How Chelmsford College got the British Values qualification it needed

Success Story

Chelmsford College wanted to promote fundamental British Values with a small qualification, in line with Ofsted guidelines, but a comprehensive search found such a qualification did not exist.

Gateway Qualifications worked with the College to develop one: the Level 1 Award in British Values, developed to support the delivery of British Values to over 2,000 learners across the College.

If you need a British Values qualification that meets Ofsted guidelines and is easy to deliver and assess, get in touch.

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At a glance

Centre

Chelmsford College, an FE college

Qualification

Level 1 Award in British Values

The challenge

The British Values and citizenship qualification the College wanted, assessed by multiple-choice online assessment, did not exist

The solution

Gateway Qualifications worked with Chelmsford College to develop it, shaping the content, assessment, and internal processes to meet the college’s needs.

The result

A short Level 1 qualification that meets Ofsted guidelines, is flexible in its delivery and minimises the administrative burden, developed to support the delivery of British Values to over 2,000 learners across the College

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

The challenge: the British Values qualification they wanted did not exist

Chelmsford College wanted to actively promote fundamental British Values, in line with Ofsted guidelines, through a small qualification that gave learners a good grounding in the subject while being flexible in its delivery and minimising the administrative burden. It wanted that qualification assessed through multiple-choice, online assessment. A comprehensive search led the College to discover that such a qualification did not exist.

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 learners have a good understanding of British Values and the risks and threats of radicalisation and extremism.

Chelmsford College begins each academic year with one or more short courses covering key subjects such as e-safety and safeguarding. Recognising the importance of British Values, and that it has a responsibility to educate 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 the College got the qualification it 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

The solution: Developing a British Values qualification with Gateway Qualifications

As an existing customer, Chelmsford College recognised Gateway Qualifications’ ability to be quickly responsive to customers’ needs, and saw the Awarding Organisation as the ideal partner to work with to meet its 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 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 the 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 results: a British Values qualification, later developed for other centres too

The result is the Level 1 Award in British Values: a short 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.

Following the introduction of this qualification, other centres requested it be available at other levels, resulting in the development of the Entry Level Award in British Values (Entry 3).

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

What this could mean for your learners

Chelmsford College knew what it wanted for its learners: a British Values qualification that met Ofsted guidelines and was easy to deliver and assess. When a comprehensive search found none, the qualification was developed with the College, shaped around its aims and the way it already works.

The same is possible for very different needs, in very different settings, whether the qualification you need already exists or does not yet exist. If you would like to talk it through, Gateway Qualifications is here whenever you’d like to talk.

Level 1 Award in British Values

Entry Level Award in British Values (Entry 3)

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