National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) are qualifications for work that show you can actually do the job and not simply that you know how to do it in theory. NVQs are made up of units that describe the skills and knowledge needed to do a job effectively. They are about putting learning into practice and can be used to learn how to do a job competently, or recognise the skills and knowledge developed through experience, in the form of a national qualification.

NVQs are available to anyone, at any age or stage of their career. There are no entry qualifications, but you do need to be working in a job role relevant to the qualification in order to demonstrate your competence and to produce the required evidence.

NVQs are available at various levels- from Levels 1 and 2 (which is equivalent to GCSEs), NVQ Level3 and 4 (equivalent to A Levels and Degrees), to Level 5 (which is similar to postgraduate level)

There are no formal examinations on NVQ programmes; they are based on normal work duties and can be obtained in a variety of different ways. Prior learning experience and qualifications can be taken into account and assessment is based on “portfolios” of evidence collected during work, observations at work and on questioning and work based projects or assignments.