C:A!/ifl - South African Qualifications Authority

1 ,5 OKTOBER2007 GOVERNMENTNOTICEDEPARTMENTOFEDUCATIONThe HigherEducationQualificationsFrameworkHI GHEREDUCATIONACT,1997( ) ,GraceNalediMandisaPandor,MinisterofEduc ation,herebypublishTheHigherEducationQua lificationsFrameworkassetoutintheSchedul easpolicyintermsofsection3oftheHigherEdu cationAct,1997( ). :AProgrammefortheTransformationofHigherE ducation(1997), (CHE)ofA NewAcademicPolicyforProgrammesandQualifi cationsinHigherEducation:DiscussionDocum ent(2002).I :A!/ifl~. ,MPMinisterofEducationDate:7 September2007 singlequalificationsframeworkfora , ' ' STAATSKOEFIANT,5 OKTOBER2007 THENEWFRAMEWORIKINCONTEXTA singlequalificationsframeworkfora ,A ProgrammefortheTransformationofHigherEdu cation(1997),proposeda singlequalificationsframeworkfora , :A QualificationStructureforUniversitiesinS outhAfrica-NATEDR eport116(99/02)GeneralPolicyforTechnikon InstructionalProgrammes-I\JATEDR eport150(97/01)FormalTechnikonInstructio nalProgrammesintheRSA-NATEDR eport151(99/01)RevisedQualificationsFram eworkforEducatorsinSchooling,inNormsandS tandardsforEducators( ,February,2000).

2 Inaddition, (NQF) , ,missionsandplansandtomeetthevaryingneed softheclientsClndcommunitiestheyserve. ,5 OCTOBER2007 Thepolicythusoperateswithinthecontextofa (SAQA)stipulatesthatthelearningoutcomeso fallSouthAfricanqualificationsshouldincl udecriticalcross-fieldorgenericskillstop romotelifelonglearningaswellasdiscipline ,domain-specificorspecialisedknowledge, ,whereappropriate,shouldincludethetitlea ndpurposeofthequalification,itsNQFlevel, credits,rulesofcombinationforitslearning components,exit-leveloutcomesandassociat edassessmentcriteria,entryrequirements,f ormsofintegratedassessment, , purposefulandstructuredsetoflearningexpe riencesthatleadstoa ,professional,career-focused,trans-, , , ,whichistheMinistry' ,derivedfromlegislationorundertakeninter msofinternationalprofessionalconventions andagreements,tosetrequirementsforprofes sionalregistration,membershiporlicensing , , ,whichfalloutsidetheresponsibilityoftheM inistryofEducation.

3 STAATSKOERANT, ,thispolicyrecognisestheresponsibilityof theSouthAfricanQualificationsAuthority(S AQA)forregisteringstandardsandqualificat ionsintermsoftheSAQAAct,1995( )andtheHigherEducationQualityCommittee(H EQC)oftheCouncilonHigherEducation'srespo nsibilityforqualityassuranceinhighereduc ationintermsoftheHigherEducationAct, (CI-lE)isalsoassignedtheresponsibilityfo rthegenerationandsettingofstandardsforal lhighereducationqualificationsandforensu ringthatsuchqualificationsmeetSAQA'scrit eriaforregistrationontheNQFintermsofsect ion1(f)(ii) ,credibilityandacommon,well-understoodme aning,andtheymustprovidebenchmarkstoguid ethedevelopment, , ,thefocusoftheHEQF isonqualificationtypedescriptors- certificate,a qualificationdescriptorspecifiestheexitl evelofthequalificationtype, ,namelycertificates,diplomasanddegrees, ,a BachelorofSciencedegreeisa designatorofthe ,5 OCTOBER2007genericBachelor' degreedesignatordescribesa ,a BachelorofScience(SSc)complieswiththegen ericrequirementsfora Bachelor' ,onwhichmostprogrammesarebased, ' ,thelearningoutcomesandspecificationsfor aBSc(Hons)in Geologymeetthelearningdemandsandspecific ationslaiddownforaSSc(Hons)

4 Andincludespecialisedlearningoutcomes ,volumesoflearningandcreditsTheframework isa qualificationsframework,representedbylev eldescriptors,themainqualificationtypesa ndtheirdescriptors, ,thismeasureofvolumemaybeexpressedinterm sofstudytime,forexamplethenumberofacadem icyearsofstudyrequired,orthenumberofnoti onalhoursofstudy, ,thisframeworkrecognisescreditsasthemeas ureofthevolumeoflearningrequiredfora qualificationandnotacademicyearsofstudy; qualificationcanbespecifiedintermsofthet otalminimumnumberofcreditsrequired, ~ ,Diploma,Bachelor'sDegreeandBachelor(Hon ours)Degreequalificationtypesassumea 'sDegreeandDoctoralqualificationtypesass umea ,thusrequiringaminimumcredit-loadof120cr editsperacademicyearforCertificates,Dipl omasand STAATSKOE 'RANT, 'sDegreesand180creditsperacademicyearfor Master' qualificationwillnormallybuilduponassess edlearningfromearlierstagesofa programmebutitmayalsobuildonassessedprio rlearningachievedbyprivatestudy, (CAT)istheprocesswherebyastudent'sachiev ementsarerecognisedandcontributetofurthe rlearningevenif thestudentdoesnotachievea qualification,andwherebycreditsobtaineda toneinstitutionmayberecognisedbyanothera smeetin9partoftherequirementsfora qualification.

5 Wherecreditsforanincompletequalification mayberecognisedasmeetingpartoftherequire mentsfora differentqualification,andwhere,subjectt olimits,creditsfora nationalhighereducationCATschemeincollab orationwiththehighereducationcommunity, ,a maximumof50%creditsofacompletedqualifica tionmaybetransferredtoanotherqualificati on,providedalsothatnomorethan50%ofthecre ditsrequiredfortheotherqualificationarec reditsthathavebeenusedfora (WIL)isastructuredpartofa qualificationthevolumeoflearningallocate dtoWILshouldbeappropriatetothepurposeoft heqU2llificationandtothecognitivedemands ofthelearningoutcomeandassessmentcriteri a , ,properlysupervisedandassessed. ~ : Besufficientlyflexibletoaccommodatediffe renttypesofhighereducationinstitutionsan denableinstitutionstopursuetheirowncurri culumgoalswithcreativityandinnovation; Facilitatetheeducationofgraduateswhowill contributetothesocial,culturalandeconomi cdevelopmentofSouthAfricaandparticipates uccessfullyintheglobaleconomyandknowledg esociety; Enhancethedevelopmentofa vibrant,highqualityresearchsystem; Becompatiblewithinternationalqualificati onsframeworksinordertoensureinternationa lrecognitionandcomparabilityofstandards; Besuitablyflexibletoaccommodatethedevelo pmentofnewqualificationtypesandspecialis ationsastheneedarises; Besimple,clear,easytounderstandanduser-f riendlyforthehighereducationsystemandits clients.

6 Facilitatequalificationarticulationacros sthehighereducationsystemandassiststuden tstoidentifypotentialprogressionroutes,p articularlyinthecontextoflifelonglearnin g;and , ,includingqualificationsbasedonunitstand ards,inthehighereducationsystemandtheird esignatorsandqualifiers, STAATSKOERANT, ' ,levels5 , ,contentoroutcomes(exceptatthegenericlev elofcriticalcross-fieldoutcomes), :Undergraduate HigherCertificate AdvancedCertificate Diploma AdvancedDiploma Bachelor'sDegreePostgraduate PostgraduateDiploma BachelorHonoursDegree Master'sDegree ,ontheadviceoftheCHE,mayapproveanewquali ficationtypeanditsuniquedescriptorwhena provenneedarisesasa qualificationtypemayonlybeusedifthequali ficationfulfilsthespecificationsforthety pe. 12No,30353 GOVERNMENTGAZETTE,5 OCTOBER2007 QualificationdescriptorsEachqualificatio ntypehasa specificationssuchastheI\lQFexitleveland credit-rating, pointofreference,whichenablescomparisons withotherqualificationsandproVidesabasis fordesigning, (andwhereappropriate,designatedvariant)i n ,equalificationtypeisthefirstnamegivento a qualification,toindicateitsbroadareaofst udy, (Bachelor,MasterandDoctor)havedesignated variantsofthedegreetype, ( ),andwhenabbreviatedthe'of'isomitted( ).

7 TheCouncilonHigherEducation(CHE),ishereb ymandatedintermsofsection,5(1)(f)oftheHi gherEducationActtodetermineandpublishthe criteriatobepppliedinadoptingdegreedesig natorsandqualifiers, \ ,SAQA willensurethatthenamingofhighereducation Qualifications ,includingdegreedesignator s,areconsistentwiththispolicy, ( ,BachelorofEngineeringinElectronics).Whe nabbreviated,theinisdroppedandthequalifi erisplacedinbrackets( (lingUistics),BEng(Electronics)). ,theinisdroppedandthequalifiersareplaced inbrackets, (Eng)(Electronics).TheCHEwilldetermineal l STAATSKOEHANT, 'sde<grees,honoursandmastersdegrees, ,thequalifierfollowsimmediatelyaftertheq ualificationtype( (Drama)).A furtherareaofspecialisationfora qualificationmaybeindicatedasabove;inbei ngthelinkingwordtothesecondqualifier( ,abbreviatedtoPGDip(Drama)(Performance)) .Inordertousea qualifier,atleast50%oftheminimumtotalcre ditsforthequalificationandatleast50%ofth eminimumcreditsatthequalification' student'sfailureata higherlevel, qualificationbuta documentissuedbyaninstitutiontoprovidea descriptiverecordoftilelearningastudenth asachievedatthatinstitution,whetherornot a studentisunabletocompletea qualificationandmustexittheinstitution,a nacademictranscriptofthestudent' transcriptissuedbya highereducationinstitutionmustbea studentwithintheSouthAfricanhighereducat ionsystemmustbeconsistentwiththeMinistry ofEducation'sLanguagePolicyforHigherEduc ation(Pretoria,November2002) centralaspectoftheMinistry' ,academicinstitutions,parentsandothers(i ncludinginternationalacademicinstitution soremployers)

8 Tounderstandtheachievements ~E,5 OCTOBER2007andattributesrepresentedbya qualificationtitle,a ,eachtranscriptissuedbya highereducationinstitutiontoa descriptionofthenature,level,contentandw hereappropriatethecontextofthestudiespur suedbya ,thepossessionofa qualificationdoesnotguaranteea student'sprogressionandadmissiontoa ,1997thedecisiontoadmita ' highereducationinstitutionfrom1 January2009istheNationalSeniorCertificat e,whosespecificationswereapprovedbytheMi nisterofEducationinthedocumentNationalSe niorCertificate-Aqualificationatlevel4on theNationalQualificationsFrameworkpublis hedintheGovernmentGazette, ,1\ , ,theMinisterhasdeclaredaspolicytheMinimu mAdmissionRequirementsforHigherCertifica te,DiplomaandBachelor'sDegreeProgrammesr equiringa NationalSeniorCertificate,publishedinthe GovernmentGazette, , , , completedqualificationorcreditstowardsa qualificationina cognatestudyarea,andmustmeettheminimumre quirementsforadmissiontothetargetqualifi cation,whichtheywilloftendobyvirtueofthe creditsobtainedtowardsa ,forundergraduateandpostgraduateprogramm esrespectively, ,a studentmaypresenta HigherCertificateforadmissiontothesecond yearofa cognateDiplomaprogramme,ora studentmaybeadmittedtothesecondyearofa cognateBachelor'sdegreeprogrammeaftercom pletingthefirstyearofstudyofa Diplomaprogramme,ora studentwhohascompletedacademiccreditstow ardsonequalificationmaybeexemptedfromcer tainrequirementsina cognatequalification,ora Master'sstudent'scandidaturemaybeupgrade dtoa , ,requirementsandguidelinesoftheHEQC,inst itutionsmayrecogniseotherformsofpriorlea rningasequivalenttotheprescribedminimuma dmissionrequirements.

9 Verticalprogressionispossiblewhereaperso nwitha givenqualificationaddstothatwhichisrequi redtogainentrytoa , , studentwhofailstocompletetherequirements fora qualification, ,astudentwhofailstomeettherequirementsfo raMaster'sdegreemaynotbeawardeda PostgraduateDiplomainlieuoftheMaster's!= legree. , ,highereducationinstitutionswillneedsome timetophaseouttheirexistingqualification sintermsofthispolicy,sotherewillbea newprogrammeorqualificationisonewhichhas notexistedbeforeorhasbeensignificantlych anged,suchaswhenitspurpose,outcomes,fiel dofstudy,modeorsiteofdeliveryhasbeenchan gedtoa , (AUT), ,theSouthAfricanQualificationsAuthoritya ndhighereducationinstitutions. STAATSKOEHANT, January2009anduntilthedatedeterminedbyth eMinisterintermsofthissectionthefollowin gwillapply: TheminimumadmissionrequirementsforHigher CertificatewillbeusedforadmissiontotheNa tionalCertificateasdefinedinNATEDR eport150 TheminimumadmissionrequirementsforDiplom awillbeusedforadmissiontotheNationalDipl omaandtheUniversityDiplomaasdefinedinNAT EDR eport150and116respectively.

10 TheminimumadmissionrequirementsforBachel or'sDegreewillbeusedforadmissiontotheBac helor' datedeterminedbytheMinisterbynoticeinthe GovernmentGazette. ,5 OCTOBER2007 HigherEducationManagement InformationSystemDetailsofqualifications approvedandaccreditedintermsofthispolicy willberecordedonthenationalhighereducati ondatabase,inaccordancewiththerulesofthe DepartmentofEducation'sHigherEducationIn formationManagementSystem(HEMIS).Thefiel dsin ,thepropertiesofa "approvedtotalyears","approvedformalyear s",and"approvedexperientialyears". STAATSKOERANT,5 OKTOBER2007 APPENDIX1 HIGHEREDUCATIONQUALIFICATIONDESCRIPTORSH igherCertificateTypespecificationsNQFExi tLevel5 Minimumtotalcredits:120 MinimumcreditsatLevelS:120 DesignatorsNotapplicableQualifiersSpecif ic, (Tourism), (Tourism)(Eco-tourism) , , simulatedworkexperienceorworkintegratedl earning(WIL) 'spolicy,r1i(7imumAdmissionRequirementsf orHigherCertificate,DiplomaandBachelor's DegreeProgrammesRequiringa NationalSeniorCertificate,GovernmentGaze tte, , , qualificationmaynotbeawardedforearlyexit froma HigherCertificateprogramme.)