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We have put together a list of the most frequently asked questions about NICATS. If you can't find the answer to your particular question, please contact us. We update the FAQs regularly.
NICATS is the acronym for the Northern Ireland Credit Accumulation and Transfer System.
The Government report, 'Lifelong learning: A New Learning Culture For All (February 1999), recognises that, in Northern Ireland, there are not enough people engaging in learning, especially adults. This has led to skills shortages which have a negative effect on our workforce and economy. The NI Government is therefore implementing NICATS in order to:
In the NICAT system, programmes of learning are written using the principles and guidelines recommended by NICATS. This means that they have NICATS credits and levels attached to them. All learning (which has levels and credits), will be recorded on your personal NICATS Credit Transcript and can be added to. Eventually when NICATS is fully up and running, all programmes, from basic education to Ph.D. degrees, will have a level and credit attached to them.
This means that course selectors and employers will have a very clear picture of the level and amount of learning that you have successfully completed. This will make it easier for you to make more informed career choices. It will also help employers to make decisions on the type of career development programme a new employee should follow. [Top]
NICATS is run by the NICATS team, based in offices at York Street, Belfast. [Top]
NICATS is an entirely new organisation. It was set up by Government following the recommendations of the 'Report of the NICATS Project 1996- 1999'. [Top]
Though located on the York Street campus of the University of Ulster and funded by Government through DEL, NICATS is an independent body. [Top]
The NICATS Office in situated in the Orpheus Building of the University of Ulster's Belfast campus. Further information on our address, opening hours, telephone numbers as well as directions and location maps can be found in Who's Who & Where. [Top]
NICATS enables you to gain recognition for small blocks of learning. Offering learning this way is beneficial because:
The architectural features of the NICATS framework are likely to be in place by September 2002. [Top]
NICATS is funded by DEL and works with the seventeen Further Education Colleges, three Agriculture Colleges, three Universities, the schools sectors, the community and voluntary sector, the awarding and regulatory bodies and employers to implement the principles and guidelines recommended by NICATS. Use our Links for contact details. [Top]
There is no direct cost for the services provided by NICATS. NICATS is a framework, which supports the accreditation of learning. The costs of accreditation are already charged by awarding and delivering bodies. [Top]
You do not apply to NICATS as you would to a college or university. Increasingly, programmes of learning will have NICATS credits and levels attached. If you choose to follow one of these programmes, you will receive the NICATS credits at the particular level, when you have successfully completed parts or all of the programme. [Top]
Government recognises that an effective credit accumulation and transfer system will help in providing lifelong learning opportunities for all in N Ireland, eliminating delay and wastage in the existing system and opening up new educational opportunities for a wider range of people. Similar activity is occurring in Great Britain, the Republic of Ireland and elsewhere in Europe. [Top]
Please refer to our Team Details in Who's Who & Where to find out the best person to answer your questions. Top]
You can keep up to date through:
Credit is an award made to a learner for the achievement of learning outcomes at a specified level. This credit is expressed in a quantified form in terms of intellectual depth (level) and volume (number of credits). In terms of ascribing level to learning (via its learning outcomes and associated assessment criteria), this is achieved by using the NICATS level descriptors which act as a guide to the curriculum designer to the kinds of demands it is appropriate to make of learners at each of the designated levels. In terms of the number of credits ascribed to the learning, this is an indication of the volume of the learning effort and is expressed as notional learning hours.
| NICATS Framework | NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK (NQF) | Higher Education Qualifications Framework (HEQF) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level of qualification | Occupational | General Qualifications | Vocationally-Related | ||
| Entry | Entry | Certificate of (educational) achievement | |||
| 1 | Foundation | NVQ 1 | GCSE (Grades D-G) | Foundation GNVQ | |
| 2 | Intermediate | NVQ 2 | GCSE (Grades A*-C) | Intermediate GNVQ | |
| 3 | Advanced | NVQ 3 | A/AS Level | Vocational A level (Advanced GNVQ) | |
| 4 | 4* | NVQ 4* | Higher level qualifications e.g. HNCs and HNDs2 |
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| 5 |
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| 6 | 5* | NVQ 5* |
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| 7 |
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| 8 |
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NVQ: National Vocational Qualification; GNVQ: General National Vocational Qualification (note: the Advanced GNVQ is now called the Vocational A level or the Advanced Vocational Certificate in Education (AVCE)).
* NOTE: It has not been agreed how QCA and NVQ levels 4 and 5 relate to the HEQF or the NICATS Framework.
2 Higher National Certificates and Diplomas The QAA paper on the Framework for higher education qualifications (Nov. 2000) states that "HNDs will be at level 2 in the framework. Provisionally, HNCs will also be placed at level 2. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland HNCs are distinguished from HNDs by mode of attendance, and number of units required, rather than by level of outcomes. Discussions will continue with QCA on this issue, as Higher National qualifications feature also in the qualifications framework of QCA."
NICATS recognises nine levels which are described as entry level to level 3 (Further Education); and levels 4-8 (Higher Education), with levels 4-6 aligned with the HE undergraduate qualification and levels 7 and 8 aligned with the HE postgraduate framework (i.e. the Masters level and Doctorate level). In HE, 120 credits normally represent the normal workload for a full-time undergraduate programme of study in the standard academic year and 180 credits represent the study load associated with the calendar year of full-time study (or the equivalent part-time) of a standard Master's course. The national qualifications aligned with NICATS entry level to level 3 have not yet been assigned nationally agreed credit equivalence. However , there is a UK Credit Equivalence Project which is a partnership of national and regional organisations aiming to provide consistently agreed credit equivalencies for the NQF qualifications. [Top]
Potentially all courses and learning programmes will be affected. The NICATS model will be applied through many contexts, for example, within Higher Education through the national QAA quality agenda; within the voluntary and community sectors through the NOCN; and in FE through the UK Credit Equivalence Project which is a partnership of national and regional organisations aiming to provide consistently agreed credit equivalencies for the NQF qualifications. The FE Sector/NICATS Access Curriculum Development Project is applying the NICATS model to Access to HE courses. [Top]
In preparation for NICATS, DEL is considering credit based funding and NICATS has been commissioned to undertake research in this area through the NICATS Credit-based Funding Project. In Wales the Government has decided to introduce a credit based system to fund both further and higher education. [Top]
It is too early to say. Wide-ranging consultation to maximise support for the system, is an ongoing priority within current work activities. Ultimately, Government will have the final say as to the terms on which institutions will be involved in NICATS. [Top]
NICATS is not an awarding body and cannot approve new courses. Any organisation using the NICATS model for course design to develop a new or existing programme must seek accreditation for the programme from an awarding body. If university staff develop a programme using NICATS, they must gain approval from their own institution. [Top]
Once you have been awarded NICATS credits at a particular level or levels, this information is recorded on your personal NICATS Credit Transcript. It is recognised that there is certain material that you will cover that may be out of date within, perhaps, five years or even less. Information technology is one area that springs to mind. In such cases, it is the right of the employer or receiving institution to decide whether your credit has currency. However, you should bear in mind that your NICATS Credit Transcript details will show the level at which you are capable of working. [Top]
Yes. The Northern Ireland Universities and Further Education Colleges which were involved in setting up the Steering Group which developed the NICATS framework, continue to be well-represented on the Implementation Committee established in 1999. [Top]
Not as such, although the Open University Validation Service (OUVS) does offer a credit valuation service, for a fee, to institutions and individuals. Most universities have their own CAT systems whereby programmes/qualifications have credit points attached to them, but there is wide variation across Higher Education. To ensure standards, there is a need for consistency in awarding credit. NICATS has produced a methodology which will ensure this consistency. When NICATS is fully operational and all the education and training providers have adopted the principles and guidelines recommended by NICATS, all learning programmes will have a credit value. [Top]
NICATS is not an awarding body, however the NICATS model for designing programmes of learning can be used by anyone who is involved in delivering learning. If your employer wanted to offer work-based courses using the NICATS model, the courses would have to be written using the principles and guidelines recommended by NICATS and submitted to an awarding body for approval. More and more people are asking for their work experience to be recognised/accredited and institutions are now developing procedures for the accreditation of Prior and Experiental Learning (APEL). The accreditation of both experiential and certificated learning will be made easier as NICATS becomes embedded. [Top]
Because all learning is valued, it is possible to award credit for learning from experience. The experience can be in a work or voluntary setting, or may be as a result of domestic or leisure-related tasks. What is important is that there must be evidence of reflection on the experience leading to a critical evaluation of what has been learned.
Evidence can be demonstrated either through the compilation of a portfolio, or by taking the examination or assessable work set for the unit, module, or course for which the learning outcomes appear to have been met by what has been learned from experience.
Institutions will offer assistance with the preparation of a portfolio. This may be in the form of a special module or unit, or alternately, through personal tuition limited to a number of hours. Institutions may vary in the assistance that they offer to students who opt to attempt the course assessment or examination.
The portfolio, or assessable work, will be subject to the same processes as work from candidates who have attended the course.
All institutions charge a fee for the administration of accrediting experience.
It is important to note that, as with other types of accreditation, the awarding institution has the right to decide whether credit transfer is appropriate in a particular course, or at a specific level. [Top]
Yes. It is often the case that learners move for family and personal reasons and use credit already gained towards an award offered by a different university. If credit is claimed then the university applied to needs to know the nature, amount and level of demand of the learning already achieved. Problems of progression often arise at the interface between FE and HE because of the different systems of accreditation. The development of a single credit framework will remove the barriers. [Top]
The NICATS model can be applied to vocational, academic and professional learning and the more widely it is adopted the more portable/transferable NICATS credits will be. For this reason NICATS works closely with those groups involved in credit and qualifications framework developments in the UK. The implementation of NICATS has commenced with the major stakeholders in Northern Ireland, including FE, HE, awarding and regulatory bodies, and employers. It has been agreed that the model should be used as far as possible in the UK Credit Equivalence Project aiming to provide consistently agreed credit equivalences for NQF qualifications. In addition, NICATS is establishing relations with relevant bodies in the Republic of Ireland and in the EU. [Top]
NICATS is not an accrediting body but provides an architecture which enables the accreditation of small blocks of learning which could include short courses on summer school programmes. [Top]
Credit Accumulation and Transfer, or CAT, is a system in which all learning is recognised by means of credits and levels. If you successfully complete blocks of learning, to which credits are attached, you can accumulate the credits and build them towards recognised awards, if you so wish.
If for any reason you have to move between centres of learning, you can take your credits with you and use them towards further study. Similarly, if you want to transfer between courses within your institution, your accumulated credits may be used to count towards the other course. This is the transfer part of a CAT system. [Top]
For most people, the traditional learning route is the 11 plus, GCSE, A level and on to a university degree. Some people who have failed at one of these hurdles have been put off learning for life. The NICAT system is designed to encourage learning throughout life. It is flexible, you can progress at your own speed and move in and out of learning as and when it suits you. In addition, you can build your credits towards an award if you wish. [Top]
General credit refers to the credit value that you will receive when you successfully complete a block of learning or a programme/course. Specific credit refers to the amount of this general credit that you can put towards another course. It is 'specific' because it relates directly to the content of the course to which you are progressing. [Top]
One of the major aims of NICATS is to increase opportunities for you to participate and achieve in education and training in Northern Ireland. If you do not want a national qualification, or if you are worried about committing yourself to a full qualification, NICATS will allow you to access small blocks of learning in relevant fields at levels, times and locations which suit you. You will be able to claim credit for such achievement which will be recorded on your personal Credit Transcript. You can build these credits towards a nationally recognised award. Top]
Our section on the benefits of NICATS explains how NICATS will help employers. [Top]
NICATS will eventually affect anyone who is involved in learning at any level from basic education through to Ph.D. study. You will find increasingly, that any learning progamme that you follow has a NICATS level and credits attached to it. As you complete part or all of these programmes, the NICATS credits that you have accumulated, at whatever level, will be recorded on your personal Credit Transcript.
Because of the way in which NICATS programmes are written, you will find that you have a very clear picture of the learning outcomes that you will be expected to achieve and the assessment criteria that will be used to show whether or not you have achieved these outcomes.
[Top]
Yes, but you should remember that it is up to the receiving institution to decide whether your credits have relevance and currency for the particular course that you have applied for.
[Top]
UCAS points are given for grades achieved in national qualifications.
Credit is awarded for the achievement of specified learning outcomes
and no additional credit can be awarded for achievement above the threshold
level. Such achievement can be recognised through the award of marks or grades.
This is a matter for the awarding bodies.
The relationship between credit and UCAS points will only become an issue when
credits are attached to national qualifications. Currently, there is a national
pilot to attach credit equivalences to national qualifications (and their
units). When agreed credit equivalences have been attached to these qualifications,
clarification will be sought as to how the two systems will
relate. [Top]
The level at which you start learning is decided by the requirements of the learning programme that you have chosen to follow. This may mean that you have to meet entry requirements set by the provider. [Top]
A credit framework will allow and encourage individually negotiated programmes. However, in negotiating such programmes with learners, institutions will have systems or pathways, prerequisites, and programme approval boards to ensure coherency and approval within the planned programmes. [Top]
In due course we expect all learners to be issued with a Credit Transcript that will record all their learning. This transcript will show:
The Credit Transcript will be backed up by the NICATS unit database which course selectors will use to retrieve details on the units achieved (via the unit code). In addition to the credit value and level, the details will show the unit's learning outcomes and assessment criteria, which will show exactly what the learner can do in terms of skills and knowledge.
Information on the types of assessments used and detailed course content would have to be sought from the institution where the learning was delivered. Learners should still be encouraged to hold this information themselves. [Top]
NICATS is based on the principle that all learning should be given credit, wherever it occurs and provided it can be assessed. The learning process itself may be undertaken on a full-time or part-time basis (or a mixture of both), through distance learning or independent learning. The general principle is that credit is allocated for the learning achieved. [Top]
All courses which have been written to NICATS specifications will be assigned general credit. When NICATS is fully operational all education and training providers will recognise NICATS credits. However, the portion of general credit which can be put towards another course ('cashed in') depends on how much of your general credit is relevant to the course you are applying for. This relevant portion is called specific credit. [Top]
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) recognises the necessity for universities to move towards designing their programmes using a learning outcomes based approach. This concurs with the NICATS model which is concerned with forging a closer link between what learners set out to achieve and the means by which they demonstrate their learning achievements through the assessment process. Writing learning outcomes for your programme will help you to reflect on what you believe your learners should accomplish at the end of a process of learning and to resolve how you can assess their learning achievements.
QAA is in discussion with national credit consortia, including NICATS, to develop guidelines for universities to use in preparing for subject reviews. [Top]
Currently, qualifications (and their constituent units) within the NQF do not have credit attached to them. Although the qualifications have not been overtly written using the principles and guidelines recommended by NICATS, there is a nationally agreed methodology for assigning credit equivalence to these qualifications (see UK Credit Equivalence Project). [Top]
The perceived difficulty of learning is reflected in the NICATS level at which the learning takes place, but all learning deemed to be at a particular level is treated equally. A certain quantity of learning at Level 3 in Mathematics will have the same credit value as the same quantity of learning at Level 3 in General Studies. [Top]
At present we have no system for giving NICATS credits to a course you took ten years ago, therefore the learning you achieved through this course could not be recorded on a NICATS Credit Transcript. NICATS is only in its implementation phase and it will be some time before it is fully operational. In this implementation phase there are two main approaches to assigning credit to courses:
NICATS is responsible, through its Implementation Committee to the Minister for Employment and Learning. The NICATS scheme features prominently in government plans for the promotion of lifelong learning throughout N Ireland and is funded through the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL). Representatives of the Department attend meetings of the Implementation Committee, and there are regular consultations between departmental officials, the Chairman and NICATS staff. [Top]
At present NICATS is a credit system developed for Northern Ireland by a consortium of providers in further and higher education. Its primary purpose is to establish a workable system for recognising and comparing learning achievement within Northern Ireland. The system used is, however, identical to that proposed by the various consortia of higher education institutions operating throughout the UK. In this way it is fully readable and transferable within the UK system. In Europe, recognition of credit gained in education is much less developed. NICATS credits may well be accepted in those universities which have developed exchange links within the UK, but the credit exchange system is not yet sufficiently developed across Europe for there to be any guarantee of recognition. The recent Bologna Declaration (1999) of European States commits most European countries to working towards similar design principles and mutual recognition for higher level awards. The UK CATS framework may well provide a model for taking this work forward. [Top]
At present, following the work of the Inter Consortium Credit Agreement (InCCA) Project (which published its final report in 1998) many UK universities are adopting common principles in relation to the assignment of credit to learning programmes. The UK wide adoption of the NICATS summary generic level descriptors was one of the recommendations in the InCCA report (Sept. 1998). The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education have agreed that the major UK credit consortia/development groups (including NICATS) should work together to prepare guidance on how credit arrangements might map onto the new framework for higher education qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (January 2001). This guidance will be available later in 2001. In addition, progress towards adopting a single credit framework across FE and HE, in Northern Ireland, is being made through two major projects - the UK Credit Equivalence Project and the FE Sector/NICATS Access Curriculum Development Project. [Top]
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