Our reassessment of how we value any learning has proved its worth

A column for outside contributors. Contact: agenda@theherald.co.uk

TOO often in the past our skills and learning have been judged primarily on what academic qualifications we achieved – and yet we also gain many skills from informal learning, for example at work, from hobbies or through volunteering.

We can gain a wide range of valuable skills through this informal learning, including many of the “soft skills” so highly valued by employers, such as effective communication and the ability to work both as part of a team and autonomously, and yet these achievements can go unrecognised if an individual is judged solely on academic qualifications.

This is why the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) is so important. It’s now 15 years since the SCQF was established. That isn’t long but the SCQF is actually the oldest complete qualifications framework in the world. So, why did Scotland need a framework in 2001?

The SCQF was designed to be part of an integrated, lifelong learning strategy, providing a new “national vocabulary” for learning, which would embrace and recognise any assessed learning wherever it occurred. It was seen as having the potential to support a wide range of policy objectives such as those relating to community learning, the skills agenda and social inclusion.

Much of the informal learning referred to earlier was previously never formally recognised or properly valued in comparison with more academic learning. The aim of the SCQF was to change that and start to recognise all forms of achievement.

Was this an impossible dream? Let’s examine what has been achieved in the last 15 years.

There are now more than 11,000 qualifications and learning programmes recognised on the SCQF. These range from academic qualifications such as Highers, National Certificates, Honours degrees and PhDs, to courses such as the Outward Bound Adventure and Challenge Award, the Boys’ Brigade King George VI Leadership programme and the babysitting course run by Midlothian Council.

There is clear evidence the SCQF is benefitting a wide range of individuals and employers. For young people who have become disengaged from learning, understanding the level and value of what they have achieved can increase confidence and self-esteem, and help them to re-engage in learning.

For those who aspire to go to university, having learning programmes other than Highers on their personal profile can make a difference in terms of getting a place. For those who wish to pursue a vocational route, the SCQF promotes equality of value of vocational learning alongside the academic learning programmes in schools.

For all learners, the SCQF helps to map out learning pathways from school through college and/or university and into work. For employers and other organisations, having their in-house learning programmes recognised on the SCQF can promote company loyalty, and may give them competitive advantage both in terms of attracting potential employees and in gaining more business.

Qualifications recognised on the SCQF are recognised on the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), which offers much wider recognition and facilitates learner mobility both into and out of Scotland. The SCQF has brought greater coherence to learning in Scotland and is helping to promote equality of opportunity and social mobility. It is a reliable and trusted part of our education system.

So what do the next 15 years hold? There is work to do to make sure the SCQF is equally used across all sectors of industry and is consistently used by all education providers. The SCQF has an important role in supporting many key government policies.

There are other innovative ways in which the SCQF can be used in future – for instance, employers using it as a tool to support effective recruitment and workforce development, or third sector organisations supporting more vulnerable groups.

The ultimate prize is to ensure learners, employers, learning providers and other stakeholders fully understandthestrengthoftheSCQF in planning individual learning pathways and recognising achievement. Rob Wallen is the new chairman of the board of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework.