Qualifications - England

To help the industry to remain competitive, Improve develops qualifications with employers in the industry.This allows us to ensure they are fit for purpose and fulfil the exact needs of food and drink businesses. 

There are two innovative and flexible families of qualifications available at different levels, making it possible for everyone from new entrants to experienced managers to find a qualification that will be right for them.

Improve Proficiency Qualifications (IPQs) - Confirm competence of staff in the workplace.

Improve Vocational Qualifications (IVQs) - Allow learners to develop skills and knowledge in a learning environment. 

In this section, you can learn more about the range of food and drink Qualifications on offer, as well as contribute to their development by taking part in consultation.

A number of IPQs and IVQs are available through the National Skills Academy's Network of training providers. To see whats on offer visit the NSA food and drinks site.

Foundation Degrees

Foundation degrees are vocationally focused Higher Education Qualifications.

Improve and sector employers have developed a Foundation Degree framework specifying the skills and knowledge which colleges use as the starting point to develop the range of Foundation Degrees available for the sector.

Framework Document

Foundation Degrees may be generalist covering the whole manufacturing process, or more specialists concentrating on areas such as Dairy Technology or Supply Chain Logistics.

Foundation Degrees (FD) are awarded by universities, but are usually delivered by Further Education colleges.

Foundation Degrees are valuable qualifications in their own right. They also offer graduates a range of career progression opportunities, or the option to transfer on to the second or third year of an Honours Degree programme.

You can find out more about Foundation Degrees and the range of courses available by visiting the Foundation Degree Forward website and the University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) website.