28 Optional Units – Certificate & Diploma in Education and Training

Trying to decide which Optional Units you should choose for your Level 4 Certificate in Education and Training or Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training?

Or maybe you’re not sure about whether to do the Certificate or Diploma in Education and Training?

The Certificate & Diploma in Education and Training have over 28 Optional Units altogether! This is a great guide to find out more about how you can shape your CET or DET and how much work is involved. 

Remember: 

• Credit requirements – Minimum 15 credits Optional Units for the Level 4 Certificate and minimum 45 credits Optional Units for the Level 5 Diploma.
• Units that overlap with other qualifications can be used as exemptions. So if you have done a Unit with your IQA course, you can go on to claim an exemption for it when you do your DET.
• Some units require work-based evidence to support your learning and/or application of the theory. Make sure you have access to the required workplace settings.
• Some units are knowledge-based. For knowledge-based units, you may support your research with work-based evidence.
• This list does not include specialist units and is a guide to help you choose units suited to your career goals and interests. Once you have shortlisted units, please contact your Training Provider and Awarding Body for the detailed Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria.

Optional Units for Certificate & Diploma in Education and Training:

Level 3 Units: All CET units only. All 6 Credits.

1. Assess Occupational Competence in the Work Environment. This is a Learning and Development Unit which is Unit 2 of the Level 3 Assessor Courses. This unit qualifies you to assess your candidates in their workplace. To achieve this unit you will need access to at least two learners completing at least two different assessments within their workplace.
2. Assessment & Support for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) through Accreditation of Learning Outcomes. This unit will help you understand how to provide advice and apply RPL or APL – recognition and accreditation of prior learning. You must have access to teaching practice where you have the opportunity to assess and apply RPL.
3. Engage Learners in the Learning & Development Process. This unit will assess your ability to engage your students in their own Learning & Development (L&D) process. It includes knowledge and understanding of the mentoring role but not the development of mentoring skills. The unit is not about learning support but providing advice and guidance, focusing on student responsibility for their own learning. This unit requires work-based evidence.
4. Engage with Employers to Develop and Support Learning Provision. This unit involves working with employers to provide learning opportunities. This includes work experience placements, apprenticeships, mentoring etc. You will need to provide work-based evidence for this unit so you will need access to organisations with who you work within a teaching and learning context.

Level 4 Units: All Units available in both CET & DET.

1. Delivering Employability Skills – 6 credits. This unit focuses on the differences between employability and employment skills, personal qualities and the techniques you need to deliver employability skills. You will also consider how the learning environment and personal presentation influence the success of your employability skills training. This unit requires work-based evidence and can also be done as CPD for employability skills trainers.
2. Develop Learning and Development (L&D) Programmes – 6 credits. Learning and Development (L&D) programmes relate to qualifications that involve workplace assessment, possibly in an organisational setting. Since this unit does not involve preparation or implementation of the programme, there are no special resources required. It is a knowledge-based unit.
3. Effective Partnership working in the Learning and Teaching Context – 15 credits. This unit will help you understand the purpose, aims, objectives, structure and management of a specific partnership. It is useful if you are responsible for communicating and dealing directly with partnership organisations. There is no requirement for work-based evidence.
4. Engage with Employers to Facilitate Workforce Development – 6 credits. This unit will help you build relationships with employers, design and deliver Learning and Development (L&D) solutions to businesses. You will need access to students who are employees or in work placements so you can provide work-based evidence.
5. Equality and Diversity – 6 credits. As the name suggests, you will learn how to work with others to promote equality and diversity and adapt your own practice to be inclusive and celebrate equality and diversity. This is a knowledge-based unit.
6. Evaluating Learning Programmes – 3 credits. In this unit, you will use evaluation methods and data to understand how to improve learning programmes. It is suitable for those who deliver and evaluate teaching and are involved in the Internal Quality Assurance of programmes. This is a knowledge-based unit.
7. Identify the Learning Needs of Organisations – 6 credits. This unit will assess your competence in carrying out Training Needs Analysis (TNA) for any organisation, group or team. You will need access to an organisation or team of people to conduct the learning needs analysis as this unit requires work-based evidence.
8. Inclusive Practice – 15 credits. This unit covers roles, responsibilities, legislation, learning environment and self-evaluation in relation to inclusive practice. There is no requirement for work-based learning in this unit.
9. Internally Assure the Quality of Assessment – 6 credits. This unit is suitable for those with responsibility for the Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) of assessment in your workplace. You will need access to at least two assessors with at least two students each, whose work they are assessing. This unit is work-based and simulations are not allowed.
10. Preparing for the Coaching Role – 3 credits. Prepare for the coaching role by analysing the role and use of coaching in a specific context. You will explore the responsibilities, personal skills, a legal and organisational requirement necessary for developing an effective coaching relationship in a specific context. This is a knowledge-based unit.
11. Preparing for the Mentoring Role – 3 credits. This unit prepares you for a mentoring role. It will help you understand your responsibilities, personal skills, legal and organisational requirements for building a rapport and safeguarding both mentor and mentee. Working as a 1:1 mentor you will learn to support students to develop strategies to encourage individual responsibility in their own development. This is a knowledge-based unit.
12. Preparing for the Personal Tutoring Role – 3 credits. This unit will help you prepare for the role of a personal tutor. You will analyse the role and factors affecting your learner’s attitudes to learning. This is a knowledge-based unit.
13. Specialist Delivery Techniques and Activities – 9 credits. In this unit you will select, justify, evaluate and develop activities and resources and plan opportunities to improve your skills. This is a work-based unit and you will need to provide evidence of specialised delivery approaches.
14. Teaching in a Specialist Area – 15 credits. In this unit you will consider the aims and philosophy of Education and Training in your specialist area and the aims and structure of key qualifications and learning programmes. You will also study curriculum issues, inclusive teaching, evaluating and improving your own practice. This unit can also be taken as CPD. This is a knowledge-based unit.
15. Understanding and Managing Behaviours in a Learning Environment – 6 credits. This unit can be taken at Level 4 or Level 5. You will understand the characteristics and disruptive impact of behaviourism learning. You will relate this to legislation and organisational policies including strategies for promoting positive behaviours, managing negative behaviours and evaluating your own practice. At Level 4, this unit requires access to a workplace setting where you can apply your learning from this unit. At Level 5, this is knowledge-based requiring extensive analysis and research.
16. Understanding the Principles and Practices of Externally Assuring the Quality of Assessment – 6 credits. This unit will assess your knowledge and understanding of External Quality Assurance (EQA) of assessment. Choose this unit if you would like to learn about the maintenance and improvement of quality assurance throughout an organisation. This is a knowledge-based unit but you may need access to External Quality Assurance processes and data.
17. Understanding the Principles and Practices of Internally Assuring the Quality of Assessment – 6 credits. In this unit, you will learn more about internal quality assurance planning and methods in both private training companies and FE and HE institutions. This is suitable for teachers, trainers, programme managers, course leaders or staff involved with the internal quality assurance of their organisation. This is a knowledge-based unit.
18. Using Study Skills Approaches and Techniques to Enhance the Learning of Others – 6 credits. This unit will help you to effectively develop the study skills of your students. You will explore different techniques and approaches and use theory and practice to assess the effectiveness of your techniques. This unit must include work-based evidence.
19. Working with Individual Learners – 15 credits. This unit will explore the skills required to support an individual through mentoring, coaching or tutoring. It is suitable for anyone working with learners on a 1:1 basis and requires work-based evidence.
20. Working with the 14-19 age range in Education and Training – 9 credits. Choose this unit if you need to develop your teaching skills and understand national educational policy relating to the 14-19 age range. Remember, this involves learning in the post-compulsory sector and requires work-based evidence with groups or individuals in that age range.

Level 5 Units: All CET & DET units. All 15 Credits.

1. Action Learning for Teaching in a Specialist Area of Disability. This unit enables you to understand and investigate a specific impairment and its impact on learning and teaching. You will investigate your practice in an area of disability and apply the learning to your practice. You will need access to students with specific learning difficulties.
2. Action Learning to Support Development of Subject-Specific Pedagogy. This unit will help you investigate an area of interest related to the teaching of your specialist subject area. This means you select and justify your area of interest, use appropriate research methodology, review current relevant literature and evaluate other areas for development in your practice. This is knowledge-based and does not require any work-based evidence.
3. Action Research. This is the most commonly available of all Optional Units for Certificate & Diploma in Education and Training. This is simply because it is so generalised that it can suit any learner in any subject specialism. For this unit, you will carry out action research in an area of your professional practice. This will help you understand the nature and purpose of action research, conduct the action research and present the outcomes. The unit also involves evaluating your own practice. This unit requires work-based evidence.
4. Developing, Using and Organising Resources in a Specialist Area. You will learn the purpose, development, use of resources and how to organise them and make them accessible. You will also cover legal requirements, responsibilities and evaluate your own development and use of resources. There is no requirement for work-based evidence.

The information in this article is based on Ofqual Qualification and Curriculum Guidelines issued to all UK Awarding Organisations delivering the Level 4 Certificate in Education and Training and the Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training. Specifically, the unit summaries have been adapted from Pearson’s “Pearson_CET_DET_Optional Units.doc” document.
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