SFEDI, in partnership with the CFA, is currently developing a set of standards related to enterprise. These standards outline what individuals need to do to make a positive, proactive and sustained difference to the development and management of businesses and organisations. In so doing, the standards will be used by employers to review and enhance the enterprising skills of current members of staff, as well as in the development of programmes of learning and skills focused on enterprise and employability.

In order to ensure that they meet the needs of both employers and providers of learning and skills development, we are keen to get your comments and thoughts on the draft enterprise standards. There are two ways you can let us know what you think of the standards:

Click here to complete an online survey which contains a set of focused questions around the clarity, consistency and coverage of the standards

Given the current emphasis placed by employers on the need for enterprising skills amongst potential and current members of staff, we are keen to ensure that the standards make a positive contribution to the development of enterprise in the labour market. Therefore, your views are very important to us. The deadline for responses to the consultation is the 20th February 2012.

A copy of the standards and functional map can be accessed from www.cfa.uk.com/consultations.html

For any further information, please contact Leigh Sear or Jo Lee on 0845 467 4928.

SFEDI Awards is delighted to announce the introduction of the Business and Enterprise Management suite of qualifications. At present we have successfully gained Ofqual approval for three qualifications. These are:

Level 5 Diploma in Business Management

Level 6 Diploma in Business Management

Level 7 Diploma in Business Management

These qualifications are designed to give learners a good understanding of the responsibilities of a manager and the techniques and skills they will use to deal with different situations as well as the legal requirements within their role.

Those likely to undertake these qualifications include:

• Those looking to develop high level management skills and knowledge
• Those who may be looking to develop skills and knowledge to support undertaking a higher level qualification

Further details as to the structure of these can be found within the Qualifications section of the website.

If centres are interested in adding these qualifications to their centre offer please contact our Customer Service team on customerservices@sfediawards.com or complete and submit the Qualification Application form found within the Centre Documentation section of the website.

If organisations are interested in becoming a Centre of Excellence or a SFEDI Awards Centre then please contact our Customer Service team via customerservices@sfediawards.com.

SFEDI Awards has been working hard in the background to look at new possibilities of how qualifications can be delivered. We are aware that our centres are already using e-portfolios to support the delivery of qualifications.

As a result we have been working with suppliers to approve, where possible, their portals so that our ever growing centre network can offer an e-portfolio delivery model.

SFEDI Awards is pleased to announce it has just approved Onefile as an e-portfolio platform for the use of centres. You will start to see our qualifications appearing over the next few weeks so that you will be able to offer our qualifications through Onefile.

We are always on the lookout for other e-portfolio platforms so if you are already using one for your other qualification offers then let us know and we will look at expanding the options available to you.

We are constantly looking at ways to implement feedback that we strive to gain from our centre network and, as a result, SFEDI Awards has worked on the redevelopment of the qualification specifications that are provided through our website.

Over the coming weeks you will start to notice that the old style qualification specifications will start to be replaced with a new user friendly and more easy to follow layout.

These changes have also been made so that links within the documents now guide you through to the new sections of our website so further guidance can be easily located as to the running of qualifications within a SFEDI Awards approved centre.

This is the first of many improvements that will be implemented in the coming months as SFEDI Awards grows both its centre network and qualification offer.

If centres are interested in adding qualifications to their centre offer please contact our Customer Service team on customerservices@sfediawards.com or complete and submit the Qualification Application form found within the Centre Documentation section of the website.

If organisations are interested in becoming a Centre of Excellence or a SFEDI Awards Centre then please contact our Customer Service team via customerservices@sfediawards.com.

SFEDI Awards is delighted to announce the introduction of two new enterprise qualifications. These are:

Level 2 Award in Planning and Delivering One Off Social Enterprise Activity

Level 2 Certificate in Planning and Delivering Ongoing Social Enterprise Activity

These qualifications allow the learner to take a significant role within a group to run a mini social enterprise within a community-based market. Money raised can be donated to a social cause or reinvested in the enterprise so that it continues to provide a service that creates positive social change.

In recognition of an entrepreneurial nature, the qualification is about “learning through doing”.  The qualification encourages the learner to set up mini social enterprise to create positive social change for themselves, their peers, and/or their community.

Further details as to the structure of these can be found within the Qualifications section of the website.

If centres are interested in adding these qualifications to their centre offer please contact our Customer Service team on customerservices@sfediawards.com or complete and submit the Qualification Application form found within the Centre Documentation section of the website.

If organisations are interested in becoming a Centre of Excellence or a SFEDI Awards Centre then please contact our Customer Service team via customerservices@sfediawards.com.

SFEDI Awards has completed a review of the documentation that we supply for use by our centre network. This review has looked at how we can simplify what you use to enable you to meet the requirements of centre approval whilst also ensuring you can concentrate on the most important person, the learner.

It also provides examples of the minimum requirements that a centre must meet if they choose to develop their own documentation for assessment and Internal Quality Assurance.

The new documentation can be accessed on the Centre Documentation page of the website through the Centre Information section.

A guide has also been produced for both the assessment and Internal Quality Assurance documentation to explain how these should be used.

In order to support learners and employers locate centres within their area that deliver specific qualifications, SFEDI Awards has now added a search function that allows you to see which centres within the delivery network offer the qualifications you need.

To use this function simply click on the ‘Search Centres by Qualifications’ option within the Find a Centre page and tick next to as many of the qualifications you require.

Once you click the search button you will see a map displaying which centres offer the qualification you are looking for and a simple click on the map pin will link you through to their contact details.

If you are interested in delivering SFEDI Awards qualifications or in expanding your current qualification offer, please contact our Customer Services Team on customerservices@sfediawards.com.