Candidate Guide for City & Guilds Level 3 Qualifications

The purpose of the guide is to provide information about the qualifications available to you and to answer some of the questions you may have.

Welcome

This guide, for your City & Guilds Award, Certificate or Diploma in Operational Delivery (Advanced) and Certificate in Debt Management at Level 3, aims to make your learning journey easy and rewarding, and to ensure that you both enjoy your study and value the skills you gain in the process.

You can start with the Award, and then build on this by adding more units to achieve the Certificate and Diploma, or move straight to taking a Certificate or Diploma.

Learning time


All City and Guilds qualifications have been mapped to the existing CSL Learning Opportunities giving you a choice of on-line learning from the CSL and ODP pool of modules.  As many of these courses have been mandatory at some point, you may find that you have already completed a large chunk of the learning required to obtain a City & Guilds qualification and all you need to do is to refresh your knowledge and sit the tests.  There is no requirement to attend any face to face courses in order to complete the qualifications.


The time you need to dedicate to obtain your qualification at any level may be as little as just a few days from your allocated annual study time in order to revise and sit the tests or complete the assignments.

Your qualification structure

Dependent upon the qualification you are taking (Award, Certificate or Diploma), there are a required number of Units you must take. For unit descriptions please see below by scrolling down this page.

To achieve the Level 3 Award you must complete the following three units:

Mandatory

Unit 301  Working in operational delivery

Unit 302  Safety and security in operational delivery

Unit 303  Principles of equality and diversity in operational delivery

To achieve the Level 3 Certificate you must complete the following three units

Mandatory

Unit 301  Working in operational delivery

Unit 302  Safety and security in operational delivery

Unit 303  Principles of equality and diversity in operational delivery

Plus one unit from group A and one unit from group B below:

Additional units group A (choose one)

Unit 304     Resolving customer service problems in operational delivery

Unit 309     Customer service in partnership

And one unit from group B

Additional units group B  (choose one)

Unit 305     Verify the calculation/entitlement

Unit 306     Technical advice in operational delivery cases

Unit 307     Investigate suspected non-compliance in operational delivery

Unit 308     Manage team and individual performance against set objectives

Unit 310     Operational delivery interviews

Unit 311     Operational delivery visits

Unit 312     Managing debt in operational delivery

 

To achieve the Level 3 Certificate in Debt Management you must complete following three units

Mandatory

Unit 301DM Preparation for debt recovery and collection

Unit 302DM Handling customer calls in a debt environment

Unit 303DM Monitoring debtor accounts

Plus ONE optional unit from the list below

Unit 304DM Negotiation for debt recovery and collection

 

To achieve the Level 3 Diploma you must complete following three units

Mandatory

Unit 301  Working in operational delivery

Unit 302  Safety and security in operational delivery

Unit 303  Principles of equality and diversity in operational delivery

Plus one unit from the group A

Additional units group A (choose one)

Unit 304     Resolving customer service problems in operational delivery

Unit 309     Customer service in partnership

And three units from group B 

Additional units group B  (choose three)

Unit 305     Verify the calculation/entitlement

Unit 306     Technical advice in operational delivery cases

Unit 307     Investigate suspected non-compliance in operational delivery

Unit 308     Manage team and individual performance against set objectives

Unit 310     Operational delivery interviews

Unit 311     Operational delivery visits

Unit 312     Managing debt in operational delivery

Unit descriptions

Unit 301 Working in operational delivery - This unit develops understanding in the scope of working in operational delivery, its structure and professional standards. You will cover the role of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) withing operational delivery and have the opportunity to produce and review a development plan and set your own objectives.

Unit 302  Safety and security in operational delivery - This unit focuses on being able to retrieve, use, store and dispose of data and understand the legal and organisational requirements for data protection in operational delivery. You will also develop an understanding of how to maintain your own and other's personal safety and security.

Unit 303 Principles of equality and diversity in operational delivery - This unit develops your understanding of the concept and benefits of equality and diversity within operational delivery.  You will understand the obligation to fulfil organisational and legal expectations for equality and diversity and know how to respond proactively to address customer needs. 

Unit 304 Resolving customer service problems in operational delivery - The unit focuses on your understanding of how your job role involves delivering and organising excellent customer service. This unit is about the part of your job that involves resolving customer service problems. It is also about changing systems to avoid repeated customer service problems. 

Unit 305 Verify the calculation/entitlement - This unit focuses on checking and authorising others calculations of entitlements to ensure their accuracy. You need to demonstrate your knowledge of how to approve those calculations or entitlements that are correct and to refer those that are not for resolution or correction.

Unit 306 Technical advice in operational delivery cases - This unit focuses on the provision of factual technical advice or guidance relating to your area of work, both within established guidance and where no specific guidance is available but where established principles exist. These may be issues which have been escalated. You need to identify the recipient?s information needs and communicate in a way that the recipient can understand, following the appropriate conventions and using the appropriate communication methods. Recipient will include internal and external customers and other stakeholders. 

Unit 307 Investigate suspected non-compliance in operational delivery - This unit focuses on confirming the nature of non-compliance and the levels of culpability before making effective use of organisational powers to carry out investigations.  You should know how to identify and report suspected areas of non-compliance revealed by investigation and explain why it is important to monitor the progress of interventions, refer to others as necessary and report and quantify the outcome of the investigations.  You need to understand the need to take customer-related factors into account when carrying out investigations.

Unit 308 Manage team and individual performance against set objectives - This unit focuses on understanding objective setting with individuals and teams to achieve objectives as well as identifying and managing under performance and recognising team and individual success. 

Unit 309 Customer service in partnership - This unit focuses on understanding that excellent customer service relies on teamwork. This unit is all about understanding how to work effectively within a service chain and how to develop the links that cement key relationships. Effective communication and understanding of the roles of different organisations, departments and individuals are central to this area of your work.

Unit 310 Operational delivery interviews - This unit focuses on ensuring that you are able to interview customers to meet their objectives, record their findings and inform colleagues of these findings. It is also designed to ensure that you know and understand the procedures and techniques to carry out interviews and are aware of the organisation?s policies, standards and customer charter with which you should comply.

Unit 311 Operational delivery visits - This unit ensures that you know and understand the procedures and techniques to carry out visits and are aware of the organisation?s policies and standards with which you should comply.  You will also learn how to plan and conduct follow up visits and resolve issues within your own authority and know how to process issues outside of your authority.

Unit 312 Managing debt in operational delivery - This unit focuses on developing your understanding about credit control procedures in operational delivery.  You will understand how to identify instances of late payment and non-payment and how to take appropriate action to collect outstanding payments in accordance with all codes, laws and regulatory requirements.

Unit 301DM Preparation for debt recovery and collection - In this unit you will gain an understanding of how your department prepares for debt recovery/collection and the recovery/collection options available. This unit covers recovery and collection, and the terminology for recovery and collection may differ depending on the departments you are employed by.

Unit 302DM Handling customer calls in a debt environment - The aim of this unit is for you to gain the practical skills when handling debt related customer communications. You will need to know about the relevant processes and legislation in order to handle communications.
 

Unit 303DM Monitoring debtor accounts - In this unit you will gain an understanding of how to monitor accounts of debtors, the IT systems that are used and the appropriate actions to take to recover debt.
 

Unit 304DM Negotiation for debt recovery and collection - In this unit you will gain an understanding of how to negotiate repayments with customers, this includes the organisational policy of negotiating repayments, the skills required to negotiate repayment and the repayment methods available.
 

The assessment

You will need to successfully complete one on-line Short Answer Test for each unit.   The tests consist of a number of questions, all based on the assessment criteria listed in each unit.  Please read them carefully to decide if you are ready for your test!

The Debt Management qualification units can also consist of some practical tasks that are internally assessed.

When you register for the qualification you have chosen you will be given log in details that will give you access to the assessment criteria for each unit.

This will also provide you with information on Learning Opportunities available through CSL Learning which will provide you with the knowledge to achieve the qualification.

To prepare yourselves for the assessment, it is recommended that you carefully read the step by step guide that accompanies each unit that will be made available to you following log in.   Your line manager should be able to advise you on the choice of learning options.  You may have already completed some of the learning options recommended, in which case, all you need to do is to refresh your memory before the test.

 

A step by step learner guide to studying for each unit

By following the guidance below you will be able to make the most out of the study experience, prepare for the short answer question paper and develop the confidence required to sit the assessment.

When you have chosen your qualification and the units that you will be taking, your first step is to follow the booking guidance for Operational Delivery Qualifications on the CSL Portal.

Within 5 working days of your start date (indicated on the CSL Portal) you will receive joining instructions. These instructions consist of a welcome letter and a link to the log in page of the qualification support web site managed by Premier Partnership.

In addition you will be provided with a password that enables you to log into your own personal qualifications page. This page holds all the details and information that you will need to undertake your qualification.

Step 1:  Read through the requirements of the unit selected

Begin by reading the unit aim on the unit specification.  This sets the scene and outlines what you will be expected to understand once the unit is completed. 

Take time to read through each learning outcome and assessment criteria.  Learning outcomes state what you will be able to do, know or understand once the assessment criteria have been successfully completed.  You will notice certain words appear in bold. These are the areas that may be covered in the test assessment.

Step 2:  Take time to reflect on the unit content

Once you have read through the unit, identify the skills and knowledge you already have which relate clearly to the unit aims.  Secondly, identify skills, knowledge gaps or aspects of the programme which require additional study. Use this information to decide on which learning and development opportunities you would like to pursue.

Step 3:  Participate in formal learning opportunities in the Civil Service

A range of learning opportunities has been selected for each unit. These learning opportunities range from short E-Learning courses which last an hour to full day training courses. The training is offered by:

  • Learning for Operational Delivery
  • Civil Service Learning (CSL)

Select and participate in training to suit your needs and knowledge requirements. It may be useful to refresh your knowledge if you participated in training previously.

Step 4:  Undertake informal independent learning in your own work area

Opportunities for independent learning have been identified for each unit.  You must read through the list.  It simply asks you to reflect on how you undertake certain tasks or look up policies and procedures specific to the subject area. The purpose is to make you think about how you undertake specific activities in your own work area and the organisational and legal requirements which underpin what you do. 

Don?t forget to ask your colleagues or managers for support to understand aspects of topics, roles or responsibilities on which you are unsure.

The independent learning is a great way of checking whether you are ready to take the short answer question paper. 

Step 5:  Undertake the short answer question paper

Once you have reviewed the unit requirements, addressed skills and knowledge gaps and undertaken independent learning you should have the confidence to take the short answer question paper.  Good luck!

What support will I have?

Premier Partnership

As well as handling the technical aspects of the accreditation process, Premier Partnership is committed to providing additional learner support, for example if you have any queries about your registration with City & Guilds or if you have any special requirements.

You can contact Premier Partnership directly at quals@premier-partnership.co.uk or by telephoning the help desk on 01302 361226.

Telephone enquiries will be responded to in normal working hours (09:00 to 17:00 Monday to Friday) or for messages left outside of normal working hours within one working day.

Emails will normally be responded to within 48 hours.

Your Line Manager

Your Line Manager already plays an important role in your professional development. As you progress towards your qualification, your Line Manager will support you in a number of ways. These include:

  • Approving your request to start the learning
  • Agreeing with you what are the most appropriate development opportunities
  • Having regular discussions with you, including reviews of any workshops you have attended or learning activities that you have undertaken

The Line Manager Guide clarifies their role in supporting you through the qualification.

Civil Service Learning

You will already be aware of the wide range of learning opportunities available to you on the Civil Service Learning portal. These include:

  • Workshops and events
  • Workplace learning activities
  • Workbooks and crib guides
  • E-learning

 

Policies and Codes of Practice

City & Guilds and Premier Partnership work in accordance with a number of policies and codes of practice to ensure that they carry out their responsibilities in a fair, equitable and legal manner.

Policies and procedures that are particularly relevant to you as a learner are:

City & Guilds

  • Complaints and Appeals Policy
  • Complaints and Appeals Procedure
  • Reasonable Adjustments Policy
  • Diversity and Equality Policy

Premier Partnership

  • Complaints and Appeals Policy
  • Diversity and Equality Policy

Policies and procedures are based on ACAS guidelines and codes of practice.You may request copies of these by contacting Premier Partnership directly at quals@premier-partnership.co.uk

Copyright 2013 Premier Partnership