About The NOCN

By completing this course you will gain a National Open College Network (NOCN) certificate.

There is no exam. Some of your class work will be marked by your tutor and used as the assessment. These assessed tasks will show that you have met the requirements of the course. You might also need to discuss your knowledge with your tutor on a one to one basis or as part of a wider class discussion. You will also be asked to keep a simple learning diary up to date. This will be useful for you to look back on in the future to show what you have learnt.

Your assessed work will be kept in a portfolio which will be entered for moderation. This is where portfolios from all classes are checked and compared. There are 3 moderation points – January, April and July.

After moderation the exam board (NOCN) will issue certificates to the Lifelong Learning and Skills Service. We will make sure that you receive your certificate within 1 month of them being issued. The certificate will show that you have gained 4 credits at Level 1 in 2 units:
Internet and Intranets - 2 Credits
Email - 2 Credits

Credits can be combined from other courses to achieve an NOCN Qualification for Progression. Credits also count towards the ITQ Level 1 qualification which is the new NVQ for IT
(see further study below):

Further Study & Full Qualifications

If you want to learn more about computers, there are three options:
1. Do another course at this level and gain a full level 1 qualification
2. Do a course at the next level up – level 2
3. Do a non-accredited course

How to gain a full level 1 qualification

The IT units count towards two different qualifications:

• The NOCN Qualifications for Progression
• The ITQ Qualifications

The qualification you gain will mostly depend upon the combination of units you have achieved:

• The ITQ includes some but not all of the NOCN units. To achieve the ITQ, you must complete the mandatory unit which is a project-based or work-based unit.
• The NOCN Qualifications for Progression include many units from a wide range of subjects. To achieve the qualification, you must complete a core unit eg the learning diary.
• Both are national qualifications.

Moving to Level 2

• It is a good idea to get a range of experience at level 1 before moving up to level 2
• At level 2, you cover topics in a lot more detail.
• There is one Level 2 NOCN Word Processing course available with Lifelong Learning and Skills
• Many people want to move onto ECDL, CLAIT + or MOS after level 1 (see equivalent qualifications below)

Equivalent Qualifications

This table shows you how NOCN qualifications compare to other qualifications you might have heard of and what else is available at level 2 and 3:

Ask your tutor if you want more information about these qualifications.

Non-Accredited Courses

You might not always be able to find a qualification that covers the subject you want. In this case, you might have to take a non-accredited course. Sheffield Council puts on a few non-accredited courses every year, but you will have to pay to attend. Check with your tutor. Other community groups and organisations such as the WEA also put on non-accredited courses (see details below)

Other Useful Contacts

Sheffield College
Tel: [phone]
Web: http://www.sheffcol.ac.uk

Learndirect
Tel: [phone]
Web: http://www.learndirect.co.uk

WEA
Tel: [phone]
Web: http://www.yh.wea.org.uk/

New Futures
Tel: [phone]
Web: http://www.sheffieldfutures.org.uk

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