Developments are moving fast regarding accreditation. The National Youth Agency recently carried out a survey of authorities' current practice and this has now been followed by a seminar with representatives of the Network for Accrediting Young People's Achievement (NfAYPA) and colleagues from the voluntary and statutory sectors. A detailed report is available on The NYA website. The Youth Service Accreditation targets conveyed in Margaret Hodge's recent letter to youth services are included in the report, as well as outcomes of the Think Tank meeting and future plans.
The National Youth Agency will ensure that recording and accreditation of young people's achievement remains prominent within the Transforming Youth Work agenda. The Agency will continue to support the development of this work nationally and locally. We will engage youth services in discussions and work towards the development of a clear, consistent approach between local authorities.
In particular, The NYA will:
- Gather and share information from local authority youth services on the implementation of the targets and performance indicators within Resourcing Excellent Youth Services.
- Define recorded outcomes and clarify what counts as a recorded outcome and clarify other terms in the letter from Margaret Hodge, such as "concentrated experiences".
- Establish and support a reference group on accreditation. This may also include supporting the local development of recording and accreditation strategies and working with local curriculum/accreditation staff, supporting the development of appropriate training.
- Produce an NYA briefing on accreditation and a young person's guide to accreditation, which will be written largely by young people.
The NYA coordinates NfAYPA, which represents awarding bodies and organisations which coordinate nationally accredited non-formal awards or programmes.
Through our work with them we will continue to raise the profile of informal awards with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, Department for Education and Skills, Employers and funding bodies. We will also consider how the current requirements and procedures can be flexibly applied to incorporate local awards and will contribute to the design and development of a quality assurance system for them.
A national annual conference on accreditation will take place on 6 May 2004 in London and we will publish the third edition of the National Framework of Awards in non-formal educational settings.
The NYA is seeking to employ relevant expertise on a part-time basis between now and the end of March to help scope the work and build on current expertise. If you are in a position to contribute between now and March 2004, please contact Emma Prigmore at emmap@nya.org.uk, or call 0116 285 3731 for further details.
More substantial short and longer-term opportunities to be involved nationally with the accreditation agenda are likely to be available from April 2004.
Any posts or tenders for pieces of work will be advertised in YPN and via other NYA networks and recruited according to standard NYA procedure.
- If you have any comments on the work outlined and/or wish The National Youth Agency to consider other related work, please contact Carol Jackson on carolj@nya.org.uk, or call 0116 285 3736.
