A person can start working towards an NVQ at any age (we know some 67-year-olds who have qualified), and at any time (you don't start in September, and finish the following June). The best place to do it is in the workplace, although people have started at colleges/training centres, or by studying at home.

Your employer assigns to you a trained assessor, who looks for evidence that you can consistently carry out different jobs to the required standards. Your assessor watches you at work and asks you some questions, to establish that you know what you are doing and why. There's no catch, and there's no pass or fail: you are simply assessed when you and your assessor feel that you are ready.

You are also given a workbook, which contains the standards and spaces in which your assessments are recorded. When you have achieved all the units and elements, you are awarded a certificate from City & Guilds. For more information fill out our online contact form.

Not at all. Anyone can obtain them, whether they are just starting work or have been working for many years. NVQs are about meeting standards of competence ... and it doesn't matter how someone has acquired that competence. Many people say "you can't beat experience", and they may well be right. It is possible to achieve some elements of an NVQ by showing your assessor work you have done in the past: for example, reports, videos, samples, hobby work and so on, so long as there is proof that it is your own work. This is called APEL, or 'Accreditation of Prior Experience and Learning',

NVQs mean that no-one has to do any unnecessary training. You can come in at the level which is right for you, and progress from there. And at the end of it ...? You have a worthwhile City & Guilds qualification, proof that you can do your work to nationally recognised standards.