Specification for developing options for the specialist pathway(version 2)

Skills for Care Higher Apprenticeship in Care Leadership and Management

This version 2 (October 2013) replaces the ‘working specification’1 used by Higher Education

(HE) providers to design options2 for the Specialist Pathway of the Higher Apprenticeship in

Care Leadership and Management, tested during the Skills for Care Higher Apprenticeship (HA)

project in 2012-13.

A Higher Apprenticeship in Care Leadership and Management may be achieved through either:

� The Higher Apprenticeship in Care Leadership and Management General Pathway

Or

� The Higher Apprenticeship in Care Leadership and Management Specialist Pathway

This specification sets out the Skills for Care requirements for the design of options for the

specialist pathway. This document is in two sections:

Section 1

Background information and guidance: this section describes the Skills for Care HA framework

and requirements for Higher Education (HE) providers planning to design options for the

specialist pathway. A report on the HA project 2012-13 provides more detailed information

and outlines Skills for Care’s planned actions on HAs for 2013-14. You can watch and listen to

employers, higher apprentices and learning providers talk about their experiences of the Skills

for Care HA here: http://vimeo.com/channels/skills4care/

1WORKING SPECIFICATION: Skills For Care Higher Apprenticeship pathways in Higher Education, Skills for Care

November 2012

2There is one specialist pathway in the HA. HE providers design ‘options’ in specialist areas of care knowledge and

skill and incorporate these into a 120 credit Level 5 FHEQ Diploma. The FHEQ Diploma is then listed in the HAF

with others that have been approved as options for achievement of the HA in Care Leadership and Management,

Specialist Pathway.

Skills for Care Higher Apprenticeship in Care Leadership and Management: Specification for developing options for the specialist pathway (Version 2)

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Section 2

Specification pro forma: this section is for completion by HE providers planning to design

options for the specialist pathway. It sets out the information that HE providers will need to

supply to Skills for Care for their plans to be approved. The reader will see in Section 2 that

there are some ‘givens’ – these are expectations that providers will need to meet to fulfil Skills

for Care’s requirements.

Details of how to respond and stages in the process are in section 2.

Skills for Care HA project actions in 2013-14

During the life of the HA project (June 2012 - March 2013), Skills for Care offered support and

guidance to contracted HE provider partners in developing and implementing specialist pathway

options learned from their experience. They shared and reported this learning in September

2013 on the outcomes and next steps.

In 2013 –14 a number of adult social care employers and providers were granted funding to

develop further capacity across England to deliver Skills for Care Higher Apprenticeships, and

to design further options for the specialist pathway. Other HE providers (universities and ‘mixed

economy’ colleges) have expressed an interest in doing the same and Skills for Care will support

these HE providers during 2013-14 in its drive to expand the HA offer across England and

across specialisms in adult social care.

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This flow diagram illustrates possible pathways and progression routes through the Higher Apprenticeship in Care Leadership and Management.

There are two pathways and four possible progression routes through the Higher Apprenticeship. Details of the requirements for each pathway are explained in full in this specification.

Higher Apprenticeship in Care Leadership and Management: pathways and progression routes

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Pathways and progression routes through the Higher Apprenticeship in Care Leadership and Management

There are two pathways, and four routes for the Higher Apprenticeship:

1.The learner follows the Higher Apprenticeship ‘general pathway’ and achieves QCF Level 5 Diploma and a Higher Apprenticeship in Care Leadership and Management.

2.The learner follows the ‘specialist pathway’ and achieves the QCF Level 5 Diploma, a specified Level 5 FHEQ Diploma and a Higher Apprenticeship in Care Leadership and Management.

3.The learner begins their Higher Apprenticeship on the ‘general pathway’. At a point on their learning journey their work role becomes more specialised and they opt to follow the ‘specialist pathway’.

NOTE: The learner may opt to follow the specialist pathway at any point on their learning journey along the ‘general pathway’ towards completion of the HA. They must however make their choice before completion of the Higher Apprenticeship. Under current rules, once certificated, they cannot follow another Higher Apprenticeship with the same overall title; i.e. in this case, in Care Leadership and Management.

4.The learner has achieved the QCF Level 5 Diploma already, outside a Higher Apprenticeship. Within five years of achieving the qualification their work role becomes more specialised and they opt to follow the ‘specialist pathway’ through the Higher Apprenticeship. They claim exemption for achievement of the QCF Level 5 Diploma (as explained in the flow diagram and in detail below); and achieve a specified Level 5 FHEQ Diploma and a Higher Apprenticeship in Care Leadership and Management.

NOTE: HE providers are expected to recognise the validity of the QCF Level 5 Diploma (for exemption purposes) for a minimum of five years, post qualification.

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Section 1: Background information and guidance

1.0 Introduction

A Higher Apprenticeship Framework (HAF) in Care Leadership and Management has been developed by Skills for Care for the adult social care sector in England. The HAF general pathway was put in place in December 2012, and the specialist pathway was added to the HAF in March 2013.

The Skills for Care HAF Specialist Pathway in Care Leadership and Management opens up access to HE to experienced workers working in the adult social care sector in England, by valuing and recognising what they learn and achieve through work and counting their achievements at levels 4 and 5 towards HE qualifications. For new recruits to the sector, the potential to progress into HE from achievement of Apprenticeship qualifications at levels 2 and 3 will be visible right from the start of their career.

1.1 How is a HA in Care Leadership and Management achieved?

A Higher Apprenticeship in Care Leadership and Management may be achieved through the general or specialist pathway:

1.1.1 General pathway: The award of the QCF Level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health and Social Care and Children and Young People’s Services (England). This qualification requires achievement of a minimum of 80 QCF credits.

1.1.2 Specialist pathway: The award of an approved FHEQ Diploma at level 5 (120 credits) by a specified HE provider, using a combination of 40 FHEQ credits awarded for achievement of (approved) specialist modules at level 5, and an exemption of 80 credits for the QCF level 5 Diploma Leadership for Health and Social Care and Children and Young People's Services (England)3. NOTE: Credits for Learning to Learn in HE skills (see 1.3) do not count towards achievement in the specialist pathway.

1.1.3 Until April 2014, higher apprentices are also required to evidence achievement of:

� Employment Responsibility and Rights (ERR) � Personal Learning and Thinking Skills (PLTS) � Transferable skills in English, level 2 � Transferable skills in Maths, level 2 � Transferable skills in ICT, level 2

3HE providers are expected to recognise the validity of the diploma (for exemption purposes) for a minimum of five

years, post qualification.

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1.1.4 Specification Of Apprenticeship Standards For England (SASE): SASE 2011 sets out the statutory requirements for Higher Apprenticeships in England and is valid to March 31 2014. A revised version - SASE 2013, will come into force on April 1 2014. The requirement to include ERR, PLTS and Transferable Skills in English and Maths in a HAF has been removed. After consultation with employers, Skills for Care has revised the HAF document to ensure compliance with SASE 2013 and made some adjustments to the general pathway. Skills for Care is working with the issuing authority, Skills for Care and Development, to ensure SASE 2013 compliance has been achieved. The reviewed HAF will be in place for use by April 2014.

1.3 Learning to Learn in HE skills

These skills will be needed by many learners pursuing an HA pathway in HE, particularly those unfamiliar with the culture of learning and assessment in HE. They may need to develop skills in research and independent study and in presenting and writing for HE. There are units in the QCF designed for this purpose and HE providers will have developed units/modules within their own institutions.

Further Education (FE) and HE providers will need to support learners that need these skills, but credits for these will not be counted within HA pathways in HE. This is to preserve the comparative value of the HA across HE awards.

1.4 Who is the Higher Apprenticeship for?

Higher Apprenticeship frameworks must define the work role and functions of those achieving them. 1.4.1 The general pathway is for those responsible for: � management of day to day provision in a residential service as an assistant manager,

deputy, unit or service manager. This may include responsibility as registered manager of the service

� management of day to day provision in a service that is not residential. (e.g. domiciliary care, day service) They could be an assistant manager, deputy, unit or service manager. Their duties may include responsibility as registered manager of the service

� those within adult social care services that need a high level of knowledge of care provision activities or a specific specialism. They are not involved in direct management of staff but have some responsibility for assessment of individuals’ needs to ensure positive outcomes.

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1.4.2 The specialist pathway is for those responsible for:

� managing specialist adult social care services, with a specialist knowledge of particular adult social care provision and requirements; for example responsibility for strategic planning of dementia care across a service

� business development in adult social care; taking an enterprise/business development role which involves managing a business on behalf of others and/or starting and growing a new business and/or developing an existing business and/or supporting an employer to achieve any of these objectives.

2.0 Progression: where could the Higher Apprenticeship pathways in HE lead?

For experienced workers, the specialist pathway offers the chance to enhance the skills and knowledge they need to progress in their careers, as managers and or specialists, and count credit from their learning at work towards HE qualifications.

For new recruits interested in Intermediate and Advanced Apprenticeships in care, the specialist pathway shows that there is clear access to a wide range of HE qualifications; and these potential routes to higher learning and qualifications will be visible right from the start of their career.

For everyone in the sector working towards the QCF Level 5 Diploma, the specialist pathway offers the possibility of going on to achieve a range of other HE qualifications in the future.

All HE providers offering the specialist pathway provide learners with information about how they can use the credits they achieve through their HA. The potential for the development of level 6 and 7 qualifications and Higher Apprenticeships in adult social care will also be investigated in 2013-14.

Current progression opportunities from the specialist pathway include:

� Progression directly onto a university graduate certificate/diploma � BA/BSc (Hons) programme with the addition of another 120 credits via Recognition of Prior

Learning (RPL).

Possibilities (depending on area of practice):

� Graduate Certificate in Leading and Developing Public and Community Services � BA (Hons) Professional Practice Leadership and Management for Care Services � BSc (Hons) Mental Health � professional practice post graduate programmes

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3.0 Which providers offer Higher Apprenticeships?

3.1 The general pathway is delivered by a range of providers approved to deliver learning programmes leading to achievement of the QCF Level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health and Social Care and Children and Young People’s Services (England). These include FE colleges, private training providers and employers. FE providers will work in partnership with HE is to support delivery of the specialist pathway. 3.2 The specialist pathway is offered by HE providers, who are approved by Skills for Care to do so. Higher Education Institutions (HEI) work in partnership with FE providers to develop specialist pathway options within an FHEQ Diploma at level 5 (120 credits) which is validated by the HEI and then listed as a specialist pathway qualification by Skills for Care on the HA Framework in Care Leadership and Management. ‘Mixed economy’ FE and HE providers may offer both HA pathways.

4 .0 Which specialist pathway options have been developed already and which are needed in 2013-14?

4.1 A number of HE providers have developed and implemented approved specialist pathway options. Examples of these include:

� Higher Diploma Professional Practice in Leading and Managing Care Services (Dementia Care)

� Higher Diploma Professional Practice in Leading and Managing Care Services (End of Life Care)

� Higher Diploma Professional Practice in Leading and Managing Care Services (Business, Quality and Service Improvement)

� Professional Diploma in Care Leadership and Management (Business Development and Enterprise)

� Diploma in Professional Practice in Social Care (Business & Enterprise) � Diploma in Professional Practice in Social Care (Dementia).

Suggested specialist pathway options for development in 2013-14 are as follows:

� enterprise/business development � dementia � end of life care � learning disabilities � autism � sensory impairment.

Through consultation with employers, Skills for Care and providers may identify different or further demands for more specialist pathway options.

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4.2 In 2013-14 Skills for Care will:

� review which specialist pathway options are on offer and identify their reach across England � identify which pathway options are priority for development and where they should be

offered � secure the offer of ‘everything, everywhere’ � work to try to ensure that the specialist pathway is offered across the whole of England � scope for learning and assessment to be customised and designed into the curriculum to

meet different learner and employer requirements, while maintaining sufficient consistency across institutions offering options in the specialist pathway. To this end, some additional guidance is provided on module design in this version of the specification and developers are asked to respond to two case study examples in section 2 below.

5.0 How are specialist pathway options defined and structured?

5.1 The content of each unit/module must be consistent with the reference point identified by Skills for Care; e.g. NOS, a QCF unit, a code of practice, legislation. Reference points are set out in Appendix 1 of this document. Examples are provided by Skills for Care and developers are guided on how these are used in devising specialist pathway options. The examples given are not exhaustive; developers are encouraged to supply further reference points they have identified and used.

5.2 Consistency is required to ensure equivalence of learning and achievement across HE

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provider partners – but units and modules may be designed in different ways to meet Skills for Care’s agreed reference points.

5.3 Pathways curriculum content:

5.3.1 The intention is to make the content of each specialist pathway option as transparent as possible, without prescribing how learners must be taught, or how they will achieve their qualification, or (beyond adhering to the sector’s published assessment principles – see below) how they will have their achievements assessed. Specialist pathway option designers are asked to explain why content has been selected and identify the reference points used in option design.

5.3.2 The National Skills Academy for Social Care has launched a Leadership Qualities Framework at the request of the Department of Health. The framework emphasises how all who work in social care can demonstrate leadership in what they do and how greater emphasis on empowering front line workers, people who use support and communities can improve the quality and experience of care. Specialist pathway option designers are required to take account of the Leadership Qualities Framework where it is relevant to pathway option development.

5.3.3 Plans should also take account of what is already in place in sector qualifications in the QCF, avoid duplication of learning and assessment and build in progression from any relevant learning at the same or at lower levels in any of the QCF sector qualifications. Designers are also asked to explain how people who use services have contributed to curriculum content, whether directly and / or through partners in the project.

5.4 Pathways: consistent design principles and boundaries

The intention is to ensure that HE providers designing options for the specialist pathway share basic design principles and work within some boundaries in order to ensure a measure of consistency across provision, while not being entirely prescriptive. Units/modules will be grouped and learners will be allowed to select, according to their learning needs, the role they expect to fulfil on completion of the specialist pathway and onward progression to further HE qualifications. A learner may wish to pursue the QCF level 5 diploma and specialist pathway concurrently; the HE providers offer to earners should make this possible.

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5.4.1 Key design principles to be followed:

� The award of an FHEQ diploma (or equivalent, with a value of 120 credits) at level 5 by a specified HE provider, where the learner is granted exemption of 80 HEI credits for the achievement of the QCF Level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health and Social Care and Children and Young People’s Services (England)4 and achieves 40 FHEQ credits at level 5 for achievement of approved specialist pathway modules, in either specialist areas of care or in enterprise/business development5.

� Minimum size for each pathway option will be 40 HEI credits. If a learner achieves more HEI credits these should count towards HEI qualifications beyond their target HA qualification.

� Specialist pathway option modules/units must be at level 5. HA job roles are defined for each pathway and these are also a key reference point for programme design.

� Employer support/evidence of demand locally/regionally will be needed and will help in providing a rationale for programme design and each pathway option offered.

� Enterprise/Business Development – these are well defined by SFEDI NOS and QCF units. These are offered as a reference point.

6.0 Information for learners and employers: Higher Apprenticeship in Care Leadership and Management: pathways and progression routes

Skills for Care would like to see some consistency in the messaging to learners interested in or following progression routes through the HA.Please study the flow diagram and progression routes and pathways in Section 1 and explain how you will provide information to learners and employers and guide learners along their journey, whichever progression route they choose.

Information should include:

� simple information on the offer to learners, including all options - using graphic illustrations as well as text

� arrangements for initial assessment and ongoing guidance and review � what job role/function the HA route to HE will prepare the learner for � the provider approach to teaching learning and assessment � scope for RPL (in addition to the exemption arrangements outlined) � onward progression routes � full information for learners on all costs.

4HE providers are expected to recognise the validity of the Diploma (for exemption purposes) for a minimum of five

years, post qualification.5Technically this is not a credit transfer arrangement – there are two credit systems operating in England, one in the

QCF and one in the FHEQ. However HEIs are able to grant exemptions to those holding appropriate qualifications.

Exemption should not be granted on a case by case basis but offered to any HA learner that has achieved the QCF

Level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health and Social Care and Children and Young People’s Services (England).

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Section 2 is for completion by HE providers planning to design options for the specialist pathway. It sets out the information that HE providers will need to supply to Skills for Care for their plans to be approved. The reader will see in Section 2 that there are some ‘givens’ – these are expectations that providers will need to meet to fulfil Skills for Care requirements.

Note: There is one specialist pathway in the HA. HE providers design ‘options’ in specialist areas of care knowledge and skill and incorporate these into a 120 credit Level 5 FHEQ Diploma. The FHEQ Diploma is then listed in the HAF with others that have been approved as options for achievement of the HA in Care Leadership and Management, Specialist Pathway.HE providers should refer to Section 1: Background Information and guidance and the HA report in completing the pro forma.

Stages in the process:

1. Please email your initial response to the specification to: higherapp@skillsforcare.org.uk. Please include links to any supporting/background information in your response, or attach documents if this is not possible. If you are offering more than one option for the specialist pathway, then please complete a separate form for each option. Skills for Care will regard your initial response as a development plan. We will give you feedback on your initial response within 14 days of receipt and let you know if we require any further information at this stage.

2. After validation of the FHEQ Diploma for the specialist pathway, you should contact Skills for Care again and provide a final response, updated if necessary and adding details of the FHEQ Diploma validated for the specialist pathway, including copies of diploma modules.

3. Skills for Care will respond within 14 days and providing no additional information is required, will put the FHEQ Diploma forward for inclusion in the HA specialist pathway at the next HAF review point.

Section 2: Specification pro forma

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Organisation/business name:

Organisation’s full address:

Name of contact person:

Contact address (if different from above):

Telephone:E-mail address:What is the ‘travel to learn’ area for your institution?

You may wish to list key towns, cities or areas. This will help Skills for Care map HA specialist pathway provision across England.

Important note: You are unable to add cells to your responses, you can extend your answers on additional paper. if you plan to offer more than one option for the Specialist Pathway, please complete a separate response for each option.

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Pathway structure

1. Briefly outline (using text and or a diagram) the title/and structure of your proposed specialist pathway options and how you will meet these requirements:

The award of an approved FHEQ Diploma at level 5 (120 credits) by a specified HE provider, using a combination of 40 FHEQ credits awarded for achievement of (approved) specialist modules at level 5, and an exemption of 80 credits for the QCF level 5 Diploma Leadership for Health and Social Care and Children and Young People’s Services (England).

NOTE: Credits for Learning to Learn in HE skills cannot count towards achievement in the specialist pathway.1.

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2. Outline your organisation’s business case for developing each of these specialist pathway options. Please provide a detailed business case, including information on who you have consulted in your area, the known demand for this specialist pathway and inward progression routes, and potential numbers of HAs in the first year after validation.

Suggested HA pathways for development are as follows:

� enterprise/business development � dementia � end of life � learning disabilities � autism � sensory impairment.

You may have already (through consultation with employers) identified different or further demands for other specialist pathway options. You are welcome to propose these and provide a business case.

2.1 Pathway title: Please state the likely name of the FHEQ qualification, e.g. Diploma in Professional Practice in Social Care (Business & Enterprise)

2.1

2.2 Anticipated validation date:

2.2

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2.3 Business case:

2.3

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3. Potential delivery partnersPartnership will be essential for most providers seeking to deliver the specialist pathway. It will be important for Skills for Care to understand how these partnerships work and to share information about successful ways of working with other potential HE and FE providers as they come on board and offer the specialist pathway.

Please tell us who your partners are likely to be and briefly explain your respective roles.

Are you aware of the Skills for Care area teams operating in your ‘travel to learn area’? Click here to find out more and make contact.

Please describe any franchise arrangements you are planning with providers.

3.

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4. Potential delivery partnersWhat role/function will the HA pathway prepare the learner for? Review the job roles for HAs following the Specialist Pathway.4.

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5. Progression: where could Skills for Care HA pathways in HE lead? Explain how learners can use the 120 HEI credits they achieve through their FHEQ Diploma at level 5 towards achievement of one or more further qualifications in you higher education institution.

List the possible onward progression routes and or qualifications.

If learners can count these 120 credits towards HE qualifications at other HEIs, please say which HEIs and which qualifications.

5.

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6. Pathway content The content of each specialist pathway unit/module must be consistent with the reference point used e.g. a QCF unit, NOS, a code of practice. Consistency is required to ensure equivalence of learning and achievement across HE provider partners – units and modules may be designed in different ways to meet identified reference points.

You should explain how you plan to take account of what is already in place in sector qualifications in the QCF, avoid duplication of learning and assessment and build in progression from any relevant learning, at the same or at lower levels in any of the Skills for Care QCF sector qualifications. Please explain how people who use services have contributed to curriculum content, whether directly and/or through partners in the project.

Specialist pathway option designers are required to take account of the National Skills Academy Leadership Qualities Framework where it is relevant to pathway option development. Can you: � explain why the content for each pathway has been selected � identify the reference points used to inform the content selected.

6.

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7. Pathway design principles and boundaries - please briefly explain how you will respond to these in designing Skills for Care HA HE pathways: Please read section 1 and 5 carefully before responding.

How you will use QCF units or a learning outcomes model for pathway unit/module design, delivery and assessment?

Please confirm that the credit value and content of the QCF L5 Diploma Leadership for Health and Social Care and Children and Young People’s Services (England)6. (80 QCF credits) will be recognised by the HE provider at face value (80 FHEQ credits at level 5) within a named FHEQ level 5 Diploma and say how this will be done.

7.

6HE providers are expected to recognise the validity of the Diploma (for exemption purposes) for a minimum of five

years, post qualification.

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8. Customising the specialist pathway Learners at this level will expect some scope to customise their learning and assessment to suit their own and their employer’s needs – this could represent better value for money and be more relevant to a learner’s needs at work. Please explain how the specialist pathway options you offer could accommodate these two learners:

8.1 Joe has worked his way up from being a part-time sessional worker to acting as manager of performing arts, music and drama for a specialist care provider. He has achieved occupational qualifications on the way and is now pursuing the specialist pathway at your institution. His employer wants Joe to devise a plan for consolidating and extending the use of performing arts and music across the specialist care business which operates in five non-residential settings.

How might you integrate this ‘real life task’ into Joe’s learning and assessment on the specialist pathway?

8.1

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8.2 Tanja works as a manager in a residential care setting for older people, many with sensory impairment. Tanja is now pursuing the specialist pathway at your institution. Tanja has some ideas about how the business could make better use of new technology to engage with and stimulate the residents in different ways. She would like to explore this possibility as a learning and assessment activity on her course and present the outcomes to her employer, who is interested in what Tanja will find out.

8.2 How might you integrate this ‘real life task’ into Tanja’s learning and assessment on the specialist pathway?8.2

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9. Higher apprentices are also required under SASE 2011 to evidence achievement of, or develop skills and knowledge in:

� Employment Responsibility and Rights (ERR) � Personal Learning and Thinking Skills (PLTS) � Transferable skills in English, level 2 � Transferable skills in Maths, level 2 � Transferable skills in ICT, level 2

If you intend to offer the specialist pathway before April 1 2014, please explain briefly how these requirements will be met in your overall delivery plan for the HA.

9.

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10. Learning to learn in HE skills will be needed by some learners unfamiliar with the culture of learning and assessment in HE. They may need to develop skills in research and independent study and in presenting and writing for HE. There are units in the QCF designed for this purpose and HE providers will have developed units/modules within their own institutions.

Please say briefly how learning to learn in HE units/modules will be offered to learners who need them?

10.

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11. Assessment Skills for Care is committed to the Skills for Care and Development Assessment Principles. These address in particular assessment of learning and achievement in the workplace. Skills for Care is exploring how it can support and encourage improved assessment practice and methodology both on and off the job. This project gives us an opportunity to identify and encourage positive learner-centred assessment practice and its relationship to the learning experience.

Please outline how your approach to assessment meets the Skills for Care and Development assessment principles.

11.

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12. RPL: APEL/APL/APCLPlease explain how prior experiential learning or prior certificated learning could be recognised to support progression – in addition to the validated exemption arrangements required to offer options in the specialist pathway.

12.

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13. Funding and costsFunding and costs (for providers, employers and learners) will have an impact on what and how Skills for Care HAs are offered and on their take up by employers and learners.

Please outline the sources of funding your institution and partners will draw on to meet your costs for delivery of HAs in the project. Please outline with examples, the costs to learners following their HA through your institution and partners.

13.

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14. Information for learners and employers - Higher Apprenticeship in Care Leadership and Management: pathways and progression routes Please study the flow diagram and progression routes and pathways in Section 1 and explain how you will provide information to learners and employers and guide learners along their journey, whichever progression route they choose.

Please outline what information you will provide for learner and employers and how you plan to reach them. Please refer to Section 1, 6 for examples.

14.

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NOTE: Certification requirements

HA providers are required to register HAs with ACE. The ACE online system is the place where apprentices, or learning providers/employers acting on their behalf, apply for their Apprenticeship certificates.

All contractors and grant funded providers are expected to register all HA starts on ACE as soon as possible after registration with their organisation. It would help SfC considerably if all HE providers, funded by SfC or not, were to do the same.

There are no funding implications for your organisation in doing this and the information is invaluable to Skills for Care in providing an up to date picture of HA registrations across the country.

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Appendix 1: Reference points for developing the content of HA HE pathways

The content of each pathway unit/module must be consistent with the reference point used e.g. a QCF unit, NOS, a code of practice. Consistency is required to ensure equivalence of learning and achievement across HE provider partners – units and modules may be designed in different ways to meet identified reference points. The following examples are provided by Skills for Care and outline the reference points developers should use in devising HA HE pathways. The examples given are not exhaustive; developers are encouraged to supply further reference points they have identified and used.

Specialist pathway option designers are required to take account of the National Skills Academy Leadership Qualities Framework where it is relevant to pathway option development.

End of Life Care

Level 5 Certificate in Leading and Managing Services to Support End of Life and Significant Life Events:

National End of Life Care Programme (NEoLCP) publications:

� End of life care strategy: Understanding patterns of health and social care at the end of life � Supporting people to live and die well - social care framework for implementation of end of

life care strategy

Six steps programme for care homes

SCIE resources - www.scie.org

Dementia Care

QCF qualifications in Dementia:

� Level 2 and 3 Awards in Awareness of Dementia (Knowledge only) � Knowledge-only awards at level 2 & 3 for learners who wish to learn about dementia

but are not able to demonstrate competence. This might include learners who already have a level 2 or level 3 NVQ or current health and social care diploma but would like to understand more about working with individuals with dementia, but may not actually be working in dementia care so cannot demonstrate competence.

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Level 2 and 3 Certificates in Dementia Care

Learners taking the certificates need to be able to demonstrate competence to gain accreditation so must be working in dementia care. Learners can carry credit from the knowledge of the level 2 or level 3 awards for progression without repeating learning as units already completed in the awards are included within the certificates. Both Level 2 and 3 certificates also have credits that are transferable within the specialist dementia pathway of the health and social care diplomas at level 2 and 3.

Further details on Rules of Combination (ROC) and units can be accessed through the following link:

http://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/qualifications_and_training/adultsocialcarequalifications/dementia_qualifications.aspx

These units were referenced in the work done in the pilots for the Foundation Degree (FD) projects so it is possible use them effectively.

There is a level 5 unit that sits in Leadership and Management in Care Services Diploma called Lead and Manage Practice in Dementia Care which would be really good to use as a base for any work developed at that level.

Finally we have Common Core Principles for supporting people with dementia. These can be accessed through the following link:

http://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/news/latest_news/CCP_Dementia.aspx

Learning Disability and Care

Learning Disability Care qualifications: This document outlines new learning disability qualifications and their relationship to the Common Induction Standards and CQC requirements.

Enterprise and Business development NOS: SFEDI national occupational standards in business enterprise.

MIS standards: QCF Level 5 Diploma optional unit of 6 credits.

Workforce Innovation Programme: Workforce Innovation sections – see sector workforce strategy section - including The Principles of Workforce Redesign.

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