Student Skills A

FPSSA0

Eduvos (Pty) Ltd (formerly Pearson Institute of Higher Education) is registered w ith the Department of Higher Education and Training as a private higher education institution under the
Higher Education Act, 101, of 1997. Registration Certificate number: 2001/HE07/008
Week 0: Lesson 1
Introduction

• Before we get into the module’s content, your Lecturer is:

Lecturer name:
Lecturer email:
• By now you should be familiar with MyLMS FPSSA0 page, as well as having completed the baseline

assessment.

• Consultations are available on request at least 24 hours prior.

• Visit MyLMS FPSSA0 page to find more information about Academic Support Services.

Prescribed Reading
•Pearson Institute of Higher Education. 2017. Student Skills: How to Succeed in Higher Education. Harlow:
Pearson Education Limited.
 What will be covered
in today’s lesson?
Your academic journey

Week 1
Your course
Lesson 0 - 2
NQF Levels

Credits and notional hours

What is my Academic Journey?
• Obtaining My Qualification
It is important that the qualification that you study towards is recognised, legitimate and
credible. For this reason, all qualifications should be registered with the Council of Higher
Education (CHE), which, in turn, makes sure that there are quality standards set for each
qualification.

• What Does the Term “Qualification” Mean?

A qualification is the formal recognition and certification of learning achievement
awarded by an accredited institution. The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA)
stipulates that the learning outcomes of all South African qualifications should include
critical cross-field or generic skills to promote lifelong learning as well as discipline,
domain-specific or specialised knowledge, skills and reflexivity (Council on Higher
Education, 2013).
What is a Programme?
• A programme is a structured set of learning experiences that an individual must meet in order for
him/her to obtain the qualification (Council on Higher Education, 2013).

Credits and Notional Hours

• Credits connected to a module indicate the volume of learning that is required to complete a
module/course or qualification. This means that each module has attached to it a number of credits,
which indicates “how much learning” should take place in that specific module. To measure the
volume of learning, credits are based on notional hours, and these notional hours can include any
activity that a student needs to be involved in in order for him/her to master the outcomes of that
module.

For example:
•Contact hours – attending class
•Self-study or individual study
•Group work
•Set readings
•Preparing an assignment
•Studying for a test or examination
•Taking the test or examination

• One credit is equal to ten notional hours. If a three-year bachelor’s degree is weighted at a minimum
of 360 credits, it means that to obtain the qualification, a student must have spent a total of 3 600
hours with the modules that are making up the programme or 1 200 hours per year. If relayed back
to credits, it is 120 credits per year.
NQF Levels

NQF Levels (National Qualifications Framework)

• An NQF level descriptor is a statement of an individual’s learning achievement.

The purpose of this description is to assist a writer of standards or qualifications
in designing a qualification by allocating a level to a unit standard or a
qualification, and to formulate outcomes and criteria for assessment that could
clearly indicate the level of knowledge of a learner required to successfully
achieve the unit standard or qualification.

• There are ten levels in the South African National Qualifications Framework
(NQF). Level descriptors also help in the assessment of the national and
international comparability of qualifications and part qualifications (Council on
Higher Education, 2013).
END OF LESSON
QUESTIONS?