Core skills were identified by employers as the skills that are most likely to be needed in any work environment. However, they only go up to SCQF Level 6 and recent consultation with employers identified that 'core skills' at a higher level must reflect the work­based requirements at a higher level. Therefore, 'career skills' were introduced for Technical and Professional Apprenticeships.

The Modern Apprenticeship Group carried out some work to identify a range of pan­sector SVQ units at SCQF 7 and above, grouped into the following headings:

  • Business Administration
  • Management (including Business Continuity and Governance)
  • Customer Service
  • Enterprise.

The list of career skills may be extended by MAG, but the inclusion of other units must be based on strong evidence of need. All units will be pan­sector units.

Candidates and employers should review the list of units and identify between two and five units from the career skills list, within the following parameters:

  • Career skills for Technical Apprenticeships must be at SCQF Level 7 or above, and must be at SCQF Level 8 and above for Professional Apprenticeships
  • There will be a threshold of 15 SCQF credits for Technical Apprenticeships and 20 SCQF credits for Professional Apprenticeships (each unit has a different credit, ranging from 3­15).

Example

For a professional Apprenticeship, the following units could be selected to meet the threshold of 20 credits:

  • Manage and evaluate information systems - SCQF Level 8 and 6 SCQF credit points
  • Manage physical resources - SCQF Level 8 and 9 SCQF credit points
  • Negotiate in a business environment - SCQF Level 8 and 7 SCQF credit points.

Or

  • Plan, run and evaluate projects - SCQF Level 8 and 10 SCQF credit points
  • Manage risk - SCQF Level 8 and 10 SCQF credit points.

Both options give a total of 22 SCQF credits and are at SCQF level 8 or above, so both meet the requirements for a Professional Apprenticeship.

Read Guidance for Sector Skills Council: Overview

Read about core skills and Modern Apprenticeships

Read Information on Technical and Professional Apprenticeships