New toolkit to help get qualifications ready for HTQ approval 

There is growing consensus that potential learners considering higher education need to know about alternatives to university degrees. They particularly need to know how these qualifications are going to help them in their career. This is one of the reasons why Gatsby supported the government to introduce a process in 2020 by which Level 4 and 5 qualifications can gain a quality mark which shows they include knowledge and skills that employers really value.  

Research Gatsby published last year reviewed the early years of that process of awarding a quality mark – and the title of ‘Higher Technical Qualification (HTQ)’ – to those qualifications whose contents aligned with national, occupational standards set by employers. We wanted to support awarding bodies to overcome any hurdles to gaining HTQ approval. One of the recommendations was that they would benefit from guidance in integrating the process of being ‘HTQ-ready’ with their own quality assurance processes. 

In response, Gatsby collaborated with the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), to create a new HTQ-Readiness Toolkit. 

Developed by Elizabeth Cleaver Consulting in partnership with an expert practitioner group from universities and colleges across England, the Toolkit provides practical guidance to help institutions review and strengthen their existing academic governance and quality assurance processes before submitting qualifications for DfE approval. 

Designed to complement existing quality management arrangements, the Toolkit helps providers identify and address potential gaps early in programme development. By supporting institutions to prepare robust submissions, it aims to reduce the need for changes after validation, minimise delays during the approval process and support timely student recruitment and programme delivery. 

“Higher Technical Qualifications have an important role to play in equipping learners with the technical knowledge and skills employers need. Developed in collaboration with QAA, and with input from a number of expert practitioners, this Toolkit gives providers practical, evidence-informed guidance to help them prepare high-quality programmes for HTQ approval and support more learners to benefit from these valuable qualifications.”

Ginny Page, Director of Programmes, Gatsby Foundation 

The HTQ-Readiness Toolkit is available to download from QAA’s website: HTQ Toolkit