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What are National Occupational Standards?

National Occupational Standards describe what you need to know and be able to do in order to do a particular job well. Standards exist across many occupational areas and millions of people have used them to make sure they perform their job to a nationally agreed skills’ standard.

What are National Occupational Standards?

There are suites of standards, such as those for Campaigning or Management of Volunteers, each of which is constructed in the same way, and contain the following components:

Standards

Standards set out the main tasks someone needs to know how to do well. Each standard covers a particular function of a job and consists of one or more tasks.

Overview

At the front of every standard there is an overview that describes what the standard is about and sets the context for the tasks listed in that standard. It may also include recommended resources or reading.

Performance criteria

These are the criteria that set out what you should be able to do to perform tasks listed in that standard well. Performance criteria help staff and volunteers know what good practice looks like and what they need to do to perform a task well. They help managers understand what their staff and volunteers should be doing if they are to do their job well.

Knowledge and understanding

This section lists the things that someone needs to know and understand in order to effectively carry out the tasks listed in the standard.

Additional information

This section may contain a range of additional information such as the behaviours that people in each role should apply to their work. It may also include a glossary of terms used within the standards.

National Occupational Standards for the voluntary sector

Skills - Third Sector is responsible for developing National Occupational Standards for most of the key roles that are found mainly, but not exclusively, in charities, social enterprises, community and voluntary organisations. These are:

  • Campaigners
  • Development workers (someone who gives advice and support to other voluntary and community organisations).
  • Fundraisers
  • Managers of volunteers
  • Trustees and management committee members

Recognising the
importance that monitoring and evaluation have for the success of voluntary,
community and social enterprise organisations, Skills – Third Sector has also
developed good practice standards for this activity. These were developed in
the same way as National Occupational Standards but they have not been adopted
as formal National Occupational Standards.


How are National Occupational Standards developed?

National Occupational Standards are developed in consultation with practitioners in the sector. This means that National Occupational Standards set out what people with direct experience of doing that job in that sector believe are the national skills standards for that role.

Skills - Third Sector co-ordinates steering groups of practitioners to develop and write the National Occupational Standards that we are responsible for. We then publish and distribute them.

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