NVQs are work based qualifications which recognise existing competences while degrees, for example, are education based qualifications. Unfortunately attempts to equate these very different types of qualifications are often unconstructive and deny the very essence of NVQs. The general guide to different standards of achievement broadly associated with NVQs at each level highlights the unique nature of NVQs.

There is a need to give expression to the total spectrum of all qualifications, showing how they inter-relate and how they differ.

The purpose of qualifications are often very different and it is not possible to define equivalence. However, the diagram attached coveys a sense of the level of achievement associated with a variety of qualifications. It is inappropriate to equate them, yet they have in the diagram, been positioned in relation to each other.

The system is designed to offer freedom, choice and flexibility:

• freedom to be an individual and create a personal route of progress in work and education

• choice to stay in education or move to work, no matter at what age the choice is made

• flexibility to transfer skills from one job area to another without starting back at the beginning.