Initial Advice and Guidance - Level 3

The advice and guidance qualification has been designed to provide the necessary skills for those working or wishing to work in this industry. It provides the knowledge required to work with legislative and procedural frameworks, understanding and promoting careers education guidance within organisations and working with other services through negotiation, liaison and referral.

The primary purpose of this qualification is to develop your competence, knowledge and skills to work in all advice and guidance settings. It will allow you to provide advice and guidance directly to clients, reporting to a line management as well as associated services.

You may also supervise and support other staff members once qualified.

On completion learners achieving the Level 3 Certificate may progress to higher level qualifications.
This qualification could also lead onto further learning, such as:

• Level 3 Award in supporting clients to overcome barriers to learning and work
• Level 4 Diploma in career information and advice
• Level 6 Diploma in career guidance and development
• MA in Career Guidance
• MA Careers
• MA Professional Studies (Guidance)

This qualification covers communication and interactions to support clients in preparing and completing their chosen actions, the knowledge required to work with legislative and procedural frameworks, working with other services through negotiation, liaison and referral, understanding and promoting careers education guidance within organisations and enabling clients learning through group work, demonstration and instruction.

You must complete 4 mandatory units which will make up the majority of vocational learning required for employment in this sector, they are:

• Establish communication with clients for advice and guidance
• Support clients to make use of the advice and guidance service
• Review own contribution to the service
• Understand importance of legislation and procedures

Teaching and Learning will be through a mix of taught sessions, in-class group work and teacher-led discussions. Active participation in the group work and discussions will enable the best outcome as candidates gain peer support and learn from each other’s experiences. The Level 3 Certificate consists of 4 mandatory units and 3 optional units.

The majority of assessment for this competence -based qualification will take place in the workplace under real working conditions, using observations, witness testimonies and work product.

This course requires candidates to hold GCSEs in English and maths at grade C / 4, or an equivalent (e.g. Functional Skills Level 2).

If you don't yet hold your GCSE English and maths (or equivalent), you can look through our website or contact our friendly iZone team to find out more about the GCSE and Functional Skills courses we offer.