Lost,
I have NVQ's to look forward to, and actually...I'm not :shock:
in starting my current job a couple of years ago, I had to return to the process of *being educated* and having to follow a regime to pass a certificate or two. All very strange to me having left accedemia behind a very very long time ago!!!
I should have already been in the process for NVQ's by now, though forone reason and another was delayed, and will now (due to experience in the job, and recent promotion) have to be starting at a higher level :double: :shock:
so... areyou *in the system* Lost, or just about to start?... I understand (though very well, and most probably am wrong) that NVQ follows a similar process no matter the field of quali, is that right?
and by the way: whatever it is you're doing....good luck!!
lp
I did most of an NVQ III a few years ago and whilst the work was easy all of the admin, cross-referencing etc was enough to make me swear never to do an NVQ ever again. In comparison, doing an OU diploma was much less work overall, for a better qualification, as I could spend the time learning rather than doing admin.
NVQs love 'em or hate 'em they're here to stay - employers need bits of paper and the government needs a way of measuring educational attainment in the workforce!
For the record, I have one (the level is immaterial) and used to assess them.
My opinion is that they of real benefit to people who have been in work for sometime, but either have no 'formal' qualification or have been doing the job for so long that it has become automatic.
The analysis and deconstruction of your work and work practices should give you a better understanding of why you do what you do in the way that you do it (I used to assess in the field of personal care services and instilling an ethos of person centred care is exceptionally important). Justifying how and why you do something to a third party can be irksome, but the cross referencing should show that the underpinning ethos and core skills of your work show through in all that you do.
On the otherhand, to do this effectively is a skill in itself, and probably alien or unconnected with your everyday work - I've always thought that this is where the process falls down, with candidates believing they are being tested on their ability to 'cross reference' rather than on their ability to to do the job in hand.
Whether that transfers over to Engineering or clerical work is possibly another matter.
Consequently I've always thought it a nonsense that NVQs can be studied for prior to taking up a job - but we have employer's need to see 'educational achievement' on paper to blame for that
As to "Does nothing ask for speculation and personal interpretation anymore?" -you might find that on a degree course - but even then most degree syllybi are 'taught' now (handouts of lecture notes etc!) rather than learnt or researched - I comment from experience here.
Well, there's my tuppence worth!
Lost - you know where I am if you need to chew any of it over!
takes 5X as long to reference than to research and study and is twice as hard?
) 
It then transpired that we only needed the credits from one of the courses, and as I'd spent the previous year "improving my own learning" when on my GCSE courses, I decided to give that one a miss.
