National Occupational Standards

Year of Publication: 
2012

NOTE: These national occupational standards have now been superceded by revised standards which were published in 2017. The new National Occupational Standards for Supported Employment are now available to download.

 

The standards cover the whole of the United Kingdom and were developed by LSIS, the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS). BASE was closely involved with their development. The National Occupational Standards (NOS) provide the statements of skills and knowledge needed by the supported employment workforce.

The people who provide support tend to have a variety of job titles such as job coaches, employment advisers, employment consultants and employment support officers. Jobcentre Plus staff, Disability Employment Advisors, Care Managers, schools and colleges are often a key referral route onto supported employment. Individuals can also self-refer. A person’s line manager and colleagues in the work place can also provide support; they are sometimes called ‘natural supports’.

There is no expectation that any individual job role would encompass all the performance requirements across every NOS within the suite; rather that specific jobs will utilise those NOS appropriate to their role. The NOS for Supported Employment do not equate directly to qualifications, but can be used to inform and underpin relevant competency-based qualifications for supported employment practitioners.

A Welsh language version is also available.