Developments in education assessment recorded Friday, February 19, 2010 - 17:25

A new book tracing the development of the new Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) has been published by NIACE. Big Idea, Small Steps presents a detailed history of credit systems in the UK and illustrates how their evolution since the early 1980s has influenced both the design and the policy intentions of the QCF.

Peter Wilson, author of Big Idea, Small Steps, said:

"Now that the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) is in place, it's important to remember where it came from. Although the official account of the framework begins with a government policy announcement in 2003, the QCF draws on a history in the UK that goes back more than 20 years before then. I wanted to ensure that, as the QCF grows and develops, this ‘unofficial pre-history' was recorded and shared."

"The significance of this story is not just based on the fact that the QCF is a unique framework with no other structure like it anywhere else in the world. It is also based on the gradual realisation of the ‘big idea' of credit accumulation and transfer, developed through grass roots organisations, focused on the needs of adult learners and completely separate (until 2003) from the ‘mainstream' history of qualifications reform over the past three decades. I don't think we'll see anything like this process of policy making in the post-school sector again."

"Those now responsible for taking forward the QCF need to understand this alternative history of qualifications-reform if the framework is really going to deliver on the potential benefits the QCF has, not just for adults, but for learners of all ages."

Peter Wilson spent five years working on the development of the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) and spent almost 20 years working in credit systems and contributing to the development of thinking about credit. He is also the author of Lifelong Qualifications - seen as the blueprint for the QCF - and continues to advise organisations on the implementation of the QCF.