Level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health and Social Care

An Assessor's View

Glynis Brown is one out experienced Associates who supported two of the first candidates to achieve the level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health and Social Care Here Glynis shares her experience of working with this new qualification.

I felt that the new Level 5 Diploma was fairly straight forward although with the different pathways it is important to clarify the candidate's role and responsibilities so that the candidates can clearly see how the units relate to their work activities. Once this was done evidence could be easily gathered through their normal work activities and this ensured a more natural performance and efficient assessment process.

As there was a great deal of research and written work involved in this diploma, positive and constructive feedback kept the candidates motivated throughout. Joint planning was effective taking into account candidates roles and responsibilities so that the evidence gathering through observations could be maximised and identifying where professional discussions would be more effective and beneficial. There was excellent support from the company allowing the candidates time and space to complete the written assignments (allocating office time) which does not always happen in other establishments.

Through professional discussions and the final evaluation the candidates identified how the Level 5 Diploma will benefit them, the company staff and service users. One candidate identified how the qualification had given her confidence to progress with her role, identifying her strengths and weaknesses and implementing ideas in certain areas of her work. For example, she spoke of implementing relevant areas of work she completed for Unit P5 (C&G 516) - Safeguarding children and young people for those working in the adult sector. She felt this will benefit the company, staff and those who use the service.

The other candidate I supported felt that undertaking the Level 5 Diploma had been a learning curve. He felt the research he had undertaken had been very beneficial not only for his learning but for confirming compliance. He also found Unit P5 (C&G 516) very interesting and will work with his colleague to ensure this is implemented in the company to inform staff of the importance of awareness in this area.

As an Assessor I feel that both candidates grew in confidence as a result of undertaking the Level 5 Diploma. It led them to revisit areas they felt could be beneficial to the company and implementing changes in the areas of human resources and recruitment. Both candidates have very specific roles in the company but work equally well together with the best interest of the company at the forefront.

Having supported two candidates my overall impression of the new Level 5 Diploma is that there is significant amount of research and written work to complete. As a result I feel that it is really important for candidates to be well supported by their organisation while they are undertaking the Diploma. Candidates are in a role which carries a lot of responsibility and demands on their time. With the previous qualifications (the LMCS / Level 4NVQ) a significant amount of evidence could be cross referenced across the units. The Diploma is different however as the units are more discrete so very little evidence can be crossed referenced or directly observed. The result is that you are completing unit by unit a lot of the time. This is not always a bad thing as candidates can concentrate wholly on the content of the unit which leads to greater understanding. This was especially the case if the unit was a knowledge unit and required research which in turn led to effective discussions confirming the candidates understanding and learning. As always it is very important to keep lines of communication flowing between the candidate and the assessor mainly to keep the candidates motivated, as at times the number of units being undertaken to meet the credit requirements can seem daunting for the candidates. On the whole I felt the Level 5 Diploma was a very rewarding experience for both the candidates and the assessor.

Glynis can be seen here with her succesful Level 5 Diploma candidates Neil and Bernie.