The Award in detail

This course is for anyone who works, or is interested in working, in a role that provides community brokerage to build the capacity of people who need support to live full lives in their community. This approach builds on people’s strengths and explores how resources such as Self-directed Support can help. You may have professional or personal experience of providing community brokerage. People who have support needs or their carers may be interested in doing this course and they are very welcome. The diversity of participants with everyone working together from different perspectives is a positive feature of the course. 

This is customised award that is certificated and externally verified by Qualifications Scotland (formerly Scottish Qualifications Authority). The course was designed by Community Brokerage Scotland to provide accredited professional development for people working in a brokerage role. It is worth 30 credits at SCQF level 7. 

The Community Brokerage award is a customised Qualifications Scotland (formerly Scottish Qualifications Authority) award worth 30 credits at SCQF level 7. It has been designed to cover all aspects of community brokerage in relation to self- directed support and is broken down into 5 units: 

• Describing self-directed support 

• Exploring models of brokerage 

• Implementing choice and control with self-directed support 

• Supporting people with their support planning 

• Community development and brokerage 

As well as the opportunity to gain a qualification, participants have told us they value learning with and from people with a range of experiences from right across Scotland. They find the course helps them to reflect on their experiences and build confidence in their role. For some people, the course is also a springboard to further learning. 

The course is a combination of group sessions, run online and independent learning. You will get lots of opportunities at these to share practice and learn from the experiences of others on the course. You will also have the opportunity to learn independently in your own time. You will apply the learning to your own practice and complete an assignment. There is an optional online tutorial to get help from your tutor with the assignment. 

Before the start of each unit, you will be provided with a reading list. You will then attend four half-day sessions online per unit. Following this, you will be able to access learning materials online through the virtual learning portal. We’ll run an online tutorial to provide extra support to prepare for the assessment. Although most of the courses will be online, we will try to bring people together at the start of the course for an induction and a chance to get to know each other. 

Each unit contains a number of assessment activities. These include written assignments, case studies, research projects, and some practical activities that will take place as part of the learning days. The written assignments have a word count of about 1,800 words per unit. After you have submitted the assignments for each unit, you will receive feedback from your tutor. If you haven’t fully met the criteria needed to achieve an assignment, you will receive support and have a chance to re-submit it. 

All prospective candidates will be invited for an interview before being offered a place on the course. This will be a chance to talk through any support needs you may have and help us to put a plan in place to support both your learning and assessment. We will review the plan with you as the course progresses. The tutors will also be available throughout the course to offer support online. You can also expect peer support as the group will learn together and support each other. 

We may be able to provide support to help remove barriers to accessing this course. This could contribute to paying for a personal assistant, childcare, and learning support etc. 

The course lasts for nine months. Learning days and assessments will take place at regular intervals throughout this period. It is expected that you will commit to an average of eight to ten hours of learning per week in 5-week blocks for each unit. There is a 3 or 4 week break between units for marking and catch up. About three-quarters of your time will be spent on independent study. If you have any concerns about meeting deadlines, your tutor will be able to discuss options with you. 

You will be asked to complete a short application form including a personal statement about why you want to participate in the award. Applicants will then be selected to attend an interview before successful applicants are offered a place on the course. We will expect you to have some paid, voluntary, and/or personal experience of the social care sector/ self-directed support. 

The course costs £1,950. This includes certification. 

The course is eligible for a part-time fee grant with SAAS which can contribute up to £301 towards the fees. Most participants are funded by their employer.  

We will consider providing a level of financial subsidy to those who: 

• Have explored all other sources of funding (e.g. SAAS, employer funding) 

AND one or more of the following applies:  

• You are working in a brokerage or broker related role 

• You have previously applied but withdrew due to a lack of funding 

• You are employed by an Independent Support Organisation or Disabled People’s Organisation 

• You are working in a geographical area with limited independent support 

• You are brokering for a family member, friend, or someone you know personally 

If a subsidy would help you to access the course, please tell us more about your circumstances on the application form. 

We understand that there might be barriers that get in the way of your learning and have a support fund to help with things like dyslexia support or personal assistant costs. We’ll discuss options with you when you apply for the course and do our best to tailor your learning and assessment to meet your needs. Each participant is also allocated a personal tutor that is there to provide pastoral support throughout the course. 

You will require access to the internet. All the course’s resources will be made available online. If you don’t currently have internet access, we can discuss other options for accessing the resources. 

Applicants complete a short application form and provide a personal statement about why they want to participate in the award. Applicants will then be selected to attend an interview after which successful applicants are offered a place on the course.