Capitoline’s Data Centre Design, DCD, and Data Centre Operational Management, DCOM, courses together make up the Data Centre Expert, DCE qualification.
These have now been recognised as Approved Units within the UK government‘s approved Qualification and Credit Framework, or QCF.
Qualifications and Credit Framework, QCF
The Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) contains vocational (or work-related) qualifications, available in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. These qualifications are made up of units that are worth credits. You can study units at your own pace and build these up to full qualifications of different sizes over time. Units and qualifications also range in difficulty, from entry level to level 8.
Capitoline’s Data Centre Expert is recognised as a Level 4, 5-Credit unit which places it on the same academic level as Higher National Certificates, HNCs and BTEC Professional Diplomas Certificates and Awards.
European Qualification Framework, EQF
This recognition now places the Capitoline qualification within the European Qualification Framework, EQF. The EQF is a reference framework that links the qualifications of different countries together. It acts as a translation device to make qualifications easier to understand across different countries and systems in Europe. This will help learners and workers who are moving between countries, from job to job and from one education or training institution to another.
[quote]Capitoline’s Data Centre Expert is a level 5 unit within the European Qualification Framework.[/quote]
Capitoline’s courses and units will be processed through the UK OpenAwards organisation, one of the largest awarding bodies for vocational qualifications in the UK. Certification via OpenAwards will be offered as an optional extra for Capitoline’s qualification scheme.
For courses to be seen as accredited in the United Kingdom the awarding body has to be recognised by one of the government’s regulators which for England is OFQUAL and OpenAwards is an OFQUAL recognised awarding body.
OFQUAL
Ofqual regulates qualifications, examinations and assessments in England and vocational qualifications in Northern Ireland. We are responsible for regulating assessments and qualifications taken by learners of all ages, including National Curriculum assessments, GCSEs, A levels, the Diploma and vocational qualifications.
Ofqual was formally established in April 2010 by the Apprenticeships, Skills Children and Learning Act 2009. We have five objectives which cover qualifications standards, assessments standards, public confidence, awareness and efficiency.
We regulate the qualifications industry on behalf of everyone who uses it. This includes learners, teachers, parents and carers, employers and higher education professionals.
Capitoline
Capitoline wrote the first data centre training course in Europe in 2005 and has been delivering it ever since across Europe, Africa and the Middle East with over 400 organisations selecting Capitoline as their data centre training partner. Capitoline’s DCE package is now the accepted minimum training level for bodies such as the United Nations logistics organisation. Capitoline is not just a training company but a specialised data centre design and audit consultancy and therefore offers a unique insight into design and management for data centres from our own practical experience which we incorporate into our unique range of courses.
The Capitoline courses are already recognised by BICSI (USA) for their Continuing Education Credits, CEC, scheme and by CIBSE (Chartered Institute of Building Service Engineers) for their Continuing Professional Development scheme. In 2012 Capitoline was recognised as a Training Centre to offer accredited courses and qualifications through Open Awards.
