SQA launches new qualification to boost food and drink industry

3rd April 2008

Efforts to revolutionise skills training in Scotland's £7.6 billion food and drink processing industry have received a further boost with the launch of a new suite of national qualifications.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), Scotland's national body for qualifications other than degrees, has officially adopted a new framework for Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs) in Food Manufacture, devised by Improve, the food and drink sector skills council.

The new qualifications, which assess the skills needed to carry out a particular job, are intended to be more flexible after food companies commented that previous SVQs were too rigid and could not always be adapted to suit all the job roles carried out in the workplace. A special webtool called 'Pick YOUR Mix' allows employers or training providers to design tailor-made SVQ courses for each and every employee enrolled.



SQA business manager Gordon Rodgers said: "The food and drink industry is very important not only to Scotland's economy but also to Scotland's culture. It is essential for SQA to support the food and drink sector through our engagement with Improve and with employers, colleges and schools to develop flexible awards that respond to both the current and the future skills needs of this sector. I am therefore delighted to launch the new SVQs in Food Manufacture."

Improve chief executive Jack Matthews said SQA's adoption of the new framework was a massive step forward as the food and drink industry strives to meet ambitious targets on up-skilling its workforce. "The key aim of the new SVQ framework is to give all 49,000 employees in Scotland's food and drink industry the chance to earn a qualification relevant to their particular line of work," he said. "At present, around one in five employees in the industry have no qualification at all, while half are not qualified beyond Level 2 - the standard expected of a school leaver at 16. We've listened extensively to employers and other stakeholders, such as training providers, about the best ways to tackle those issues."

Mr Matthews continued: "With SQA's backing, the new SVQs will now be available to the majority of employees in the food and drink industry. More people gaining SVQs will result in a higher base-level of skills in the workplace and a greater degree of personal satisfaction among workers, both of which will help drive productivity and profitability. There are plans to make food and drink a £10 billion industry by 2017, and improving skills is a key part of the strategy."

With more than 500 modules covering all the different sub-sectors within the food and drink manufacturing industry, the new SVQs can be adapted to suit all job roles and focus heavily on work-based assessment. The SQA is offering nine 'pathways' to gaining an SVQ in Food Manufacture at three levels - at Level 1, learners can gain a qualification in generic food processing skills; at Level 2, they can focus on production control skills, retail and service support skills, facilities support skills or distribution skills, while specialising in specific areas such as bakery or meat and poultry; and at Level 3, there is a choice of specialist management skills, specialist supply chain skills, specialist technical skills and specialist improvement skills.

The SQA awards will be delivered by some of Scotland's leading providers of training for the food and drink industry, including the Scottish Bakery Training Council, Polaris Training and Motherwell College. Funding for SVQs is available from the Scottish Government's new funding agency, Skills Development Scotland, which took over from Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise this month.

For more information about SVQs in food and drink manufacturing, or to access the 'Pick YOUR Mix' tool, visit www.improveltd.co.uk. For more information about the SQA, visit www.sqa.org.uk