FAQs

1. Why does my school need to join a consortia?

   Simply because no school will be capable of delivering the full entitlement on their own; and nor would the government want them to. The government wants individual institutions to play to their strengths, focusing on the things they do well and relying on others to provide the things they do less well.

2. How will The Diplomas be graded?

   Diplomas will be graded as follows: The Foundation Diploma will have three pass grades, A* to B, plus fail. The Higher Diploma will have four pass grades, A* to C, plus fail. The Advanced Diploma will have six pass grades, A* to E, plus fail.

3. Where will the Diplomas be taught?

   Students will be based at their school or college, but may have the chance to do some of their learning in other schools, colleges or in the work place. This means for each Diploma, the best teaching and facilities will be accessible to students in their area.

4. What will happen to other qualifications - like BTECs when the diplomas arrive?

   Until 2013 may centres will of course continue to offer BTEC alongside Diplomas and other qualifications – after 2013 the Government strategy states that there will be 4 routes for 14-19 yr olds – foundation learning tier, apprenticeships, GCSE/Alevel or Diploma – therefore BTEC and similar qualifications would only be funded via one of these routes – e.g. if they were offered as part of an apprenticeship

5. Because the GLH for diplomas are different to other qualifications - e.g BTEC my funding will change - have DDPS thought of that?

   The GLH for the diploma and therefore any funding implications are outside the remit of the DDP and the GLH were set centrally by DCSF.
    

6. Have young people been consulted on the content of the Diploma in Sport and Active Leisure?

   Yes, young people have been consulted at various stages over the course of the development of the Diploma in Sport and Active Leisure. The DDP have also produced a myspace page for the Diploma in Sport and Active Leisure which can be found at www.myspace.com/sldiploma.

7. What role are the National Skills Academy (NSA) expected to play in supporting consortia to develop and deliver the Diploma in Sport and Active Leisure?

   At the forefront of the NSA remit is to provide a lead role in bringing employers together as a forum for the education and training community in a coordinated way. Therefore, the NSA are able to actively support consortia in arranging work placements, providing a brokering mechanism between themselves and employers, ensuring that these relationships are managed effectively. The NSA are also well positioned to support the planning of innovative approaches to the delivery of the Diploma. Once Diploma delivery is underway, the NSA could have an active role with the monitoring, evaluation and continuous improvement of the programme. For more information on the NSA please visit http://www.nationalskillsacademy.co.uk/ .

8. Where can I get support with curriculum planning?

   Support can be accessed from www.diploma-support.org, or your Principal Learning Awarding Body.

9. Which awarding bodies have been accredited to offer Principal learning from 2010?

   Five awarding bodies have been accredited to deliver all 3 levels of the Diploma in Sport and Active Leisure. (EDI, OCR, VTCT, Edexcel, and AQA City and Guilds). Qualification summaries for all five can be downloaded from the NDAQ website.
   
    

10. Where can I get information about project qualification?

    More information about the Project component of the Diploma can be found here http://www.qcda.gov.uk/18461.aspx  http://www.diploma-support.org/system/files/THE%20PROJECT%20f%20and%20h_0.doc and http://www.diploma-support.org/system/files/extended%20project.doc

11. What is the Edexcel position on Co-teaching at Level 1 & 2?

    If there are co-teaching opportunities in terms of the unit content then it is up to the centre how they want to manage this - nothing is forbidden, nothing is recommended. Opportunities for co-teaching have been included in Edexcel schemes of work or units, as appropriate. Centres can design their teaching groups and teaching programmes how they like.
     
    The big issue is in the assessment and the learner's accumulation and aggregation of achievement. First, there will almost certainly be different assessment expectations at L1 and L2 for what might look like similar teaching content - there may be different controls on the nature of the assessment, and there will certainly be different marking criteria. It is definitely not like GCSE where there may be a common set of requirements across the two levels.
     
    A decision therefore has to be made ahead of the first assessment as to whether the learner is going to be put through the L1 or the L2 requirements. Once that learner has started at a particular level and accumulated 'credit', there is no way of changing that 'credit' to a different level. So a learner struggling at L2 after taking some assessments can't have their poor results at L2 converted into some sort of L1 achievement. Likewise the L1 learner over-achieving can't switch across to L2 and keep the marks and grades they have achieved so far at L1, and have those contribute to a L2 aggregation. A L2 PL qualification can only be achieved through having been assessed on L2 units. The over-achieving L1 learner must start their assessments again and take a full set of L2 assignments. Likewise the struggling L2 learner must start a new record for L1 achievement.
     
    If a centre does want to move the learner across to L2, having started on L1, there are two scenarios:
     
    1) The learner has registered but HAS NOT made any unit entries:
    The learner would need to be de-registered and re-register for the appropriate level. the centre would receive a full refund in this instance and be liable to pay the full registration fee for the new registration
     
    2) The learner has registered and made entries:
    In this instance the learner would be de-registered and receive a refund minus the equivalent unit fees for the number of units entered. The new registration would incur a fee, charged at the relevant tariff.

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