1. If I buy a FEN Education Bundle, does this include the qualification?  No buying an education bundle does not include the qualification.
2. How can I show that I have attended a webinar or watched a session on catch-up? On completion of an evaluation following attendance at a webinar or watching on catch-up, you will receive a certification of attendance that will be sent to your email.
3. If I choose to do FEN’s Qualification, Do I have to use CPDme for the evidence?  No, but we do expect your portfolio of evidence to be presented to the Internal Quality Assurance Board electronically for them to be accredited.
4. Will I still need to complete my degree if I gain the Level 6 Diploma in Emergency Nursing? Both universities and awarding bodies use the CQFW (Credit and Qualifications Framework for Wales) and Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) crediting system. So, attaining 120 credits at level 6 indicates the same degree of difficulty and number of study hours as what would be attained in the university’s final year of an honour’s degree programme. You will notice in job descriptions it often stipulates degree or equivalent – this is that equivalent. This can be clearly seen in the fan diagram found in the CQFW learner Guide[1]. 
5. Isn’t a Diploma lower than a degree?  No, with the CQFW and other awarding bodies, the term ‘diploma’ denotes the size of the qualification rather than the level of difficulty, so a diploma means that a qualification of 37 credits or more has been achieved.
6. Is the cost of the qualification included in membership?  No, there is an additional cost for accrediting a unit or a qualification. Currently the cost of our Level 6 Diploma in Emergency Nursing is £1000 plus there is a registration fee. 
7. Is there a start date for any of the programmes?  the programmes are designed flexibly so you can start the programme at any time. 
8. If I want to complete the qualification, is it advisable to do one unit at a time? Although you can do this should you wish, doing it this way is not an effective or efficient way to complete a qualification. We would recommend that you work on evidence that meets the assessment criteria on more then one unit e.g. if you write a case review on an adult that has been involved in a major trauma RTC  then depending on the content the one case review could be used against assessment criteria for all four units that you choose for the qualification. 
9. If I start work on a unit or qualification, will I need to give it up if I want to move to another emergency care setting? No, as long as the new emergency care unit is able to offer you an assessor to assess your work then the unit/qualification can be signed off anywhere in Ireland or the UK – or potentially other countries (you would need to contact us to discuss the feasibility of assessment outside the UK and Ireland).
10. Are the FEN qualifications transferrable between departments and countries in Ireland and the UK? Yes, they should be as they have equivalence to the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) in the same way as university qualifications are recognised. They could also be recognised further afield as other countries outside of Europe have mapped their qualifications to the EQF e.g. UAE[2], Australia[3], New Zealand[4] and Hong Kong[5]
11. If I start a unit/qualification, what are the submission dates for accreditation? There are no established deadlines for when completed units/qualifications have to be submitted, but we would expect that a qualification is completed within around 2 to 3 years as the evidence needs to be current. 
12. Can you explain accreditation to me? When your assessor has signed off a unit as being complete, then they submit the unit to the FEN Internal Quality Assurance Board (IQAB). The IQAB meet three times a year: January, May and September to accredit units/qualifications. The units/qualifications will need to be submitted to IQAB at a minimum of ten weeks before the board sit. The role of the IQAB is to scrutinise the submitted units and ensure that the required standards have been met by the assessor. Once the submitted work has been approved by IQAB as meeting the standard required, then FEN will request award of credit for the learner. Following this, an external examiner for Agored Cymru may wish to inspect the unit/qualification as part of the quality assurance process. On successful completion of this process, the learner will be awarded the credit for the unit.
13. What happens if I fail a unit/qualification? In this type of qualification there is no failure. The assessor will continue to assess your work until you have sufficient evidence to successfully complete the unit.
14. What is the pass mark? In this type of education there is no pass mark, instead each of the Assessment Criteria within each unit has to be completed to the required standard.
15. If my assessor has submitted my unit for accreditation, will it automatically result in it being accredited? No, the purpose of the Internal Quality Assurance Board (IQAB) is to review the work of the assessor and to ensure consistency between assessors and that they are meeting the set standard. On occasion, it has been found that an assessor has not assessed your work to the level expected and so the work is returned with guidance notes for assessor on what needs to be developed further for successful completion. This may mean that your assessor is required to undertake further assessment of your work or practice. 
16.  I note that I have to complete case reviews, are these marked as pass or fail? No, these are reviewed, strengths and weaknesses are noted and the assessor may ask for sections of the case review to be further developed or an addendum added to the end of the case review to address any weaknesses.
17. Does my evidence have to be referenced? Yes, in short it does, any work that is submitted must be referenced to the source from which you obtained the evidence, or it must be completely original. In our assessment, each sentence is reviewed for originality and appropriate referencing. Plagiarism is not acceptable within the units or qualifications.
18. Does my evidence have to be up to date? Yes, it is an expectation of a registrant nurse that their work is evidence based and this is something that your assessor will be considering when reviewing your evidence.
19. Do I have to have a different piece of evidence for each learning outcome/ assessment criteria ? No, one piece of evidence can be used against multiple learning outcomes/assessment criteria and either completely or partially satisfy that learning outcome/assessment criteria. If completely satisfied, that learning outcome/assessment criteria can be signed off by the assessor as complete and at the necessary level.
20. Do I have to produce a reference list? Yes, however using apps such as Cite this for me[6] is acceptable.
21. Do I have to use a certain style of referencing? We would recommend using Harvard Style for most of the evidence, however using a number reference style or using a Footnote/Endnote would be acceptable for evidence such as annotated notes or spider diagrams.
22. How much evidence do I need to supply? It is the quality rather than quantity that is important. With careful planning then case reviews, annotated notes and case-based discussions can capture evidence against multiple Assessment Criteria thus reducing amount of evidence you will need. 
23. Will my assessor be given any support by FEN? Yes, we provide monthly webinars/meetings for assessors, which also facilitates networking. We allocate the assessor an assessor pod which is headed by an experienced Internal Quality Assurer who can provide support and direction as required. Assessors are invited to be a part of the internal quality assurance process for accrediting units/qualifications.
24. Can I complete the units if I don’t have an assessor? No, you will need an assessor from your workplace to undertake the practical assessment, to assess your evidence and submit the unit when fully completed for it to be accredited.
25. Can I have more than one assessor? Yes, it is an advantage to have more than one, as long as they can work together. You will need to have an identified assessor who undertakes the final sign off for your unit and is prepared to submit it for accreditation.
26. How much does the Level 6 qualification cost?  Currently the cost of our Level 6 Diploma in Emergency Nursing is £1000 plus there is a registration fee. 
27. Can I complete or stop at one unit or do I have to complete the full qualification? As you are awarded with credit per unit completed, you can stop after submitting the units you desire.
28. Do I have to complete Level 6 Qualification before I can proceed to Level 7? No, if you are already an experienced emergency nurse who feels that they already have the knowledge, skills and capabilities required in Level 6 then it would be appropriate to go straight to Level 7 programme. As the quality of the Clinical Programme Webinars then this programme is a part of both our Level 6 and Level 7 qualifications (Level 7 near completion)

updated 8/12/2023