When Chelmsford College decided they wanted to offer a small qualification that would actively promote fundamental British Values in line with Ofsted guidelines, they came to Gateway Qualifications for help. They wanted a qualification that would give learners a good grounding in the subject while being flexible in its delivery and minimising the administrative burden. The result is our Level 1 Award in British Values qualification.

Meeting ‘Prevent’ agenda

In 2011, the Government published the Prevent Strategy as part of its overall counter-terrorism plan, CONTEST. As a result, all further education and skills providers in England must have ‘due regard’ to the need to ‘prevent’ people from being drawn into terrorism. Ofsted has clarified the responsibilities of learning providers, stating that they should ensure that learners have a good understanding of British Values and the risks and threats of radicalisation and extremism.

Chelmsford College begin each academic year with one or more short courses covering key subject matter such as e-safety and safeguarding. Recognising the importance of British Values and understanding they have a responsibility to educate their learners on staying safe and respecting one another, the College decided to offer a short course covering British Values.

It was the College’s Director of Learning Development and Inclusion, Marco Iciek, who worked with Gateway Qualifications to ensure they got the qualification they needed. Marco has a background in lecturing in politics and is personally engaged in delivering British Values and equipping learners for adult life.

A British Values qualification is high on the College's agenda. We want to deliver a course that offers a qualification at the end - something the students can walk away with.

Marco Iciek, Director of Learning Development and Inclusion, Chelsmford College

Delivering the Colleges’ requirements

Chelmsford College wanted a British Values and citizenship qualification that was assessed through multiple choice, online assessments. A comprehensive search led them to discover such a qualification did not exist.

As an existing customer the College recognised Gateway Qualifications’ ability to be quickly responsive to customers’ needs, and therefore saw the Awarding Organisation as the ideal partner to work with to meet their specific requirements.

Chelmsford College’s Director of Curriculum, Alison Davies, contacted Gateway Qualifications to discuss developing a qualification that supports the delivery of British Values to over 2,000 learners across the College.

Gateway Qualifications’ qualification development team worked closely with the staff at the College to define the structure of the qualification and its content. Site visits, emails and detailed phone calls ensured aims were fully understood, along with intended delivery model – this helped Gateway Qualifications to shape not only the qualification content and assessment approach but also the internal processes and systems to meet the College’s needs.

The result is a short, Level 1 qualification that focuses on a current, important subject, that is flexible in its delivery and minimises the administrative burden – all while meeting Ofsted guidelines and demonstrating that learners are actively receiving education in fundamental British Values.

It's the best possible experience working with Gateway Qualifications, and we have always found that they are able to accommodate us. They've bent over backwards to meet our needs in such a short time frame.

Marco Iciek, Director of Learning Development and Inclusion, Chelsmford College

Gateway Qualifications are delighted to have worked with Chelmsford College on this exciting new qualification and are thrilled to have met the needs of the Centre and its learners.

Chelmsford College hopes this new qualification will raise learners’ awareness of British Values and support their students to keep safe from the risks of radicalisation, as well as help them build a cohesive student body where students are respectful of one another. At the same time its will allow them to demonstrate to Ofsted that they are taking seriously their responsibilities under the Prevent agenda.

You’ll find more information about our Level 1 Award in British Values on our qualification page. Following the introduction of this qualification, other Centres requested the qualification be available at other levels, resulting in the development of Entry Level Award in British Values (Entry 3). Feel free to give us a call and speak to someone about any of our qualifications.