Im not against council colleges as I mentioned previously the old HND/BTEC was great which were from your local colleges. I have three NVQ 3 one in Beauty, one in Business Administration and one in Floristry. If you look at entry forms to university you will find:
NVQ level 2 is the equalivent to a GSCE
NVQ level 3/HNC is the equalivent to an A level
ITEC, HND and CIDESCO are dipolma level
All these posts I worked so hard for a NVQ blah blah, I don't doubt they did but I have three and found them all easy (too easy). but thats fine because by their very nature they were not designed to be academic more vocational. However, there are some positives and some negatives that come from the NVQ system on balance I prefer the old system.
This is NOT about the council/private colleges, prior to 1996 council colleges had a different system where by therapists usually had 2 A levels before going to college and then done an HND over 2 years. Beauty Therapy was not so seen as an occupation for unacademic types with few options in life. Colleges were picky and standards were higher. On the plus side NVQ gave opportunities to people who would have struggled previously to enter the profession, rightly so, although they should of been a happy medium.
Now there is no point getting into an argument based on weather I attended a private school. This is about the qualification in theses local council colleges where they are desperate for passed marks and bums on seats for financial gain and I qualified teacher I can assure you this goes on.
The thread was about how a therapist dressed not about qualifications in local colleges. I did an advanced diploma level 3 in college, ive also done nvq's and short courses, i always wear a uniform and so do my colleagues. However I have a friend who has only done short courses and also looks immaculate with her make up and uniform. I think it's down to the person not the training as to what they wear or what they think they can wear. It's all about how they want to be perceived.
I've copied and posted some info about NVQ's as your information is incorrect according to what I found on the net.
NVQs are not formally defined in terms of equivalence to conventional academic qualifications. However for the compilation of social statistics and other purposes, approximate equivalences have to be established. The following equivalences are used by the London School of Economics's Research Lab[1]
NVQ 1 = foundation GNVQ, three to four GCSEs at grades D-E, Business & Technology Education Council (BTEC) first certificate.
NVQ 2 = five GCSEs at grades A*-C, BTEC first diploma.
NVQ 3 = two or more A levels, BTEC Ordinary National Diploma (OND), City & Guilds Advanced Craft.
NVQ 4 = BTEC Higher National Certificate (HNC) or Higher National Diploma (HND), or City & Guilds Full Technological Certificate / Diploma
NVQ 5 =NQF 7-8
[edit]According to the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator have a list of academic equivalents that varies from LSE's:
NVQ level 4 - equivalent of Certificates of Higher Education.
NVQ level 4* - equivalent of Diplomas of Higher Education, or sometimes bachelor's degrees.
NVQ level 5* - equivalent of master's degrees or doctorates.[2]
[edit]According to the University for the Creative Arts