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Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF) quick guide

How does the QCF work?

The QCF recognises skills and qualifications by awarding credit for qualifications and units, which are small steps of learning.

Each qualification in the QCF is made up of units that are combined under specified rules to contribute to the award of the qualification.

Every unit and qualification in the QCF has:

• a credit value that tells you roughly how long it takes to complete – one credit represents about 10 hours of work

Each unit and qualification also has its own level, from entry level up to level 8, to show how demanding it is.

The structure of a QCF qualification

The titles or name of all the qualifications in the QCF are set out in the same way to help you understand them more easily.

The title tells you three things:

• how challenging the qualification is
• how long it takes to complete
• what it is about

Every qualification in the QCF comes in one of three sizes – Award, Certificate or Diploma.

• Awards – up of 1 to 12 credits (10 to 120 hours of learning)
• Certificates – 13 to 36 credits (130 to 360 hours of learning)
• Diplomas – 37 credits or more (370 or more hours of learning)

Finally, the subject of the qualification is given at the end of the title.

These two examples are of qualifications on the QCF for the central government workforce, showing how the three parts of the title fit together:

• Level 2 Diploma in Public Services Operational Delivery (Debt Management)
• Level 7 Certificate in Public Policy Making

More information is on the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency website [external website]