Higher Nationals Newsletter February 2023
Subject updates and training.
Build up your CPD hours: February training sessions
Browse our upcoming training sessions to find generic and subject-specific events to suit your needs. Attending these sessions can count towards your continuous professional development (CPD).
You can also build up your CPD hours by completing self-paced courses on HN Global, giving you the opportunity to upskill and re-skill through a wide range of online courses.
APMR deadline next week
We would like to remind you that the APMR deadline for submission is 25 February 2023. You can access the APMR, and an Offline Version for guidance can also be downloaded. If you require login support, please contact us at hnqa@pearson.com.
Qualification spotlight: Healthcare
Health is a dynamic sector, and as our population grows and changes, our health and care needs to adapt along with this. With exciting emerging technologies and new innovative ways of working, a career in healthcare is never one that stands still. Across the sector new roles are created regularly, and opportunities to specialise in a number of different areas, or change career path in response to new developments are ever-present.
Did you know the NHS isn’t made up of just doctors and nurses? Assistant practitioners and support workers play a vital and essential role in caring for patients in hospitals, their own homes and within the community. The undergraduate Higher Nationals in Healthcare Practice enable learners to join the healthcare workforce and to support any of the 15 registered allied health professions, nurses or midwives in diagnosing and delivering care where it’s needed. Plus, with the NHS being the largest employer in the UK (Nuffield Trust, 2022), there has never been a better time for students to peruse a career in health.
Developed with input from employers, educators, students and service users, our Healthcare Practice, Healthcare Practice for England, and new Healthcare Professions’ Support for England (with the HTQ specification going live by the end of this month) qualifications bring a new, responsive and refreshing approach to the Healthcare sector. By focusing on the core knowledge, skills, values and behaviours required of practitioners, we're taking a future-forward approach to integrated learning, training and work in healthcare.
Changes to our suite of Construction HNs
The 2023 suite of BTEC Higher Nationals in Construction are slightly different in approach from the traditional RQF qualification model, which employs multiple pathways within the same specification. For the new Construction-related HNs, each title is a distinct qualification / specification, which links more directly to sector career pathways. Please read our guidance document for more details.
If you are currently offering HNs in Construction, these qualifications will expire on 31 August 2023, to be replaced by a new suite of Construction qualifications, which includes the following:
- Construction Management
- Architectural Technology
- Modern Methods of Construction
- Quantity Surveying
- Civil Engineering
- Building Services Engineering
HTQ Construction titles (for Centres in England only):
Featured training sessions this month
New Engineering Training with Industry Case Study
If you are delivering qualifications from our HN Engineering suite, book your place at our upcoming event on 22 March, 10am-1pm. Led by a subject expert, get an overview of the new qualifications, plus hear from Paul Bullock (Director of 3D 360)!
Introduction to Counselling
Register for our event 'Introduction to the new 2022 HNs in Counselling and Applied Psychology, and Therapeutic Counselling' on 30 March, 10am-12:30pm. Led by our Counselling Subject Lead, you'll be provided with important information about delivery, and the opportunity to interact and ask any questions.
Subject updates
Music and Performing Arts
The current HNs in Music and Performing Arts have been extended to August 2024 while we explore the redevelopment of the current qualifications. We welcome centre feedback and support during this process to ensure we shape a qualification that is fit for purpose and we would love to hear from you! If you would like to share your feedback or be involved in our stakeholder group, please get in touch with Fiona Ross at fiona.ross@pearson.com.
Cloud Computing, Computing and Digital Technologies
The Level 5 Amazon Web Services (AWS) Support Pack has been updated and is available to centres delivering our Cloud Computing, Computing and Digital Technologies Higher Nationals. The pack is available on HN Global, under ‘teaching materials’.
- Bolton College are one of the first Colleges in the UK to start delivering BTEC Higher National HTQ’s in Computing in collaboration with the Bolton NHS Foundation Trust. Find out more about how they have worked with local employers to co-design the qualification.
- We are looking for employers and industry leaders to contribute to the development of our qualifications. If you know any employers that may be interested in collaborating with us, please ask them to register their interest.
New Creative Media and Art and Design HNs
We are excited to launch the new HNs for Art, Design and Media! The following specifications are now available:
- Fashion and Textiles
- Film and Television
- Fine Art
- Graphic Design
- Interior Design
- Journalism
- Photography
- Product Design
- Sound Media
- The Animation Industry
- Visual Effects
- Web Design
The new qualifications are available for first teach from Sept 2023 for those wishing to move over quickly, but as a reminder, the current Creative Media and Art and Design HNs have been extended to August 2024 (see update above). Our new HN in Games Development has now been validated and we are working to get this published as soon as possible.
A new Assessment and Assignment Guidance Booklet for the HNs in Art, Design and Media, which includes support for the new delivery model, along with some example assignment briefs will be available on HN Global shortly. Please note there are two documents for each qualification. The specification and the unit descriptors booklet.
Training dates have been released, starting on 7 March. Make sure to book your training sessions.
Student spotlight: Victoria Rouch
Looking to upskill within the IT industry, Victoria studied a part-time HNC in Computing at Milton Keynes College. As a result of her studies, she has since started a role working within the Connells Group IT Department.
Read Victoria's Story.
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