The CLOCK Your Skills Programme: What does it do and how?

CLOCK provides mentoring, peer review and access to qualifications through a cluster of 1-1’s, in small groups as part of the CLOCK Boot-camps or in larger groups as part of organisational programmes in project-based learning and customised skills acquisition and development.

CLOCK has already achieved pre-qualification testing with more than 50 professionals in the Creative and Cultural Industries and with100 learners at levels 4 and 5. Currently, CLOCK has 20 Sector Experts who have been recognised and validated through the CLOCK process and certified by the Scottish Qualifications Authority at Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) Level 11 or European Qualifications Framework (EQF) Level 7, which are equivalent to master’s level. These Sector Experts have been trained to become Mentors and Peer Reviewers for CLOCK and are familiar with the CLOCK quality assurance and verification processes. CLOCK has Sector Experts in organisations in England, Hungary, ltaly, the Netherlands, Scotland and Spain and we are also currently working with organisations in Croatia, Finland, France and Poland to recognise and validate their Sector Experts. During the next 12 months, CLOCK aims to have recognised, validated and certified at least 200 individuals with Professional Development Awards at Levels 1-8 and to have referenced these qualifications in UK and EU funding applications as the preferred non-formal learning and end-point assessment provider for gaining practice-based and professional development qualifications.

CLOCK is always seeking to certificate experienced Sector Experts with or without any higher level formal qualifications, so that they can be recognised and validated as experts to share their valuable knowledge and skills with others. Through this strategy, CLOCK aims to provide a more socially-inclusive community of experts and to create a level-playing field based on the effective application of skills and knowledge gained in a broad cross-section of pre-professional and professional settings. We aim to encourage and enable access to more professional and pre-professional opportunities for those individuals outside traditional or narrow pathways and insider networks.

Current CLOCK status, awards and qualifications include:
Sector Expert (EQF Level 7)
Competent Professional (EQF Level 5)
Advanced Industry Trainee (EQF Level 4)

We are currently developing the range of CLOCK Statuses and Awards to include EQF Levels 1-8:
1. Explorer; 2. Participant; 3. Trainee; 4. Advanced industry Trainee 5. Competent Professional 6. International Competent Professional 7. Sector Expert 8. Sector Champion.

All the CLOCK statuses, awards and certification are constructed using a common framework that enables the mapping of applied skills at different levels to 4 key skill-sets:
a) Practice: The practical activities and application of technical skills using appropriate resources and materials to undertake the practice;
b) Enterprise: The entrepreneurial activities and application of enterprise skills using appropriate resources and methods to develop and support commercial and social enterprise;
c) Sharing knowledge and skills: The peer-to-peer learning activities that enable knowledge and skills to be shared with others in a community of practice or non-formal settings;
d) Developing social potential: The social and community activities that include and engage people, develop personal and professional capabilities, support mental and physical well-being, and build emotional intelligence and cross-cultural competences;

All CLOCK programmes deliver and/or assess practice-based learning using mentoring and peer review. We are concerned with candidates acquiring, developing and applying knowledge and skills to meet the appropriate level of international benchmarks within at least 3 of the CLOCK 4 skillsets. CLOCK can run ‘backwards’ mapping and recognising the skills applied in projects and work programmes of an individual or group over the last 24 months for Levels 5-8 and up to 12 months for Levels 0-4. CLOCK can run ‘forwards’ by delivering projects that integrate the skill-sets and enable collection and mapping of this evidence to demonstrate 3-4 skill-sets applied in the project at the appropriate level.