Information Note in Relation to the Granting of Exemptions
At the moment a significant amount of learners are eligible for exemptions for modules completed prior to the instigation of the Common Awards System. This eligibility will change on the 12th of December 2015.
What is an exemption?
An exemption is awarded where a learner has already completed a module prior to CAS awards and QQI deem that the qualification is still valid and so learners are not required to complete it again. For example if a learner has already completed care skills, they do not need to complete the CAS version of the care skills module.
An exemption may also be awarded where the learner has completed courses at a level higher than the current proposed study. For example, if a learner has a level 7/8 degree they can automatically apply for an exemption in communications at level 5 as the training already undertaken has been at a higher level.
How to Claim an Exemption
If a learner has modules completed which they need to claim an exemption for, a copy of their certificate must be submitted to the office and then the administrative staff will process the exemption on the QQI website when the learner is due to achieve a major award and only at this time. There will be no certificate issued for the exemption.
If the learner has completed CAS modules with another training centre, they do not need to claim an exemption for them.
- A CAS module is one whose code starts with 5N or 6N or 5M or 6M
- A non CAS module will start with a letter e.g. D20165
Deadline 12th December 2015
If learners have not advised us of their request for exemption or if their information has been deemed invalid, the exemption cannot be processed and so the learners will be required to repeat that module.
After the deadline, only learning which has been undertaken in the previous five years will be considered eligible for the claiming of an exemption. If the training took place more than five years previously, the module will have to be repeated.
Please also note that in order to be eligible for a major award, learners must complete a minimum of one CAS module.