The new qualifications will be available for first teaching from September 2019. Only learners who register for study on or after 1 September 2019 will take the new qualifications. The existing qualifications will remain in place until that date. Final certification of the current qualifications will then take place in 2021.

The new qualifications will be restricted approved qualifications and therefore will be the only qualifications in Health and Social Care, and Childcare which feature on the Qualifications in Wales (QiW) database. This means that they will be the only version of these qualifications that will be eligible for public funding. From September 2019, these will also be the only versions of these qualifications that will feature in apprenticeship frameworks.

The new qualifications are being developed by City & Guilds/WJEC. If you are not currently using qualifications provided by either these organisations, you will be required to change to these awarding bodies by 1st September 2019.

We are currently confirming the exact process with Qualifications Wales, more details will be available soon.

Your organisation may be impacted in the following ways:

• From 2019, the Health and Social Care, and Childcare qualifications currently being delivered may no longer be eligible for public funding, for example, through apprenticeship frameworks (other than for learners midway through, or those who have started their qualifications);
• From 2019, the new qualifications will be available for public funding and will be the only Health and Social Care and, Childcare qualifications available for public funding in Wales;
• The subject content, structure and size of the new qualifications will differ from the ones you currently use;
• External quality assurance activities and the balance between internal and external assessment may change;
• A new core qualification will be introduced, that aligns with revised induction standards to help streamline learning for the new learners.

Yes, all of the new qualifications will have handbooks, specifications and sample assessments available through the medium of Welsh and English. All external assessments will be available through the medium of Welsh, and centres will be provided with support to also make internal assessment available through the medium of Welsh.

There will be a range of resources available, through the medium of English and Welsh, including handbooks, specifications and sample assessments. City & Guilds / WJEC will provide a comprehensive programme of training events, bilingual information and resources to get centres and providers ready to deliver the new qualifications.

The new qualifications will be available to learners who register for qualifications on or after 1 September 2019. Current qualifications will continue to be funded up until September 2019 and there will be a transition period to allow learners who are already working towards a qualification to be able to complete. Learners who are already working towards a qualification will not be affected, and they will continue their study until they complete their qualification by 2021.

Through the reform of Health and Social Care, and Childcare qualifications, Qualifications Wales will be reducing the number of qualifications within the sector available for public funding from over 240 to just 19. Having a smaller more coherent suite of qualifications means that the new suite does not offer a like for like replacement for all of the currently available qualifications. However, the suite continues to offer learners the opportunity to access and progress through all currently available routes to employment, further and higher‐level study. It also continues to allow learners at level 3 to access UCAS Tariff points.

The suite of new health and social care and childcare qualifications includes two level 3 qualifications of 720 Guided Learning Hours (GLH) in size: one in Health and Social Care, and one in Children’s Care, Play, Learning and Development. These qualifications are designed to be offered to learners studying full‐time at an FE college, although they may also be of interest to other types of provider, including schools.

The suite also includes an A level in Health and Social Care, and Childcare. This qualification combines health and social care and childcare at AS, with a route of either health and social care or childcare at A2. The A level is intended to complement either of the bigger qualifications to provide a full 1080‐GLH programme of study similar in size to the extended diplomas that are currently available.

The new qualifications will be approved by Qualifications Wales. This means that they will be eligible for public funding on programmes of learning for learners up to the age of 19. Some of the qualifications in the new suite will be on apprenticeship frameworks for social care or children’s care, learning and development. These will be funded through Welsh Government apprenticeship schemes. Although funding will be available in different ways for each of the new qualifications, learners and employers in certain circumstances may need to fund themselves or their employees in order to complete the qualification.

During our stakeholder engagement we received mixed views in regard to a specific Level 1 qualification provision in Health and Social Care, and Childcare. As a result Qualifications Wales has made the decision to give centres the choice of delivering either sector specific Level 1 qualifications or more generic qualifications in Vocational Studies. The feedback from the sector suggested how important it was to keep momentum in learners’ enthusiasm within the subject area and to support those who may want to a consider a career in Health and Social Care, and Childcare. The full list of affected qualifications can be found on the Qualifications Wales Website.

The Level 2 Children’s Care, Play, Learning and Development: Core internal assessment tasks can be found under ‘Key Documents & Course Materials’ and are password protected.

The passwords can be accessed via the WJEC Secure Website, under ‘Resources’ > ‘NEA Tasks’.

The Level 2 Health and Social Care: Core internal assessment tasks can be found under ‘Key Documents & Course Materials’ and are password protected

The passwords can be accessed via the City & Guilds Walled Garden, under qualification number 8040-02.