Introducing ITQ

Getting started

If you have a specific question you may want to search the site under FAQs. You will need to work with an effective Training Provider who is able to help you build and deliver an ITQ project plan that fit your needs and timescales. Search for an Awarding Body approved Training Provider nearby.

Managing and co-ordinating ITQ

Successful learning is about planning, integration, motivation and support: learning doesn’t do itself! Every ITQ programme needs a coordinator to make things happen. In a large organisation this function may live in the Training Department or HR/ Personnel - in a small organisation, the Coordinator may be an enthusiast (IT or personnel-wise) with no ‘proper’ training skills or background, but with common sense and motivation. Here is a quick checklist that will help your employers get the most out of an ITQ project:

1. Get support from all parts of the organisation

ITQ, even if it is not adopted organisation-wide, must be supported by every part of it and sanctioned from the very top. Senior and Line Managers should be prepared to lead by example.

2. Familiarise yourself with ITQ

and understand the unit contents, levels and rules of combination.

3. Decide who in the organisation should follow an ITQ

Is ITQ for your chosen learner group going to be mandatory or optional? If you haven’t thought about this yet, what are the pros and cons of each approach, both for learners and the organisation itself?

4. Sign up to and work through e-skills Passport

...on behalf of the organisation, with or without additional support from a Learning Provider.

5. Think about how you are going to deliver ITQ in the organisation

Will learners have to self-study, have you got an in-house trainer; are you using a Learning Provider?

6. Plan the time frame for your ITQ Programme

There is nothing worse, or more uninspiring, than an open-ended training programme with no clear end in sight. Should candidates do something every week? Should they work through a Unit a month? Factor in practical considerations: if workers are learning at work then they will need time to learn and they will need time to practise. They will also need time for assessment with their ITQ Assessors. The organisation should expect, because of this, reduced capacity in relation to their 'day jobs' and this must be sanctioned and endorsed by management and communicated to everyone, including those not on the Programme.

7. Sell the ITQ Programme internally

Think about how to articulate the benefits and what sort of questions you may get. Decide what information you could give to everyone and by what means: e.g. whether literature, meetings, or a combination of both are appropriate.

8. Manage (in conjunction with Learning Provider) some sort of a Programme Schedule

...so he/she knows who is doing what, when and how they are getting on. A Schedule allows both the Coordinator to manage well and keeps learners involved and informed so that they feel part of a communal and shared learning process.

9. Set some Measures of Success for the ITQ Programme

(possibly in conjunction with a Learning Provider). It is easy to extract analysis data and statistics about the way ITQ is going from e-skills Passport. You should factor regular and thoughtful analysis of this data into your evaluation of the ITQ Programme.

The ITQ Coordinator's job is to be available, be approachable, be inspiring!

The Coordinator needs to know what people are doing, to keep encouraging them to do it, to bring the group together every now and again to get feedback and ask and answer questions. Gather and spread good news: where someone was struggling and is now flying, pass the news on, it’s always great to hear about other achievers. If a learner is feeling unconfident or slow, reassure them that someone else had the very same problem or experience.

Last modified: 10 Jun 2008