee that is outside of the qualification they are working towards or have completed?

Yes as long as the unit is one of the units in a current Careerforce qualification.

• Once the core competencies national qualification is available it will only be possible to register units belonging to Careerforce (units that are only in the Mental Health qualifications are not included).
• The trainee needs to be either continuing or completed, not terminated.
• The workplace needs to confirm they have a workplace assessor or roving assessor who can assess this unit before any trainees complete the one unit standard training agreement. All assessment fees must be covered by either the employer or trainee.
• All trainees then complete a one unit standard training agreement and include their full payment of $40.
• No refunds will be available.

Workplace Assessors

If someone does not have 4098 what experience would be recognised as equivalent?

All Careerforce workplace assessors are required to hold unit standard 4098 or have had their equivalent skills and knowledge confirmed before they begin their workplace assessing. Anyone wanting to have their equivalent skills and knowledge confirmed need to contact the Qualifications team on 0800 277 486.

Equivalent skills and knowledge will be judged to meet requirements where evidence can be presented of training and/or extensive experience in assessing against unit standard competencies. Teaching or other qualifications that do not specifically and adequately cover this kind of assessment will not be considered equivalent to having achieved 4098.

Please note Careerforce is developing a new workplace assessor programme. The above will be reviewed as part of that development. It is likely that all workplace assessors will need 4098 in the future.

Support resources

Will education providers be able to use the workbooks developed as part of the HBSS Training Initiative

Yes, because the workbooks were funded by the MoH education providers will be able to gain access to them. It is anticipated that once the home-based revised foundation workbooks have been completed education providers will be able to have them as a PDF type file or one compatible with what printers require, enabling them to print off copies for their own use.

Workplace Literacy Project

What is its purpose?

• To work with health providers and their support workers to identify opportunities to improve workplace literacy, including developing a sustainable model that will enable them to support their workers to engage in workplace based learning and assessment.
• To upskill industry trainers on workplace literacy needs to support trainees doing the National Certificate in Community Support Services (Foundation Skills)
• To monitor resource issues, processes and trainee movements to help develop stronger communication, reading, writing and critical thinking skills within the sector.

Who is funding it?

The Tertiary Education Commission, via the Embedded Foundation Learning Fund 2006

Who is involved?

• Health and Disability Providers (nationwide) and their employees

When is it happening?

Preparation: November 2006 - February 2007

Stage 1: Pilot: has nearly finished and the learning's from stage one are being incorporated into stage 2.

Stage 2: Trial: Planning for stage two is underway with an anticipated start date of November 2007. Any health or disability provider interested in participating should contact their Careerforce Workplace Advisor.

Providers

The term provider, accreditation and certification are used by both health and disability providers. What are the differences?

Education providers are organisations delivering training (teaching) and assessment)
Education providers wanting to deliver training and assessment are required to get NZQA registration and ITO (such as Careerforce) or other Standard Setting Body approval of their accreditation application in order to be able to assess against the unit standards managed by the ITO or Standard Setting Body.

NZQA maintains that the "accreditation process checks that an establishment sis capable of operating its own quality management system and meeting its obligations. NZQA accreditation checks whether an establishment, through its systems for the management of quality, has the capability to assess against unit standards within specified fields.
(http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/providers/qualas.html)

Health and disability providers are organisations providing health and disability related services to clients, consumers, tangata whaiora.Health provider certification is a process whereby health and disability service providers undergo an external audit process to determine their compliance with specific New Zealand Standards. Currently, certification is mandatory for all hospitals, "old people's homes' and residential homes for people with disabilities, which need to meet the following standards:

Health and Disability Sector Standards: NZS8134: 2001
Infection Control: NZS8142: 2000
Restraint Minimisation and Safe Practice: NZS8141: 2001

Hospitals, old people's homes and residential homes for people with disabilities that provide mental health services also need to meet the following Standard:

National Mental Health Sector Standard: NZS8143: 2001

This Certification is mandatory under the Health and Disability Services (Safety) Act 2001, and can be awarded by the Ministry of Health for periods of up to 3 years, with specific review periods and conditions based on the audit outcomes.

Certification is also a term used to describe an organisation that has implemented the ISO9001: 2000 Quality Management System. This is a voluntary certification process.

In addition (and confusingly) the term accreditation is used to describe achievement of other voluntary standards - most commonly Alcohol and Drug, Accident and Medical Clinic Standards and Home and Community Support Sector standards.

The terms are often used interchangeable, but there is a key difference according to whether the certification/accreditation is a voluntary or mandatory process.