Role Profile
We live in a multilingual, multicultural world. Our engagement with non-English-speaking persons in business will remain a challenge unless we develop our capacity in other languages.
We believe that with increased ability in languages, the UK will:
- Be more successful in the global economy
- Build better relationships at home and abroad
- Enable young Britons to compete with their international peers
The UK government states that Britain’s focus is on boosting economic growth, keeping people in employment, and creating new jobs, which means working with European partners and preparing the workforce to compete globally in the 21st century.
Only 6% of the world’s population speak English as a first language. Furthermore, 75% of the world’s population doesn’t speak any English at all. We aim to increase language proficiency throughout the UK and develop intercultural working skills to successfully compete in the global economy.
Skills & Competencies for Languages & Intercultural Working
Five suites of Languages & Intercultural Working NOS (National Occupational Standards) are available. These suites are listed below.
Languages
These standards cover the skills and knowledge needed to use a language in a work setting. They can be applied to any language and in any work context. This allows learners to choose specific standards at a level that is most suitable for them.
- Four skills: understand, speak/sign, read, and write
- Seven levels: from basic, to complex, to specialist
Language NOS
Language NOS Guidance
Intercultural Working
The NOS cover the skills and knowledge needed to work with people from different countries or diverse cultures. Whether in the UK or internationally, the NOS are designed to promote respectful interaction, better understanding, and improved performance.
Translation
The NOS cover the knowledge and skills required to be a competent professional translator. They describe core aspects of translation performance at both professional and advanced levels, as well as relevant support activities such as project management and mentoring.
Interpreting
This range of NOS cover the knowledge and skills required to provide a competent, professional interpretation service.
CFAINT01: Assess Your Ability to Undertake Interpreting Assignments
CFAINT02: Prepare for Interpreting Assignments
CFAINT03: Interpret One-Way as a Professional Interpreter
CFAINT04: Interpret Two-Way as a Professional Interpreter
CFAINT05: Evaluate & Develop Your Professional Practice as an Interpreter
CFAINT06: Produce Sight Translations Within Interpreting Assignments
CFAINT07: Produce Immediate Translations Within Interpreting Assignments
CFAINT08: Work With Other Interpreters
CFAINT09: Undertake Remote Interpreting Assignments
Lipspeaking
These NOS are for people who are working as professional lipspeakers, or who wish to achieve accreditation as a professional lipspeaker to work with deaf, deafened, and/or deafblind people.
Speech to Text Reporter
The suite was developed in partnership with the National Registers of Communication Professionals, working with deaf and deafblind people.
The NOS are for people who have both language skills equivalent to level 5 of the UK Occupational Language Standards and Speech to Text Reporting skills, who would like to develop or gain accreditation for the skills needed to work as a professional Speech to Text Reporter.
Define the skills your industry needs.
For work-based learning to truly match the range of challenges that you face it’s essential that apprenticeships and training are continuously developed. This is where we come in.
We work with employers, employer groups, and training providers to maintain and update a range of apprenticeship frameworks and standards. Through staged consultations, we ensure that qualifications work for learners, employers, and skills bodies alike.
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Developing People, Transforming Lives
As the UK’s largest apprenticeship certification authority, we’ve played an integral role in apprenticeships since our formation in 1996. Whether you know us for certification or skills consultations, our work helps you to manage your apprenticeships and vocational training.
Yet this isn’t all that we do.
We are proud to be part of the Instructus Group, a family of organisations that exist to help people progress in education, in work, and in life. Through a range of funded and part-funded support programmes we help people to fulfill their potential.