We've seen an increase in registrants being drawn to online courses offered by providers that appear attractive due to their low cost and short completion times. While these may seem like a good deal, many do not fully meet our registration requirements.
Scottish Vocational Qualifications
Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs) are work-based qualifications that assess your skills, knowledge and understanding against national occupational standards, in your own workplace. This means a qualified assessor will come to observe and assess you doing your job, giving a genuine, meaningful assessment of your competence.
A full SVQ will typically involve a large number of hours of observed and assessed practice, which is a core part of what makes the qualification credible and recognised.
Be cautious of qualifications that rely entirely on online learning and assessment with no workplace observation and assessment. These are unlikely to meet our registration requirements in full or our Qualification principles and criteria.
As a standard setting organisation, we develop SVQs in partnership with key stakeholders and awarding bodies.
Check before you start
Before enrolling on any qualification, visit our website to confirm that the course and provider will meet our registration requirements. This simple step can save you time and money.
If you begin a course that only partially meets our conditions, you may still need to complete additional SVQ units, meaning you end up spending more, not less.
A list of accredited providers is available on our website. Choosing an accredited provider gives you confidence that the qualification will be delivered to the required standard and will meet our registration requirements.
Talk to your employer
Your employer has a responsibility under our Codes of Practice to support you in gaining the qualifications needed for your role. They may be able to contribute to the cost, identify a suitable accredited provider or point you towards available funding.
Funding for training
Some sources of funding are available to you as the learner, while your employer or learning provider needs to apply for others. You should ask your employer and learning provider about any available funding.
You can find funding information for social work study, the part time fee grant, modern apprenticeship funding and the Voluntary Sector Development Fund (VSDF) on our website.
Review of Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs) and apprenticeships in social services
We want to make sure that SVQs and apprenticeships are up to date so that the registered workforce has the necessary skills, knowledge and qualifications to meet the needs of individuals with lived experience of care or support services.
We recently consulted on proposed changes to Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs) and apprenticeships in social services.
We are reviewing six SVQs and apprenticeship frameworks:
- SVQ Social Services and Healthcare at levels 6, 7 and 9
- SVQ Social Services Children and Young People at levels 6, 7 and 9.
Between now and March 2027, we will:
- present and address the findings of the consultation to the Qualification Design Team
- credit rate and level the qualifications so they can be placed on the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF)
- seek qualifications approval by Qualifications Scotland (QS) Accreditation
- invite awarding bodies to deliver the qualifications
- work with Skills Development Scotland to seek approval by QS Accreditation to deliver the apprenticeships.
We’re committed to supporting the social care and children and young people workforce to gain their necessary qualifications for registration. If you need more information please contact our Registration Team by completing this online form or calling 0345 60 30 891.