Fetac Hetac NFQ Credits

slick31

Hi,
Can anyone explain the Fetac Hetac NFQ Credits system to me in plain and simple english.
From what I can gather for instance - a Fetac level 6 and Hetac level 6 are different yet they're the same on the NFQ. The Hetac seems to be the higher and better qualification?
What is the credit system about? Is it just a longer or different way of getting a degree for example. So for example if I do a Level 6 Cert in IT for 120 creds can I then go on to do level 7 in IT (which would be a degree?)?
What are these special purpose awards that are only for 20 credits? Why would someone do a 20 credit course?
As you can see from the way I'm asking this I've not a clue - so if anyone can give me a step by step explanation (in simple terms) of these that would be great (or point me to a thread thats covered it already (I've looked and can't find one)).
Cheers,
Slick

namoosh

So far as I know Level 8 is HETAC honours degree, level 7 is HETAC pass degree, anything below that is FETAC i.e level 6,5,4. The lower the number the lower the award level..

dmc17

namoosh wrote: »

So far as I know Level 8 is HETAC honours degree, level 7 is HETAC pass degree, anything below that is FETAC i.e level 6,5,4. The lower the number the lower the award level..

I think a level 6 higher cert is HETAC

slick31

namoosh wrote: »

So far as I know Level 8 is HETAC honours degree, level 7 is HETAC pass degree, anything below that is FETAC i.e level 6,5,4. The lower the number the lower the award level..

Thanks for reply,
Level 6 is definitely a Hetac (as I'm startin a level 6 hetac in IT in sep).
I'm really more just confused about the credits sytems/awards. The course I'm due to do is a IT cert 120creds 1year.
But there are other level 6's that are only 20creds.
So say if you did a 20cred course you would need to get another 160creds for a degree so at that rate it would take you 9 years to get a degree??????
Why would someone do a 20cred course?
What would a 20cred course do for me/you/anyone??? What is the purpose of it????????
Slick

ProjectO

Levels on the NFQ are intended to represent level of complexity / difficulty. Credit is intended to represent amount of work (time). After that, there are particular qualifications. So, for example, the Honours Bachelor Degree is at NFQ level 8, regardless of where you studied for it. The Ordinary Bachelor Degree is at NFQ level 7. This is a different qualification, not just a grade linked to the Honours Degree. There can be many qualifications at the same level, with a similar level of difficulty. This does not make them the same.

Credit for FETAC is based on one credit for every nominal ten hours of work / effort. Credit in Higher Education is based on one credit for every 25 hours of work / effort. So, in theory, you can build up credit towards particular qualifications and, if appropriate, have this recognised if you moved to another trainer / institution before you achieved the (final) qualification.

TomWN

slick31 wrote: »

What is the credit system about? Is it just a longer or different way of getting a degree for example. So for example if I do a Level 6 Cert in IT for 120 creds can I then go on to do level 7 in IT (which would be a degree?)?
What are these special purpose awards that are only for 20 credits? Why would someone do a 20 credit course?

To achieve a qualification you will need to achieve a certain level of credits. For example to get a HETAC Level 6 qualification you need 120 credits. In third level each year roughly equates to 60 credits.

You achieve credits for passing the modules that you are required to study. For example you may have 12 modules to study each year, and each are worth 5 credits, and by passing each you get 60 credits, and can then progress to the next year.

Special purpose awards, are smaller qualifictaions, which can give you a smaller qualifictaion in a certain area, and it may give you employment, or it may be used to help you get in third level education. For example for a person who didn't get enough points in the leaving, a special purpose award may help them get into college. For a mature student, a special purpose award may show a college that they have taken steps to prepare for third level education, which would give them a better application than someone who applied without doing anything to prepare for third level. It may also in ceratin cases exempt you from having to do certain modules on a course, as a special purpose award may have already taught the person exactly what is in a module(s) on their latest course.