TAP achieves Degree status

29 Jan 2010

by: Margaret Snell

The UK’s 160,000 trainers can now gain recognition of their professional skills at University Degree level. In a watershed for the L&D sector the University of Chester and The Training Foundation have formed a partnership to deliver the Foundation Degree in Learning & Development Practice.

The degree is based on completion of 11 modular TAP courses covering the spectrum of L&D skills, plus work-based projects. It is delivered by The Training Foundation under a formal Partnership Agreement with the University of Chester, which will award the FD to graduates.

This is perhaps TAP’s most significant initiative in the drive to elevate training to true professional status. Employers now have a viable means to provide their L&D practitioners with professional development and the Training Foundation claims that a number of clients have already confirmed their intention to use the Foundation Degree as a corporate standard of competency.

Nick Mitchell, chief executive of The Training Foundation, said: “The Foundation Degree is a major step in our long journey to professionalise learning and development, which is so mission-critical today for organisational effectiveness and growth. We desperately need to raise our game in the UK if we are to compete on the global world stage and that means ensuring that those responsible for facilitating learning and performance improvement are qualified to a professional level. The Foundation Degree in Learning & Development Practice enables exactly that.”

 

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