Flexible Credit Framework

The Flexible Credit Framework recognises that HE credit may be obtained in a range of ways and seeks to maximise opportunities for employees with workplace experience to gain credit and build that credit towards an award.  The key features of the framework are its flexibility and responsiveness to serve the personal and professional development needs of individuals, and the workforce development needs of business, industry and the professions.

The University’s Flexible Credit Framework supports the University in achieving a number of its strategic drivers within the 2020-2025 Strategic Plan by promoting the key strategic themes of:

• Embracing flexibility in modes of study
• Offering opportunity for every student to succeed

The Flexible Credit Framework was originally developed to provide improved access to Higher Education for those in work, in response to the Leitch Report of December 2006, which recommended that universities pay more attention to the provision of higher education for people already in the workplace.  It recognises that HE credit may be obtained in a range of ways and seeks to maximise opportunities for employees with workplace experience to gain credit and build that credit towards an award.

The key features of the framework are its flexibility and responsiveness to serve the personal and professional development needs of individuals, and the workforce development needs of business, industry and the professions. The introduction of apprenticeships has emphasised the need to recognise prior learning and the awarding of credit in accordance with the funding rule requirements.

The elements of the framework are:

• Credit-bearing short courses, with units of study as low as 5 credit points, along with a process for their rapid approval
• A process for the accreditation of prior certificated and experiential learning (APL)
• A process for external accreditation of in-company training and private providers of standalone UH credit
• New large awards (Professional Development Studies and semi-generic awards) and small awards (Certificates and Diplomas in Professional Development)

The framework allows for a number of awards to be made, but also recognises the demand from organisations and individuals for the accreditation of smaller amounts of learning which are easily achievable in terms of time. The way in which the framework operates is illustrated in figure 1:

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The intention is for UH academic schools to use this framework to develop provision which responds to the needs of clients and the workplace. It enables them to develop and approve a broader and responsive range of provision through a process which is less prescriptive than the traditional validation route, whilst maintaining the standards and quality expected of UK HE provision. The use of the Credit Accumulation and Transfer (CATS) programme provides a flexible programme structure that enables the University to provide individuals with bespoke programmes of study through clear and straightforward processes.

A glossary of terms used in the Flexible Credit Framework (PDF - 0.06 Mb)