NVQ (National Vocational Qualification) is a work related, competence based qualification. NVQ is an entry-level course. After doing this course you basically can choose any career. NVQs reflect the skills and knowledge needed to do a job effectively.

NVQs represent national standards recognized by employers through out the country NVQ’s are qualifications for work and show you can actually do a job, and not simply that you know how to do it in theory.

If you have National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) it shows that you can do the work for which it has been awarded to National Standards. It means you are competent in this kind of work.

The central feature of NVQ’s is the National Occupational Standards (NOS) on which they are based. NOS are statements of performance standards, which describe what competent people in a particular occupation are expected to be able to do so. They cover all the main aspects of an occupation, including current best practice, the ability to adapt to future requirements and the knowledge and understanding, which underpins competent performance. The standards are developed by Standards Setting Bodies and further information about how standards are developed can be obtained from QCA (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority)

On 1st October 1997 the National Council for Vocational Qualifications (NCVQ) merged with the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority (SCAA) to form the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). QCA has a wider remit than any previous education or training body, including pre-school learning, the national curriculum for 5-16 year olds, national tests for 7,11 and 14 year olds, GCSEs, A-levels, GNVQs, NVQs and higher level vocational qualifications. QCA can co-ordinate education and training more effectively than was possible in the past, allowing the UK, for the first time, to bring together academic and vocational qualifications of all kinds.