Polish Educational Research Institute talks ‘qualifications frameworks’ with OCR Cymru

19 March 2012

A delegation of seven education experts from Poland visited the Welsh office of our UK exam board OCR in March to learn about the development and implementation of Wales’ national qualifications framework.

The visit was hosted in partnership with the Federation of Awarding Bodies Advisory Group in Wales, and the experts were from the Polish Educational Research Institute which is exploring the structures, credit and quality assurance of qualifications frameworks. The Institute is currently developing terms of reference for the implementation of a National Qualifications Framework and a National Qualifications Register for lifelong learning in Poland.

The delegation was especially interested in Quality Assured Lifelong Learning (QALL), which is unique to Wales. QALL allows bespoke in-house company training, continuing professional development and other learning to be recognised and awarded credit. They also visited a Cardiff FE college to talk to teachers and to see OCR’s Creative and Digital Media Apprenticeship being taught.

Robin Hughes, National Manager for OCR in Wales, explained: "The delegation was keen to explore how a nation's culture and structures should be taken into account when considering how a proposed qualification framework might work and be implemented, and to debate the role of Ministers and regulators within frameworks. They said OCR’s experiences had provided them with much valuable information to guide their work in Poland."

Driven by the joint European higher education policy which is intended to harmonise national systems throughout Europe, Poland’s National Qualifications Framework will introduce a new way of describing, confirming and validating the different levels of qualifications that learners acquire through formal and informal education.

The delegation also visited educationalists in England and Scotland as well as those in other parts in Europe.

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