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Vocational Accreditation and Development

The HKCAAVQ supports the development of the Qualifications Framework (QF) to expand the scope of accreditation and assessment service to the vocational education and training (VET) sector, and facilitate the participation of operators, professional bodies, as well as employers in the quality assurance process.

Accreditation Service for the VET sector
In the reporting year, the HKCAAVQ completed 28 Initial Evaluation (IE) and 127 Programme Validations (PV) for VET operators from various sectors including public organisations, education/training institutes, professional bodies, non-governmental organisations, trade associations, and commercial corporations of different scales. In the same year, 653 programmes were also operated by the Vocational Training Council (VTC) under their Programme Area Accreditation (PAA) status.

Breakdown of vocational programmes validated (1 April 2012 - 31 March 2013)


Using the fitness for purpose approach, the HKCAAVQ accredited a wide spectrum of programmes including pre-employment training, in-house training, in-service training and professional development programmes, ranging from QF Levels 1-6, catering for the manpower development and advancement of major industries in Hong Kong.

Since the launch of the QF in 2008, the HKCAAVQ has witnessed an unprecedented growth of the vocational education and training sector. This year the HKCAAVQ accredited five programmes for Professional Banking Qualifications of The Hong Kong Institute of Bankers. These learning programmes are the very first non-academic programmes at QF Levels 4-6 accredited by the HKCAAVQ. The recognition of these learning programmes represents a major development for the QF and the banking industry.

In 2012/13, there has also been active participation from industry in accreditation. During the reporting year, the Council accredited 18 in-house training programmes operated in seven commercial corporations belonging to various industry sectors, such as property management, automobile services and retail.

Another new initiative is the collaboration of industry and schools in developing training programmes for secondary school students. The first of this kind was the programme offered by the Hong Kong Jewellery & Jade Manufacturers Association for students in the six participating schools.



Quality Assurance Services
Since the implementation of the QF in 2008, the Education Bureau has formed 19 Industry Training Advisory Committees (ITAC) for various industries with a view to developing industry-based Specification of Competency Standards (SCS). In the development of the SCSs, the HKCAAVQ acts as the moderator. During the year, the HKCAAVQ moderated the draft SCSs for the Logistics, Banking, and Import and Export industries.

Operators are encouraged to develop SCS-based programmes by adopting the relevant Units of Competencies specified in the SCS. During the year, HKCAAVQ validated 29 SCS-based programmes for the Beauty Care, Hairdressing, Automotive, Jewellery and Property Management industries.

As at March 2013, there are 178 SCS-based programmes (QF Levels 1 – 4) covering 12 industries on the Qualifications Register (QR).

Breakdown of SCS-based programmes (QF Levels 1 – 4) on the QR




Apart from accrediting programmes of a specific nature, the HKCAAVQ also plays an important role in the quality assurance of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) under the QF. The RPL mechanism enables employees of various industries to receive formal recognition of the knowledge, skills and experience they have acquired over time. To date, there are seven industries, namely Printing & Publishing, Hairdressing, Watch & Clock, Property Management, Automotive, Jewellery and Logistics, with the RPL mechanism already set up. In the reporting period, the Council has accredited the Assessment Agency under the RPL scheme for two more industries, namely the Beauty and the Chinese Catering industries.


In the school sector, the HKCAAVQ continues to be commissioned by the Education Bureau to conduct the quality assurance study to ensure the quality of the Applied Learning (ApL) courses. During the reporting period, quality assurance visits were conducted to 12 ApL courses which were delivered by eight different course providers in the tertiary education sector. In addition, a total of 15 panel meetings were convened to review the self evaluation reports submitted by the course providers on the 30 ApL courses offered for the 2010-2012 cohort.

Assessment of CPD Programmes
To further enhance the assessment service of the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes for the insurance industry and Estate Agents Authority (EAA), improvement measures were introduced to minimise the average processing time without compromising quality of the assessment service. The improvement measures were well received by the operators and the average processing time for the CPD applications for the Insurance Authority (IA) was shortened significantly.

During the reporting period, 89 new applications, 246 annual re-assessment and 188 change of course applications were processed under the Insurance Intermediaries Scheme. Compared to the previous reporting period, there was a growth of 12% for the annual re-assessment applications but a fall of 17% and 9% in new applications and change of course applications respectively. In the Estate Agents Authority CPD Scheme, nine new applications, 58 annual re-assessments and two changes of applications were assessed, which represented an annual increase of 2% for the annual re-assessment applications but a decline of 18% and 60% in other two areas respectively as compared to figures in previous reporting period.



Breakdown of assessed CPD programmes for IA and EAA (1 April 2012 - 31 March 2013)



Enhancement of Services
For the purposes of increased transparency and alignment with the practice of other quality assurance agencies, the HKCAAVQ has decided to adopt a step-by-step approach to publishing accreditation outcomes for public access.

During December 2012 and January 2013, the Council conducted three consultation sessions to collect feedback from operators on the publication of accreditation reports. Seventy-four representatives from 53 operators attended the consultation sessions. There was general consensus that the publication of summary reports can increase the transparency of the accreditation process.

For Initial Evaluation (IE) and Programme Validation (PV) of local programmes (except for purely in-house training programmes) with contracts signed on or after 1 March 2013, summary accreditation reports will be published for public access on the HKCAAVQ website. Feedback will be collected from public users through an online survey, and a review will be conducted after one year.

Looking Forward
The Chief Executive in his 2013 Policy Address has pledged to foster more collaboration between ITACs and operators with a view to linking education, training and employment through new QF-related initiatives. The HKCAAVQ welcomes such initiatives, in particular the development of the SCS-based training packages and supporting materials.

The HKCAAVQ will continue to reach out to its stakeholders to facilitate exchange and promote quality assurance in the VET sector. In addition to the development of accreditation service for industries, the HKCAAVQ will continue its support to the school sector.

Facing the increasing diversity and demand for accreditation services in the VET sector, the HKCAAVQ endeavours to uphold its dual roles as “gate-opener” and “gate-keeper” in the advocacy of vocational education and lifelong learning in Hong Kong.


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Copyright © 2013 Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the HKCAAVQ.