A National Volcational Qualification is a qualifications which helps you to develop the various skills and gain the knowledge required to help you to do a job effectively.
The qualifications are based on national standards and there are several for various occupations. NVQs are appropriate if you wish to increase your skills with your current job or to gain new skills to move into a different area. The national standards set the skills that you need to be able to achieve to work at each level so it is easy to see how to progress from your current position.
NVQs are at levels 1 to 5 on the National Qualification Framework. The framework shows how different types of qualifications compare, in terms of the demands they place on learners.
What follows is a description of the various levels of national vocational qualifications (NVQs):
| Level 2 | A skilled experienced person who can organize their own work, as well as being able to work as part of a team. The candidate should be able to apply their knowledge to a range of work activities. |
| Level 3 | A skilled knowledgeable person who is required to demonstrate considerable responsibility and autonomy in their working role. |
| Level 4 | Competence involves the application of knowledge in a broad range of complex, technical or professional work activities performed in a variety of contexts. |
| Level 5 | Very substantial personal autonomy and significant responsibility of the work of others. Allocation of resources and finance features strongly, as do personal accountabilities for analysis, diagnosis, design, planning, execution and evaluation. |