Review of Fire and Rescue Services qualifications

FIELD                 COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES

 

Review of Fire and Rescue Services qualifications

 

National Certificate in Fire and Rescue Services (Vegetation) (Level 2) [Ref: 0539]

National Certificate in Fire and Rescue Services (Vegetation) (Level 3) [Ref: 0540]

National Certificate in Fire and Rescue Services (Vegetation) (Level 4) [Ref: 1183]

National Diploma in Fire and Rescue Services (Vegetation Fire Fighting – Management) (Level 5) [Ref: 0780]

 

The Fire and Rescue Services Industry Training Organisation (FRSITO) has completed the review of the qualifications listed above.

 

Date new versions published                                                          February 2008

 

The next qualification review is planned to take place during 2013.

 

Summary of review and consultation process

 

The review of these qualifications is a result of the review of standards in the Workplace Emergency Risk Management domain, which resulted in the change of credit allocation for standard 17279 and the replacement of standard 17280 with standard 22445.  This review therefore aligns the qualifications with the new standards.  It also takes account of changes to standards resulting from reviews conducted by other Standard Setting Bodies, particularly standard 497.

 

FRSITO consulted with representatives from the vegetation fire fighting sector and obtained endorsement from the Training Advisory Group.

 

Main changes resulting from the review

 

The main changes are as a consequence of standard 17279 reducing by 2 credits, and standard 497 increasing by 2 credits. 

 

Standard 17280 has expired and been replaced by standard 22445, resulting in a decrease of 2 credits for the compulsory section of the National Certificate in Fire and Rescue Services (Vegetation) (Level 4) [Ref: 1183], and an increase of 2 credits in the elective section of the qualification.  This also applies to the National Diploma in Fire and Rescue Services (Vegetation Fire Fighting – Management) (Level 5) [Ref: 0780].

 

National Certificate in Fire and Rescue Services (Vegetation) (Level 2) [Ref: 0539]

 

Review category

B

See Key to Qualification Review Categories at the end of report

 

Changes to structure and content

·      standard 17279 has decreased from 4 to 2 credits

·      standard 497 has increased from 1 to 3 credits.

 

National Certificate in Fire and Rescue Services (Vegetation) (Level 3) [Ref: 0540]

 

Review category

B

See Key to Qualification Review Categories at the end of report

 

Changes to structure and content

·      standard 17279 has decreased from 4 to 2 credits

·      standard 497 has increased from 1 to 3 credits.

 

National Certificate in Fire and Rescue Services (Vegetation) (Level 4) [Ref: 1183]

 

Review category

B

See Key to Qualification Review Categories at the end of report

 

Changes to structure and content

·      standard 17280 has expired and been replaced with standard 22445

·      the compulsory section has decreased from 28 to 26 credits

·      the elective section has increased from 19 to 21 credits.

 

The National Certificate in Fire and Rescue Services (Vegetation) (Level 4) contains a standard that replaces an earlier standard.  For the purposes of this qualification people who have gained credit for the expiring standard are exempt from the requirement to gain credit for the replacement standard.

 

Credit for

Exempt from

17280

22445

 

National Diploma in Fire and Rescue Services (Vegetation Fire Fighting – Management) (Level 5) [Ref: 0780]

 

Review category

B

See Key to Qualification Review Categories at the end of report

 

Changes to structure and content

·      standard 17280 has expired and been replaced with standard 22445

·      the compulsory section has decreased from 13 to 11 credits

·      the elective section has increased from 40 to 42 credits.

 

The National Diploma in Fire and Rescue Services (Vegetation Fire Fighting - Management) (Level 5) contains a standard that replaces an earlier standard.  For the purposes of this qualification people who have gained credit for the expiring standard are exempt from the requirement to gain credit for the replacement standard.

 

Credit for

Exempt from

17280

22445

 

Transition

 

Candidates working towards any of the previous versions of a qualification may complete the requirements for that version or transfer their results to this version of the respective qualification.  The last date for the completion of the previous version of the qualifications is 2009.

 

It is not intended that anyone be disadvantaged by this review.  FRSITO will address requests for transition after December 2009 on a case by case basis.  People who wish to seek advice or feel disadvantaged by the transition arrangements are advised to contact FRSITO at the address below.

 

Fire and Rescue Services Industry Training Organisation

PO Box 11 988

WELLINGTON

 

Telephone       04 801 9469

Fax                   04 801 9476

Email                info@frsito.org.nz

 

Key to Qualification Review Categories

 

Category A

The qualification is published as a new version with the same NQF ID

Changes are made to SSB name, contact details or purpose statement

No change is made to title, rules or components of the qualification

No transition arrangements are required

Category B

The qualification is published as a new version with the same NQF ID

Changes are made to title, rules or components

The new version of the qualification recognises a similar skill set to that recognised by the previous version

The SSB is confident that people awarded the new or previous version are comparable in terms of competence

Transition arrangements are required if candidates must gain additional/different credits for the new version

Category C

A new (replacement) qualification is published with new NQF ID

Significant changes are made to the qualification in terms of components, structure, type or level

The SSB views people with the replacement qualification as being significantly different in terms of competence from those with the replaced qualification

Transition arrangements are required

Transition may be limited to phase-out dates

Category D

Qualification will expire.

There is no replacement qualification

Qualification is no longer required by industry

The qualification is designated as expiring and a last date for meeting the qualification requirements is set