The arrival of Star Units is of enormous significance for standards-setting and awarding bodies. These new Units have the potential to contribute an important new dimension to qualifications which will add value to the awards themselves whilst also meeting the needs of learners, training providers and employers.

The Star Units which are currently available have been devised by working groups that include assessors, employers and sector-experts based at City & Guilds and UK Skills. [Which NVQs currently have associated Star Units?]. They build on, and are integrated into, the normal NVQ units. There is no separate assessment for Star Units and neither do they demand a different range of skills from the usual NVQ assessment.

As a result three Star Units models are now available for general use by standard-setting organisations – such as Sector Skills Councils – as a framework for specifying what is meant by outstanding achievement in the context of specific NVQs. Once the Star Unit Standards have been published they can then be used by awarding bodies as the basis of extensions – or ‘add-ons’ - to their NVQs.

Because of the great benefits that Star Units can render you are encouraged to think about developing and adopting Star Units linked to your existing NVQ awards.