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National Qualifications Framework Act, 2008 (Act No. 67 of 2008)

Notices

Policy and Criteria for Credit Accumulation and Transfer within the National Qualifications Framework (as amended, 2021)

Preamble

 

2. This Policy and Criteria for Credit Accumulation and Transfer within the National Qualifications Framework (CAT Policy and Criteria) provides for the implementation of CAT within the context of the NQF Act No. 67 of 2008, and the Articulation Policy for the Post-school Education and Training System of South Africa published by the DHET in 2017.

 

3. This CAT Policy and Criteria is located within the broader context of the government’s Human Resource Development Strategy, the National Skills Development Strategy, the White Paper for Post-School Education and Training (PSET), and other national strategies.

 

4. This CAT Policy and Criteria is enabling when read together with the Level Descriptors for the South African NQF, SAQA’s National Policy for the Implementation of RPL (as amended) and SAQA’s National Policy for Designing and Implementing Assessment for NQF Qualifications, Part-qualifications and Professional Designations. SAQA developed its CAT Policy and Criteria, RPL, and Assessment policies in an integrated and inter-related manner, drawing on a common conceptual basis.

 

5. CAT provides for the recognition of credits previously obtained through meeting the relevant credit requirements towards a qualification or part-qualification registered on the NQF. These credits accumulated towards a qualification or part-qualification may be recognised as meeting part of the requirements towards another qualification or part-qualification. Decisions regarding the transfer of credit are made by fully recognised providers of education and training, in line with this CAT Policy and Criteria and the aligned Quality Council policies for CAT, once the necessary evaluations have been completed.

 

6. This CAT Policy and Criteria support the objectives of the NQF that are designed to contribute to the full personal development of each learner and the social and economic development of the nation at large, and which:
a. create a single integrated national framework for learning achievements;
b. facilitate access to, and mobility and progression within, education, training and career paths;
c. enhance the quality of education and training; and
d. accelerate the redress of past unfair discrimination in education, training and employment opportunities.

 

7. The South African NQF is a comprehensive system approved by the Minister for the classification, registration, publication and articulation of quality-assured national qualifications and part-qualifications. The NQF was established under the SAQA Act No. 58 of 1995 and continued under the NQF Act No. 67 of 2008.

 

8. The integrated NQF, overseen by SAQA, comprises three co-ordinated Sub-Frameworks, each overseen by a Quality Council:
a. Higher Education Qualifications Sub-Framework (HEQSF) overseen by the Council on Higher Education (CHE);
b. General and Further Education and Training Qualifications Sub-Framework (GFETQSF) overseen by Umalusi; and
c. Occupational Qualifications Sub-Framework (OQSF) overseen by the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO).

 

9. In implementing this CAT Policy and Criteria, SAQA and the Quality Councils must seek to achieve the objectives of the NQF by:
a. developing, fostering and maintaining an integrated and transparent national framework for the recognition of learning achievements;
b. ensuring that South African qualifications meet appropriate criteria, determined by the Minister as contemplated in Section 8 of the NQF Act No. 67 of 2008, and are internationally comparable; and
c. ensuring that South African qualifications are of an acceptable quality.