Exam body seeks to rival CIH with new housing qualifications

However, Inside Housing understands that several other exam bodies plan to apply to Ofqual to launch their own housing syllabus over the next six months.

Level 4 qualifications are designed for people in, or aspiring to, a supervisory or management role in housing, while Level 5 qualifications are designed for anyone in a management role.

Innovate Awarding told Inside Housing it had worked with housing associations to develop its new qualifications to meet the requirements of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023.

Charlotte Bosworth, managing director of Innovate Awarding, said: “It was important for us to work with social housing associations from the outset of our development to ensure that our qualifications don’t just meet the regulatory requirements, but also clearly deliver against the behaviours, knowledge and skills that will allow the sector to meet professionalism requirements and demonstrate the true impact.

“Ensuring that the assessment isn’t too onerous whilst meeting both our and the social housing sector’s quality benchmarks was equally important, and why we believe that an evidence-based assessment complemented with a professional interview make our qualifications deliverable for the social housing sector,” she added.

Innovate Awarding was founded in 2009 and became a regulated awarding organisation in 2010. It is based in Bristol and teaches qualifications in areas such as childcare, sales, business management and customer service.

Sarah Dunkerley, director of professional development at the CIH, told Inside Housing it was “fantastic to see the rise in interest in housing qualifications”.

“As the professional body for housing, we’re committed to supporting the professionalism agenda. It is fantastic to see the rise in interest in housing qualifications as the wider educational sector embraces and acknowledges the role housing professionals play in providing essential services.

“Qualifications are an effective way of ensuring professionals have the required theoretical knowledge, skills and learning to perform at the highest level. But professionalism is more than a qualification; it’s about following a code of conduct and ethics, and displaying the right behaviours, attitudes and empathy,” she said.

Sector bodies have welcomed the government’s introduction of mandatory professional standards, but warned that they come at a “challenging time” for housing providers.

A new Competence and Conduct Standard will come into force in April 2025, requiring an estimated 25,000 housing managers to complete a Level 4 qualification in housing. Senior housing executives will need a foundation degree or Level 5 qualification.

Social landlords in England will have two years to ensure that senior staff members are qualified, or working towards a qualification, from April 2025. The CIH and National Housing Federation have called for a longer transition period to mandatory qualifications, of three and five years respectively.

Large registered providers are expected to spend a collective £21m on enrolling staff on courses, while councils could face a collective bill of £14m, according to the government.

Results from a consultation on the plans are expected to be published in December.