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HIGHER LEVEL NVQ's IN BUILDING CONSERVATION
Three higher level Building Conservation NVQ's have now been produced:
1. Conservation Consultancy			Level 5
2. Building Site Management (conservation)			Level 4
3. Conservation Control			Level 4
These offer a mechanism for demonstrating and building competence against lists of criteria which spell out the competency requirements. In other words practitioners wishing to prove or check their competence have a model against which to compare their experience and capabilities, in order to make good any shortcomings. An NVQ portfolio is tangible evidence of competence, not only to present to an assessor, but also a record of experience to be proud of which will stand candidates in good stead and increase their confidence and effectiveness.
WHY GET AN NVQ?
An obvious reason is not having a qualification at all. Many people have built up a level of competence sufficient to carry out the work they are involved in. They simply need the mechanism to be able demonstrate their competence which NVQ's provide. Professional and Academic qualifications do not prove competence. It is generally accepted that the abilities to gather, select and present information are practised and demonstrated in the process of getting a degree. However this does not include the many more specific competencies needed to practice e.g. as a Conservation Officer, who may come from a variety of academic backgrounds. This is also true for other practitioners such as Architects who even when they have passed the RIBA Part 3- Professional Practice Exam. cannot be said to be fully competent until they have practised for a number of years. Our Quality Assurance culture wants proof. It is not good enough to be competent without the qualification to prove it. However as with QA, which only requires records to be kept about those things that a competent practitioner would wish to keep records about, NVQ's address only those aspects of practice in which the practitioner would wish to be to be able to demonstrate competence. Finally funding bodies are moving towards making grant conditional on the demonstrated competence of professional, craft and trades people who will be involved. There are benefits arising directly from the interaction with and contribution of the advisor/assessor in identifying any gaps in relevant experience and abilities and deciding how best to make these good. Confidence and effectiveness will be derived from the confirmation in terms of tangible evidence of what the candidate knows and perhaps more importantly, what he does not know.
WHAT IS AN NVQ?
Essentially NVQ's are a mechanism for achieving qualifications by demonstrating competence in the workplace. By listing the competencies required in particular fields, NVQ's provide models for practitioners to compare themselves with in order to establish the extent of their relevant capabilities and any gaps that need to be filled. These requirements are listed under the following headings:
	1. Units		Areas of work activity
	2. Elements		Work functions within each area of work activity
Elements are broken down into:
	1. Performance Criteria		Activities within each work function
	2. Range		The range of situations in which these activities can occur
	3. Evidence		To show sufficient experience, understanding and knowledge
EVIDENCE
The evidence that has to be provided to prove competence is divided into two types:
	1. Performance Evidence
		a) product Evidence	tangible things like drawings, reports, letters etc.
		b) process Evidence	how effectively these were done, judged through observation in the workplace, witness testimony, and interviews
	2. Knowledge Evidence
		a) theories, principles and methods	the type of knowledge used to manage higher level activities - uncertainty and new unfamiliar circumstances
		b) facts and data	knowledge without which the job cannot be done
HOW MUCH EVIDENCE?
The amount of evidence required is sufficient not only to cover all the criteria but also to provide assessors with what they need to make judgements about competence now and in some cases the future. This poses a problem for assessors particularly in assessing higher level NVQ's where more judgements about process evidence - how effectively it's done - have to be made. Assessors have to look for appropriateness and consistency and will stop probing and move on to another area when satisfied. So relatively little evidence will suffice where confirmation of competence is clear, whereas any evidence of less than competent practice will cause assessors to probe further.
ASSESSMENT METHODS
These are many and varied according to what type of activities need to be assessed, they include:
	1. Workplace visits		These are favoured because seeing how people work yields insights into their understanding and knowledge. However these tend to work better for someone working in a workshop rather than someone sitting at a desk. So at higher levels such visits need to be arranged in advance so that only activities which do demonstrate levels of competence are observed.
	2. Portfolio review		Can be done either in candidate's presence or absence
	3. Interview		There is a problem of potential inconsistency of standards required by different assessors and therefore a current requirement for interviews to be fully documented.
	4. Written Exams		Where appropriate these or evidence of prior qualifications will be used to reduce the costs of assessment. This form of assessment is easier to check for consistency.
ASSESSMENT AT HIGHER LEVELS
The competencies requiring assessment at higher levels will include one or more of the following types of activity:
	Breadth and range of competence
	Depth and breadth of knowledge and understanding
	Capability in dealing with complexity and difficulty
	Specialised capabilities
	Ability to transfer competence from one context to another
	Ability to innovate and cope with non-routine activities
	Ability to plan and organise work
	Ability to supervise others
	In general the ability to make balanced judgements
These types of competence are difficult to observe and measure and will therefore require judgements that could be very challenging for assessors, who as well as needing to be highly competent in their field will require training in the assessment judgements they will have to make.
HOW NVQ's ARE ACHIEVED
Candidates go through the following steps
	Register with an approved assessment centre
	(To date Oxford Brooks University, Lambeth College, The Building Crafts College, and The RICS are working on becoming Assessment Centres. None of these has yet been registered by the joint awarding body - Edexcel, CIOB, ICE, COTAC.)
	Review current competence and evidence and that which should become available through work or training with advice from assessor and or advisor. Decide appropriate NVQ
	Planning with advice from assessor/advisor how evidence should be assembled and presented and when and how it should be assessed.
	Prepare Portfolio This will contain relevant and authenticate documents as evidence of the candidates competence cross referenced to the elements and Units to which they apply.
	Assessment usually over a period of time, results recorded. assessor's decision and process of assessment checked and verified by Internal Verifier nominated by Assessment Centre.
	Certification Approved Assessment Centre advises Awarding Body who issues certificate.
The benefits of achieving an NVQ include not only the recognition provided by the qualification but also the confidence and effectiveness to be gained in the consolidation of experience into a career summary that demonstrates the wide range of competence required.