Unit Review Project

Bulletin - May 2011                                   

To the end of March, 5349 units had been through the complete Unit Library Review (ULR) process.  2193 (41.0%) passed to the ‘Results’ stage unaltered, had minor amendments made, or have been replaced by newly created units.  3156 (59.0%) have been deleted during the review process.  The current status of the subject areas / sectors that have been through, or are currently within the review process is summarised in the tables at the end of the page. 

We have added another feature to the Unit Review menu on the web site.  In addition to Consultation, Results and ULR Update there is now an ‘Under Review’ section.  It is intended that this will ensure that centres are aware of which unit groups are currently being reviewed, and that staff delivering or co-ordinating provision in these areas will be prepared for when these groups are moved into the Consultation phase.  It should be noted that this is a list of groups and it does not include a list of each unit being reviewed. 

Work is currently underway to plan a 5 year schedule for the review process.  When this has been finalised it will be made available so that centres will be able to see what sectors or groups of units we intend to review and when we intend to do it. 

A move has been made towards reviewing smaller groups of units, as in the past problems have arisen due to reviewing large and unwieldy groups.  Not only does the use of smaller groups make it easier for the reviewer and for internal tracking and control, it also makes it easier to select groups of units that match to sectors or sub-sectors.  We hope that this approach will also encourage co-ordinators and tutors to engage in the consultation process. 

The Welsh provision is being reviewed by two specialist reviewers who have worked through the bank of existing units and have amended, re-written, or recommended units for deletion.  They have also mapped the units to other Welsh Language course/provision.  They are now writing new units to fill gaps in the provision that have been identified.

 We are working on strategies to meet the particular challenge posed by the review of the Independent Living Skills (ILS) provision.  This provision, which is almost exclusively available at Entry level, poses specific problems to review in that it is cross-sectoral, including units from all sectors.  It is the one group that is usually delivered by specialists in the level and type of provision, and who are familiar with the type of learner rather than by subject / sector specialists.  There is also an indistinct line between the ILS provision and more ‘main stream’ provision in that many units may be used in either setting. 

Centres should remember that there is now a new suite of Modern European Language units for Entry 3, Level 1 and Level 2.  The 352 old units have all been deleted and have had a last registration date for learners of 31/08/2011 allocated to them.  The equivalent Level 3 Modern European Language units are currently under review and the suite of new units will be released in time for use in September.  Please note that the Level 3 units which are being replaced will remain available until the end of August 2012. 

It should be emphasised that all of the above refers to European Roman Script languages and does not include languages such as Greek, Russian, Japanese and Chinese.  We intend to commence work on reviewing units for these non Roman Script languages during the summer. 

We would also like to take this opportunity to remind centres that the Sector Skills Councils have made the following first aid units available to all awarding organisations:

Emergency First Aid Skills                 PV22CY012    (Y/600/1250)

Paediatric Emergency First Aid          PV22CY013    (F/600/2036)

Both of these are Level 2 units and are available to be delivered as part of QCF qualifications or as stand-alone units.  

In order to ensure that Agored Cymru provision meets the standards set by Sector Skills Councils all other first aid units have been withdrawn from the unit library.  Learners registered on these existing units before 31^st August 2011 will be able to claim credit. 

Work is currently underway drafting units at entry and level 1 focussing on knowledge of first aid procedures.  The new units will be released in the summer term. 

Results

These are subject areas, comprising units that have been through the Review Process, after having been available for consultation for a minimum period of two months.  The results are final and are only reconsidered in exceptional cases where serious errors are found to have occurred. 

In Consultation 

Under Review (or in final stages of checking prior to being moved to Consultation) 

Currently being Prepared for Review 

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