Professional accreditation and national vocational qualifications: An exchange of experience

Abstract

The Professional Accreditation of Conservator-Restorers (PACR) is a practice-based accreditation scheme, which draws on some of the principles established in the United Kingdom’s framework of occupational standards and National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs). The emergent success of PACR shows that these principles can be adapted into a professional context and gain credibility within the profession and among its client constituency. PACR also offers experience that might be transferred back into NVQs. The PACR standards are more focused and concise than most occupational standards; they reflect a more holistic view of competence and professionalism than do many occupational standards; and the assessment process aims to examine practice in an integrated, focused and efficient manner. The success of PACR in an area where NVQs have seen little uptake also begs the question of whether it is always appropriate to package competence-based qualifications as NVQs, particularly at the higher levels. © 2001 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.