QCF Support Materials

QCF Qualification Specifications – new changes for September 2011

Over the last twelve months, we’ve listened to your feedback and continued to review our support materials. As a result of we have:

• Combined the ‘Qualification Specification’ and ‘Learner Achievement Log (LAL)’ to allow tutors/assessors and learners to work from the same document.
• Removed non-qualification specific information making the books more streamlined and easier to navigate.
• Provided a full ‘qualification summary’ at the start of each book.
• Formatted unit information to start on an odd-page, making it easier to separate them from each other. Unit numbers and titles are now also displayed in the header for each unit.
• Provided summaries of relevant assessment strategies and principles, rather than the entire documents (which are available in the “How to … A Guide to Understanding the Requirements of Assessors and Internal Quality Assurers for CACHE QCF Qualifications” in cachezone).

Please note: For any support materials containing the assessment strategies and principles for SfCD, TDA or CACHE, the section showing the list of qualifications suitable for assessors to make assessment decisions should read “Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS)” instead of “Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (PTLLS)”.

The PTLLS qualification does not evidence assessment skills, so is not suitable as a qualification on this indicative list. If you have any concerns, please contact your Centre Advisor in the first instance.

These publications have been provided in Microsoft Word Format to enable Centres to use the content flexibly within their own course materials. They may be copied and pasted for your own use but CACHE does not accept any liability for any incomplete or inaccurate copying and subsequent use of this information.

In this area of the website you will find a range of materials to support the teaching and learning process for the new QCF qualifications.

All documents are subject to revision. To check you have the most current version, please refer to the QCF Support Materials Publication History document, updated 5th August 2011.

Due to the size of this section, it has been split it into individual qualification categories which can be accessed by clicking the links in the navigation bar on the left hand side or at the bottom of this page.

Under each category you will find:

• QCF Key Facts - Information is available within the relevant support material pages for immediate download in pdf format. Access the information you require by clicking the relevant left-hand navigation tab.


• Combined Specification and Learner Achievement Logs - These have been created for those qualifications with more mature learners. This combined document meets the needs of tutors/assessors and their learners. They include guidance and information for tutors/ assessors and recording documentation for learners. Where they are available, these documents replace the old style candidate handbooks.

	How To.. A Guide to Assessing QCF Qualifications This publication provides support and guidance for Assessors, Internal Quality Assurers, tutors, trainers and teachers. It sets out the expectations for achievement at each Level and provides information on the requirements of a range of Assessment Methods for different types of activities. Download PDF file		QCF Centre Information Pack 2011 Download PDF file

Unit Assessment Records in QCF Support Materials

The UAR is the form containing the details of each unit. Assessors should use the ‘Evidence Record’ and ‘Assessor Judgement Achieved’ columns to record their learners’ achievement of each assessment criterion and the location of the evidence (e.g. the page reference in the learner’s work folder).

Unlike the ‘Record of Assessment Cycle’ and ‘Evidence Record’ forms (blank templates of which are available in Appendix C of Qualification Specifications and Learner Achievement Logs), we do not provide blank UAR templates in our support materials as the pre-populated unit details are required for assessors to sign off a unit.

Please note that although Qualification Specifications contain a sample UAR with instructions for its use, the units within the Qualification Specification do not contain the ‘Evidence record’ and ‘Assessor judgement achieved’ columns. These are only included in Combined Qualification Specifications/Learner Achievement Logs, Learner Achievement Logs and Optional Units specifications.

Please e-mail qcfsupportmaterials if you would like any further information.

QCF Support Materials Order Forms

CACHE Centre Order Form
Non-CACHE Centres and Learners Order Form

Postage and packing charges:

• £5.00 per order for 1-24 books
• £10.00 per order for 25-49 books
• £15.00 per order for 50-100 books
• £20.00 per order for over 100 books
• Leaflets and Little Book of CACHE QCF Qualifications - £5.00 per order