Vocational qualifications are either work-related qualifications designed to enable students to gain the skills required to perform a particular job, or qualifications that may be taken as part of a wider study programme or an apprenticeship.
Schools and colleges may offer qualifications that are not included in the DfE performance tables, if approved for teaching to 16 – 19 year olds by the Secretary of State for Education in England under Section 96, where this is in the best interests of individual students.
Overview
The UAL Level 3 Diploma and Extended Diploma in Fashion Business and Retail have been designed to provide students with the skills, knowledge, and understanding necessary to progress to further study and training in a range of fashion business and retail disciplines. They have been designed for students who have an interest in fashion business and retail, who wish to explore and extend this interest via a full-time, immersive learning experience. Many students will have identified a specific career in the creative industries they wish to progress to (e.g. range buyer, range planner, fashion management, fashion marketing, visual merchandising, etc.), using this qualification to build on skills and knowledge acquired via Level 2 qualifications such as the UAL Level 2 Diploma in Fashion Business and Retail or GCSEs.
The content of the UAL Level 3 Diploma and Extended Diploma in Fashion Business and Retail was developed with representatives from universities, further education colleges, sixth form colleges, and employers to ensure it provides students with the skills, knowledge, and understanding needed to progress to the next level of education and training.
The qualification enables students to:
- have a critical and contextual awareness of different perspectives and approaches within fashion business and retail, or related subjects of study, or work
- research, analyse, and evaluate relevant information and ideas in order to develop creative solutions
- understand, adapt, and safely use appropriate and practical methods and skills for creative production
- solve complex problems through the application of practical, theoretical, and technical understanding
- critically review the effectiveness and appropriateness of methods, actions, and results
- use evaluative and reflective skills to take responsibility for own learning, development, and decision-making
- take responsibility for the research, planning, time management, and actions to access progression opportunities
- effectively present themselves and their work to appropriate audiences
UAL Awarding Body recommends that students have a minimum of four GCSEs at grade C or above, or an equivalent Level 2 qualification in a relevant subject. There are no age restrictions for this qualification. The majority of students are 16-18 year olds, but some are 19 and over. The UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma in Fashion Business and Retail is not currently available as part of an apprenticeship.
Who supports the qualifications?
The qualifications are recognised as providing students with opportunities to develop the skills, knowledge, and understanding they need to progress to the next level of education and training, usually in conjunction with other qualifications, by the following universities:
- London College of Fashion
- Sheffield Hallam University
- University for the Creative Arts
Letters of support from these institutions can be found on the UAL Awarding Body website at: www.arts.ac.uk/about-ual/awarding-body/qualifications.
The overall grade for the Level 3 Diploma in Fashion Business and Retail is determined by the student’s achievement in the final unit of the qualification, Unit 8: Collaborative fashion retail project. The unit is graded Pass, Merit, Distinction. A student who submits evidence that fails to meet the assessment criteria will be referred. The student has one further opportunity to redeem a referral by the submission of additional evidence within a time frame agreed by the centre and confirmed by UAL Awarding Body.
The grades that can be achieved are:
- Distinction: to achieve a Distinction grade, a student must achieve all the assessment criteria listed in Unit 8, in addition to all the Merit grade criteria and the entire Distinction grade criteria
- Merit: to achieve a Merit grade, a student must achieve all the assessment criteria listed in Unit 8, in addition to the entire Merit grade criteria
- Pass: to achieve a Pass grade, a student must achieve all the assessment criteria listed in Unit 8
- Fail: if the candidate is unable to provide further evidence that meets the assessment criteria, they will receive a Fail grade
- Referral: if a student provides insufficient evidence to meet all the assessment criteria, they are referred. The student has one further opportunity to redeem the Referral by the submission of additional evidence within a time frame agreed by the centre and confirmed by UAL Awarding Body
The final grade of the Diploma is awarded on the basis of the unit grade assigned to Unit 8: Collaborative fashion retail project.
In the Level 3 Extended Diploma in Fashion Business and Retail, units 12 and 13 together make up the learning and assessment activities for the final project and will determine the grade achievement at Level 3. Unit 12 is internally assessed and graded, and contributes 40% of the mark for the final grade. All internal assessment and grading decisions are subject to external moderation. Unit 13 is internally assessed and graded and contributes 60% of the mark for the final grade. All internal assessment and grading decisions are subject to external moderation.
The grades that can be achieved are:
- Distinction: to achieve a Distinction grade, a student must achieve all of the assessment criteria listed in Unit 12, in addition to all the Merit and the entire Distinction grade criteria
- Merit: to achieve a Merit grade, a student must achieve all the assessment criteria listed in Unit 12, in addition to the entire Merit grade criteria
- Pass: to achieve a Pass grade, a student must achieve all the assessment criteria listed in Unit 12
- Fail: if the student is unable to provide further evidence that meets the assessment criteria, they will receive a Fail grade
- Referral: if a student provides insufficient evidence to meet all the assessment criteria, they are referred. The student has one further opportunity to redeem the Referral by the submission of additional evidence within a timeframe agreed by the centre and confirmed by UAL Awarding Body
Awarding the Extended Diploma:
The final grade of the Extended Diploma is awarded on the basis of the grades assigned to Unit 12: Project proposal for extended project in fashion business and retail, and Unit 13: Extended project in fashion business and retail. The two individual unit grades, weighted 40% and 60% respectively, are aggregated to provide the overall qualification grade. The final grade is based on a structure of Pass, High Pass, Merit, High Merit, and Distinction.
The table below shows how the accumulation of each unit grade is aggregated to form the overall qualification grade:
|
Unit 12 (40% weighting) |
Unit 13 (60% weighting) |
Qualification grade |
|
Distinction |
Distinction |
Distinction |
|
Distinction |
Merit |
Merit |
|
Distinction |
Pass |
High Pass |
|
Merit |
Distinction |
High Merit |
|
Merit |
Merit |
Merit |
|
Merit |
Pass |
Pass |
|
Pass |
Distinction |
Merit |
|
Pass |
Merit |
High Pass |
|
Pass |
Pass |
Pass |
UAL Awarding Body will issue the final grade to the centre.
Units 1 – 7 and 9 – 11 of the Level 3 Extended Diploma in Fashion Business and Retail are internally assessed and internally verified through students’ portfolios of evidence, and are subject to UAL Awarding Body’s external quality assurance.
Unit 8, the final unit of the Level 3 Diploma in Fashion Business and Retail, determines the grade achievement at Level 3. Evidence is internally assessed and verified, and externally moderated through students’ portfolios of evidence against the assessment and grading criteria for the unit.
Units 12 and 13, the final units of the Level 3 Extended Diploma in Fashion Business and Retail, together make up the learning and assessment activities for the final project and determine the achievement grade. For Unit 12, evidence is assessed against the grading criteria and contributes 40% of the mark for the final grade. The unit is graded Fail, Pass, Merit, or Distinction. The remaining 60% of the final overall grade is determined by student performance in Unit 13. This is internally assessed and verified, and externally moderated through students’ portfolios of evidence against the assessment and grading criteria for the unit. The unit is graded Fail, Pass, Merit, or Distinction. The two grades are aggregated to provide the final overall grade for the qualification: Pass, High Pass, Merit, High Merit, Distinction.
There are a number of key considerations for HEPs when reviewing vocational qualifications that are not listed on the DfE 16 – 19 performance tables for England:
- Some of these qualifications are occupational, and may not be designed specifically for progression to HE.
- Applicants holding these qualifications may be school or college leavers, however, some may be more mature students who are likely to have other relevant experience alongside these qualifications.
- These qualifications may have been taken as part of a wider study programme or an apprenticeship.
- If they are presented for admission to HE it is likely to be in conjunction with other qualifications.
The units in the qualifications focus on the underpinning skills, knowledge, and understanding that support all fashion business and retail activity to prepare students for progression to higher education, employment, or an apprenticeship.
Students achieving the qualifications have a number of routes open to them. Many choose to progress to a more specialist Level 4 course, some progress to higher education, while others go straight into industry roles, for example (but not limited to) stylist assistant, junior merchandiser or shop floor assistant.
Progression information is captured at the point of results submission, and is published annually in the UAL's chief examiner reports (by qualification).
UAL Awarding Body website: www.arts.ac.uk/about-ual/awarding-body
Further information available here: https://www.arts.ac.uk/partnerships/ual-awarding-body/qualifications/fashion/ual-level-3-diploma-and-extended-diploma-in-fashion-business-and-retail