Exemplars - A Starting Point

Okay, so it won't be news to the qualification designers among you that there is an extreme shortage of exemplars available to illustrate acceptable ways of formatting and composing qualifications to meet NZQA's new Guidelines for Listing Qualifications on the NZQF!!  As only two qualifications so far have been submitted for approval under the new guidelines, it feels like we're in the midst of a mad scramble for useful information and guidance.

Here's something to use as a starting point - the South African Qualifications Authority's (SAQA's) qualifications (guidelines available here), which I believe were of influence in the development of policy for NZQF qualifications, are also premised on Outcomes.  SAQA calls them 'Exit-level Outcomes', NZQA calls them 'Graduate Profile Outcomes'.  The SAQA guidelines include discussions on how to format Exit-level Outcomes, both for qualifications based on unit standards, and qualifications not based on unit standards.  Some great pointers for what NZQA might be looking for.  SAQA qualifications must also include purpose statements and rationales - sound familiar?

Beyond the SAQA guidelines, having a browse at some of the SAQA qualifications themselves (search page here) is another way to find examples of how Graduate Profile Outcomes could be written and linked to unit standards or other qualification modules within the NZQF criteria.

Given the absence of much other guidance from NZQA at this stage, I'll definitely be using the SAQA qualifications and guidelines as a starting point for qualification design.

(Btw, you may have noticed that I've changed from using 'NZQf', as per the logo on the NZQA website, to 'NZQF', as this is the format used within NZQA publications.)

Cheers
Liz