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Background Information

Background

First validated in 1998, the two-year, part-time course was developed jointly by SLI and the University of Central Lancashire's Department of Education and Social Science to meet the growing need for a higher education course leading to a professional qualification in BSL/English Interpreting.  To date, thirteen SLI courses have been completed and a 14th is due to finish in July 2012 . More than 250 students have now gained access to the Register of Qualified Interpreters through the UCLan/SLI postgraduate route.

Why develop a one-year version?

In January 2001, the QCA (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority) recommended that the language units at Level 4 should be completed before a student embarks on an interpreting course.  Somewhat earlier, as a result of its 1999 consultation exercise amongst RTIs and RQIs, the CACDP reached the same conclusion and decided to amend its registration requirements for RTIs.  Under this new policy, to maintain their status, RTIs needed to achieve the Level 4 NVQ BSL units by April 2002.  In response to these changes, in February 2001, SLI began its Level 4 Language Units assessment programme.

In recognition that growing number of RTIs will already have achieved Level 4 BSL, SLI (with the approval of UCLan) launched a one year version of the postgraduate diploma course in September 2001.  Applications were accepted from those who had already achieved the NVQ Level 4 language units.

The Level 4 BSL award satisfies all of the outcomes of the DF4001 module, 'Developing BSL Competence'.  Not having to study this module reduces the postgraduate diploma from six modules to five.  (The BSL module accounts for three of the twelve weekends required).  Of the nine weekends left, one (DF4011) is designated as a portfolio building weekend and, to reduce the timescale still further, this weekend has been replaced by optional one-day, evidence collection workshops.  The result is a course comprising eight weekends.  As each university semester spans approximately 4 months, it is reasonable to programme four weekends of teaching into each semester, hence the one-year course.