Doubt cast over future of NVQs

Training board leaders are sounding alarm bells over the future of NVQs. There are fears that the Government is set on scrapping or, at best, downgrading the qualifications which are the cornerstone of site skills accreditation and the pay structure.

Nick Gooderson, head of standards and qualifications at ConstructionSkills, told CJ: “Employers in our sector are getting concerned that qualifications that they know and value are being downgraded as part of the reform programme in England. In Scotland, currently undertaking similar qualification reform work, a more pragmatic approach has been taken whereby they have opted to retain their equivalent SVQ.

“On the face of it the new framework could lead to more bureaucracy and costs at a time when everyone is having to tighten their belts.”

Gooderson said: “We have strongly communicated our thoughts on the matter to the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills and we await a response.”

The training board chief described NVQs as an essential part of the construction training infrastructure.

He added: “They underpin the industry’s qualifying the workforce drive and are a vital requisite for workers to gain professional accreditation through the CSCS and affiliated schemes. Any plans to reduce the importance of NVQs as a qualification in its own right will present problems for the UK’s largest industry.”

Daniel Hunt, policy director at the Federation of Master Builders, said the introduction of the new system of diplomas meant that qualifications had become a grey area. 

“It is all very unclear at the moment,” he said, “although the draft Apprenticeship Bill is very supportive of traditional apprenticeships which are NVQ-based.”