Nvq - Vrq

[wight services]

Hope this is the right place for this,

My daughter has just finished her NVQ level 2 at college and has now been told the level 3 will be a VRQ, and according to the tutors is a better option.

Now, for employers, does anybody know and understand the difference, and from an employment side, is the VRQ recognised, and would it be considered its equal when assessing somebodies qualifications as part of the potential employment prospect.

 

[mhall]

Bear in mind I am a bit of a cynic when it comes to colleges, but here's my take on it:

In content VRQs are almost the same as NVQs. The main difference is that VRQs are cheaper to deliver by colleges as they allow for far more "remote Studies" and "on line learning". Your daughter will still get the knowledge but she will be doing most of it herself and possibly be enrolled in "virtual classrooms" which is just another term for email support.

The reason colleges do it is simply because they have no real experience in delivering proer NVQs as they are VOCATIONAL qualifications- you get them by doing the job. As the colleges are finding it hard to get placements, the Vocational RELATED qualification is an easy option for them.

In terms of employment, most employers haven't got a clue but it basically means your daughter will have the knowledge of the role but not the experience. Colleges can use VRQs and basically "mark" them as they would any other academic qualification.

How employers would see it would rather depend on whether they thought your daughter would cope in the real world. Take it to the next level and imagine the thousands of MBA's who haven't got a clue.

Personally, I don't think you can beat experience and if you can find an NVQ course, it will be better than a VRQ and the college is being less than honest with you if they are claiming a VRQ is better - it's certainly better for them !

All that said, as I mentioned before, many employers won't understand or, more worringly, won't care about the difference.

 

[wight services]

Thank you for your reply, I think your last line is probably the most reassuring, as im hoping she goes the mobile/self employed route for now, but understandably she wants to keep her options open. By the sounds of it though as long as it says level 3 then it may just give her that qualification she would need.