The Department for Education (DfE) describe Applied General qualifications as follows:
Applied General qualifications are rigorous advanced (level 3) qualifications that allow 16 to 19 year old students to develop transferable knowledge and skills. They are for students who want to continue their education through applied learning. Applied general qualifications allow entry to a range of higher education courses, either by meeting the entry requirements in their own right or being accepted alongside and adding value to other qualifications at level 3 such as A levels. Higher education institutions, such as universities, have pledged support for all approved applied general qualifications listed.
The purpose of this qualification is to develop students’ transferable knowledge and skills in enterprise, employability, and personal finance and to prepare them for further learning, training and employment.
This qualification enables students to:
- acquire and develop a range of valuable transferable skills such as communication, team work and problem solving
- develop an understanding of what it means to be enterprising
- develop and apply their literacy and numeracy skills in real life contexts
- practise independent learning, self-management and research skills
- to help prepare them for employment, further or higher education
The Level 3 Certificate in Enterprise, Employability and Personal Finance was developed to give students a progression route from Level 1 and Level 2 qualifications in Enterprise.
A – E
Students sit a terminal external examination.
They also undertake an Enterprise project, which is internally assessed and externally moderated.
Applied General qualifications are advanced (Level 3) qualifications, mainly taken by 16-19 year old students who want to develop transferable knowledge and skills.
The popularity of Applied Generals has risen over recent years. The entry rate for the combined BTEC only and A level and BTEC groups was 6.0 per cent in 2016, up from 5.8 per cent in 2015.
There are a number of key considerations for HEPs when reviewing Applied General qualifications that do not meet the full DfE criteria from 2018:
- Applicants holding interim-reformed Applied General qualifications may not have had experience of external or synoptic assessment.
- The fully-reformed and interim-reformed qualifications will be delivered by schools and colleges at the same time (see ‘Education context’). Therefore, HEPs may wish to consider their approach to setting and listing entry requirements for the specific qualifications.
- The dual running of the qualification may result in applicants declaring the incorrect version within their application. UCAS will be working to support applicants and advisers in this area.
- These qualifications are fundamentally different to the fully-reformed versions and likely to result in students developing different skills and aptitudes. HEPs should review their understanding of these qualifications to ensure it remains up to date. HEPs may also wish to consider their approach to setting and listing entry requirements for the specific qualifications, and any differences should be clearly articulated.
Holders of this qualification will have experienced external examination assessment.