What is the purpose of this qualification?
This qualification forms part of the ITQ Framework that was developed, led by e-skills UK the Sector Skills Council for, Business, Information and Technology, to provide a flexible framework for recognising achievements in IT skills across the UK within the education system and industry.
The qualification is designed for the following learner groups:
• Those in education to ensure they are equipped with the appropriate skills to support their personal or career development.
• Those preparing for employment or in employment to gain a level of skills application and development to enable practical exploitation of the potential of IT within the business environment
It is likely that learners at this level will have little or no prior experience of IT.
What skills, knowledge, or understanding does this qualification develop?
This qualification covers a wide range of optional units, there are no mandatory units that learners are required to complete. This enables providers to develop a coherent IT learning programme that meets the needs of the learner by selecting optional units from different types of software and core IT functions, for example database, spreadsheet, design, multi media and specialist software, IT system performance
The purpose of this qualification is as a taster qualification to develop learners’ IT skills and underpinning knowledge to enable progression to further learning but which can also be applied at work, and as part of their daily lives.
This qualification can be tailored to the needs of individual learners as they can achieve a proportion of the learning at a higher level than that of the qualification and can pursue those areas of IT learning most relevant to them.
How is this qualification different from other, similar qualifications?
The Entry Level 3 Award in IT User Skills ( ITQ) is the smallest size qualification within the framework and is most suitable for learners who require a qualification as an introduction to developing their IT skills or who have a limited amount of learning time to develop a specific / specialist aspect of their IT skills.
Which sector does this qualification support?
This qualification provides formal recognition of a learner’s IT Skills that can be applied in current or future employment for a variety of roles including those applying general IT skills in their day-to-day work.
Progression & entry requirements
The approved age range for these qualifications is: pre 16; 16-18 and 19+.
Learners can progress in two ways:
• increasing the range of skills they have by increasing the size of their qualification (Award → Certificate → Diploma)
• developing skills at a higher level by moving up the level of qualification from Entry Level 3 to Level 1.
