ACCREDITATION & CPD

Association for Sandwich Education and Training (ASET) is a National Awarding body specializing in providing and quality assuring vocational learning programmes.

The University Vocational Awards Council(UVAC) engages with higher level vocational education and training, including Foundation Degrees, Graduate Apprenticeships, work-based learning, work experience, graduate employability, continuous professional development and vocational qualifications.

The strong vocational element in many programmes, together with an emphasis on personal and transferable skills has ensured the production of employable graduates with skills appropriate to industry and commerce.

However, graduating from University with a degree in computing no longer marks the end of the education process but a starting point for ongoing life long learning.    It is therefore up to teachers in HE to ensure that students are equipped with the skills to allow them to continue to develop in a professional manner.  

Students entering the workforce face a broad range of challenges as they seek to develop a career plan. Personal development planning (and the scheduled introduction of progress files) provides opportunities to track and record skills and competencies gained in a work-based environment. Computing schools, employers and the relevant professional bodies must work together to develop frameworks for recording such achievements.  Furthermore, the development of PDPs as a means of reflective practice throughout HE can act as a basis for continued professional development and link into professional body CPD.

The University Professional Development Scheme (UPDS) is based on the BCS Professional Development Scheme (PDS) and is tailored to meet the requirements of students on placement with an employer as part of their course. The BCS’s Professional Development scheme is a mechanism for applying quality control to the practical experience and training of individuals making a career for themselves in the IT industry.

Benefits:

• Early involvement in the planning of their Professional Training and experience
• Measurement against recognised external and independent standards, leading to industry-wide recognition of technical competence, ability and integrity.
• Experience in identifying and achieving professional/career goals
• A permanent, validated record of their work placement period which will count towards the experience required for Professional Memberships of this society.