SAQA NQF Level Descriptors

Level descriptors, as the nomenclature suggests, provide a description of each of the eight levels on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). The purpose of such description is to assist a writer of standards or qualifications in designing a qualification by allocating a level to a unit standard or a qualification, and to formulate outcomes and criteria for assessment that could clearly indicate the level of knowledge of a learner required to successfully achieve the unit standard or qualification.

The NQF consist of three bands, namely General Education (level 1 – schooling up to grade 9 and ABET), Further Education and Training (levels 2 – 4: grade 10 – 12), and Higher Education (levels 5 – 8). After completion of level 1 of the NQF, a learner could achieve a GETC and after completion of level 4 of the NQF, an FETC.

In line with the level descriptors, qualifications and unit standards are registered at the specified level of the NQF with a number of credits allocated to it. This means that a learner could accumulate credits for successful completed unit standards towards a qualification making learning more flexible to meet learner needs.