ABE's exciting updated Qualification Portfolio - Giving students the dynamic skills they need to succeed in business - ABE UK
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ABE’s exciting
updated Qualification www.abeuk.com
Portfolio
Giving students
the dynamic
skills they need
to succeed in
business
our road to
Introduction ABE has an outstanding history and an excellent global reputation. ABE qualifications give learners the best chance of achieving their full potential in their chosen careers. There is a world of opportunity waiting for them, and our qualifications ensure they can seize that opportunity and succeed. ABE has been going through a period of development. In the last two years, we have invested in new technologies to transform how our accredited centres and learners interact For our accredited with us. We have created a new public website which is fully centres we are delighted responsive, and we shall soon be launching our new online to offer a portfolio which portal. We’ve hosted more events around the world and we’ve you will be even more proud re-branded to ensure that we portray an exciting, fresh image. to deliver. The qualifications Underpinning all this work has been some intensive research will excite and support your and analysis to ensure that our qualifications continue to be fit students, enriching their for purpose. We are delighted to now officially announce our learning experience. updated portfolio. In this brochure, we explore the background which has informed our decisions. 2 ABE. Qualifications Portfolio 2017
“In many industries
and countries, the most
in-demand occupations or
specialties didn’t exist ten or
even five years ago, and the
pace of change is set
ntrepreneurship
usiness Business Marketing
Human Resources Business
Marketing Entrepreneurship Marketing Human ResourcesHuman
Entrepreneurship to accelerate” –
Entrepreneurship
Resources Human Resour
nagement Management Management
Management Management
Management Management Management World Economic
Management Managemen
Forum, 2016
Background
As part of ABE’s qualifications review, we undertook extensive research into the business skills of the
future – 2020 and beyond. The findings informed the design and development of content for ABE’s
updated qualifications. We will equip learners with the most relevant skills for the current and future
business environment.
Our research looked at the environmental changes and emerging trends that act as drivers for
the demand and development of the skills required for business success. It highlighted the ‘skills
gap’ between what graduates have and the needs of employers right now. It also revealed a ‘skills
unknown’ – the skills that employers are going to need that are just over the horizon and have not yet
been identified. The challenge over the coming decade will be to predict these skills based on trends
and developments and to teach and develop abilities that are broad enough and flexible enough to
adapt to the future environment.
According to the McKinsey Global Institute1, Underneath these overarching trends are the
there are four global forces at work here: skills and competencies that employers are
asking for. According to Forbes2 , these are
• The shifting focus of economic activity and the top 10 skills employers most want from
dynamism to emerging markets graduates:
• Accelerating technological change – 1/3 of • Ability to work in a team structure
all humans are now able to communicate
on the internet and this has meant that • Ability to make decisions and solve
entrepreneurs and start-ups now frequently problems
enjoy advantages over large, established
businesses. • Ability to communicate verbally with
people inside and outside of an
• Responding to the challenges of changing organisation
populations
• Ability to plan, organise and prioritise work
• Trade, people, finance, data – greater
global connections have created • Ability to obtain and process information
unmatched opportunities and create • Ability to analyse quantitative data
unexpected volatility
• Technical knowledge related to job
1
The four global forces breaking all trends, McKinsey Global Institute,
April 2015
• Proficiency with computer software
programs
• Ability to create and/or edit written reports
• Ability to sell and influence others
The 10 Skills Employers Most Want in 2015 Graduates, Forbes, 2014
2
ABE. Qualifications Portfolio 2017 3
What this means for ABE Qualifications The business skills needed by organisations in the future will be complex and constantly evolving, but our research shows that a combination of trans-disciplinary, agility and change management skills will enable organisations to maintain business competitiveness in the future. Using these findings, ABE has developed its updated qualifications to ensure we produce graduates who have relevant business skills now and in the future. Our updated framework features these key subject areas: • Project Management • Risk Management • Change Management • Managing Teams We also want to ensure that ABE graduates are taught – and can apply – the key skills and competencies required of them by their future employers. These skills and competencies have been embedded in ABE units in such a way as to allow learners to apply them to different contexts, disciplines and sectors to ensure adaptability. The key for ABE qualifications is to teach learners how to actually apply and put into action the skills and competencies they learned during their course in the workplace and, more than that, continue to utilise them in the changing workplace 4 ABE. Qualifications Portfolio 2017
It’s not just about employment In 2016 ABE commissioned Censuswide to gather the views of 500 young people about their entrepreneurial ambitions. According to the research, 82 per cent of respondents plan to start a business in the future. In addition, almost 90 per cent would like to start a business if barriers such as financial constraints or a lack of skills were removed. Entrepreneurial skills are important because according to the International Labour Organization, global unemployment will surpass 200 million by end of 2017 for the first time on record. Fostering a spirit of entrepreneurialism is good for individuals, organisations, communities and countries. It means that people don’t seek employment – they create it. ABE is a key proponent in the push for a new mindset which gives people a new sense of their own potential and purpose. Our updated portfolio features several qualifications which help build entrepreneurial skills. Additionally, entrepreneurship is embedded into our Business Management suite. New Qualifications Standards from Ofqual ABE has aligned its updated portfolio with new regulations from Ofqual, the qualifications regulator for England. Ofqual issued its new Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) so it could improve consistency in how awarding organisations describe the size and challenge, or demand, of their qualifications. ABE’s updated portfolio simplifies our credit structure, which in turn means that graduates on any of our qualifications have clearer progression routes from our qualifications to other academic institutions. As well as credits and levels, each qualification is now allocated a Total Qualification Time (TQT). TQT is an indication of how long a typical learner might take to study a qualification, including the time spent on their individual study and on assessment. It also includes Guided Learning Hours (GLH), which is the time spent actually being taught. Streamlined Units and Credits Our qualifications have been streamlined so that all students take a number of core units and develop the all round skills needed for the future as well a specialism, if they wish. This makes it cost effective for centres and good for students who can offer a broad expertise and choose to specialise in a particular discipline later. Additionally credit values for each unit have been simplified. ABE full Diplomas carry 120 credits. ABE. Qualifications Portfolio 2017 5
New Assessment Practices
ABE is introducing new ways of assessing learners Why assessment by
so they can demonstrate their understanding assignment?
more effectively. In addition to two examination
sessions per year in June and December, we Assignments can provide a greater
will be offering four assessment windows for opportunity to practically apply learning to
assignments (March, June, September and the workplace. Plus;
December). We want to help students do as
• They allow for individual expression and
well as they can in their assessments and a mix
of assignments and examinations provides an localisation
opportunity for learners to demonstrate their • They can show depth of learning
knowledge and skills in different ways.
• They examine students’ ability to form
All centres will be given guidance on how to help
coherent arguments
their students prepare their assignments, how to
assess them before submission (to give students • They can show breadth of student
the best chance of passing) and how to submit knowledge and understanding
assignments for quality assurance checking at ABE.
More support materials
ABE will now offer centres and learners more support materials so you can give students the
best possible experience and the greatest chance of passing their qualification. The materials will
include tutor resources, lesson plans, learning outcomes, activities to use in class or as homework,
powerpoint presentations to support delivery, case studies, reading lists, sample exam papers and
examiner tips. In addition, learners will get study guides for all units.
Upgraded Portal
All of the changes and updates will be available through ABE’s new online portal, to be launched in
2017. This will give centres and learners an enhanced online experience. You will be able to see all
the students studying at your centre and their pass rates. ABE will be able to give you enhanced
support if we see that your cohorts are struggling with particular units.
A new members portal
and more tuition resources
than ever before
6 ABE. Qualifications Portfolio 2017
Our updated qualifications continue to be
• Fully regulated by the qualifications regulator Ofqual
• Flexible – you can offer students the pace that suits them and your centre
• Relevant to real life work situations
• Internationally recognised
• A great route to university
Plus they are even better because:
• They are even more relevant to the workplace, and designed with practical learning
in mind
• They are regionally and locally relevant
• They are accompanied by more study resources
• They provide clearer progression to university
• Assignments allow students to demonstrate their knowledge and show how it can be
applied in a working environment
• Future employability and practical workplace skills are embedded into every module
• We will be offering 4 assessment sessions for assignments so students can pace their
learning more and won’t have to wait as long should they need to do an assignment
retake
• All students take the same core units so centres have economies of scale
Timeline for release of updated Qualifications
ABE will launch its updated Business Management qualifications at Levels 3, 4, 5 & 6 from June 2017.
In addition to Business Management there will be pathways in Marketing and Human Resources
(HR) and these modules will be launched in December 2017. However, students wishing to take
these pathways will be able to start in June with the core Business Management units which will be
common to all qualifications. Here are the key dates for our updated qualifications:
Qualification (RQF) First date – new centre First date – new learner First assessment
accreditations* registrations booking deadline –
December 2017 session
L3/L4/L5/L6 All programmes 1st January 2017 1st June 2017 6th October 2017
ABE. Qualifications Portfolio 2017 7
Expiry of Qualifications
All of ABE’s current QCF / NQF qualifications must by transferred to the RQF by the end of 2017.
Some of ABE’s qualifications will not be updated when we move across to the Ofqual RQF and
therefore will be discontinued. The operational end date for these qualifications is December
31st 2017. There will be two more exam sessions – in June and December 2017. These are the
qualifications that will not be transferred to the RQF:
Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Management (TTHM)
The TTHM suite is being discontinued because, in light of the findings of our research, we believe our
generic Business Management qualification will still develop the skills to excel in this sector but will
also serve learners better in the decades to come if they wish to seek employment and promotion in
other areas.
All students on TTHM programmes can transfer onto our core Business Management programmes if
they wish to do so. Or go on to the next level if they have completed Level 4 or 5.
Students who do not complete the qualification and who do not wish to transfer, will be given unit
certificates to show any units they have successfully achieved.
Level 7 Diploma in Business Management
Most of our Level 7 students go on to top up degrees, Masters degrees or MBAs. As take up of
Level 7 is relatively small we are focusing resources on our core Business Management Level 6
programme which will still enable learners to progress to Masters programmes if they wish.
Students who do not complete their qualification by December 2017, can apply for unit certificates.
Level 4 Diploma in Business Start-up and Entrepreneurship (L4BSU)
Our updated framework incorporates entrepreneurial skills within the Business Management
programme. Hence, we would like students who do not complete to transfer onto our updated ABE
Level 4 Business Management, available from June 2017.
NQF Botswana
In Botswana, ABE’s NQF qualifications will be discontinued at the end of 2017, along with our other
QCF qualifications. The new RQF qualifications at Levels 3-6 will be introduced in line with the rest
of the world.
Final Assessments
Examinations or assessments for ABE’s current qualifications will continue as usual for two more
sessions: June and December 2017. If students do not pass all units, they can get unit certificates
for the units they have successfully passed. L4-6 students can transfer onto the new ABE L4-6
Business Management qualifications, or go on to the next Level in the updated suite if they have
passed Level 4 or 5 in any current ABE qualification.
Qualification (QCF) Final date – new learner Final exam booking date – Final exam booking date –
registrations June 2017 session December 2017 session
L7 BM Ceased 7th April 2017 6th October 2017
L4/L5/L6 QCF programmes 3 March 2017 7th April 2017 6th October 2017
NQF Botswana 3 March 2017 7th April 2017 6th October 2017
The Association of Business Executives, 5th Floor, CI Tower,
St. Georges Square, New Malden, Surrey, KT3 4TE, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 8329 2930 | info@abeuk.com | www.abeuk.comYou can also read
