Step into Leadership
Standards & Qualifications
You may be undertaking a qualification in order to register with the SSSC or as part of your continuous professional development. These qualifications will be underpinned by standards that you are expected to meet.
Some qualifications will clearly relate to leadership and management. For example:
- Scottish Vocational Qualification SVQ (4) Care Services Leadership and Management at Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) level 10.
- BA Childhood Practice/PDA Childhood Practice Award at SCQF level 9.
Practice qualifications will also support you to develop skills essential to effective leadership, although the links to leadership may be less obvious the qualifications include:
- SVQ (3) Social Services and Healthcare at SCQF level 7.
- SVQ (3) Social Services (Children and Young People) at SCQF level 7.
- Degree in Social Work.
Use the resources in this pathway to help you to develop the leadership knowledge, skills and values elements of these qualifications.
Visit the SSSC’s website to find out about qualifications suitable for registration with the SSSC.
Using Step into Leadership to support your qualification
By developing your leadership capability through Step into Leadership, you will be able to gather evidence to help you meet the knowledge, skills, values and requirements of your qualification which relate to leadership. To help you do this, we have highlighted the leadership elements of a number of relevant standards.
National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Leadership and Management for Care Services
The benchmark standard for management in all services except Day Care of Children Services is the Leadership and Management for Care Services NOS.
Practice Qualifications
We have identified how the following standards and awards encourage the development of leadership knowledge, values, skills and abilities. Please follow the links below to find out more:
- Degree in Social Work This document illustrates some connections that you can make between your practice as a social work student and the six leadership capabilities promoted and developed in social services in Scotland.
- Practice Learning Qualification (Social Services) (PLQ(SS))
- Mental Health Officer Award
- Chief Social Work Officer Qualification
Standard for Childhood Practice
The benchmark standard for management in Day Care of Children Services is the Standard for Childhood Practice. We have developed guidance and supporting documents to show the links between this standard and the six leadership capabilities below. Click on a capability to filter the relevant standards.
National Occupational Standards for Social Services (Children and Young People)
The National Occupational Standards in Social Services (Children and Young People) support the development of leadership skills. These standards have been mapped to the six leadership capabilities and guidance developed to describe how this mapping can be used to inform leadership development and to support the achievement of qualifications. Within the guidance examples from practice show how the mapping can be used. There are also evidence tools for managers and frontline workers and ready reckoners for managers and frontline workers to support your practice.
Below are the four core SCQF level 6 units.
Below are the four core SCQF level 7 below.
Below are the four core SCQF level 9 units.
National Occupational Standards for Social Services and Healthcare
The National Occupational Standards in Social Services and Healthcare support the development of leadership skills. These standards have been mapped to the six leadership capabilities and guidance developed to describe how this mapping can be used to inform leadership development and to support the achievement of qualifications. Within the guidance examples from practice show how the mapping can be used. There are also evidence tools for managers and frontline workers and ready reckoners for managers and frontline workers to support your practice.
Below are the four core SCQF level 6 units.
Below are the four core SCQF level 7 units.
Below are the four core SCQF level 9 units.
The National Occupational Standards for Childhood Practice, Health and Social Care and Children and Young People are now available on the desktop or tablet version of this website, the mobile version of the standards will be updated in the near future.
Find out more
- NOS Navigator SSSC tool to help you find your way around the NOS for the social service sector in Scotland.
Click on a leadership capability to access resources
Plan Your Pathway
Everyone's leadership learning is different. We've put together a selection of tools to help you assess where you are now and what you want to achieve on your leadership journey.
Codes of Practice
These set a clear benchmark in standards for professional skills, honesty and integrity. Whilst they do not mention leadership specifically, many of the Codes relate to aspects of leadership capability.
