Regulatory Exams and National Qualification Levels

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I always pity the poor people who enter this “industry of abbreviations”, and have to try and decipher what language it is that we speak. Hopefully the discussion below of an often asked question will aid understanding of the relationship between REs and NQFs.

Please advise the NQF level of the RE 5/RE1?

My colleague Paull Lawrence explains it as follows:

The regulatory examinations are competency assessments, and NOT qualifications. The level 1 regulatory examinations are a core set of examinations dealing in particular with legislation that is directly binding on a FSP, its Key Individuals and Representatives.

The NQF level refers to the National Qualification Framework. Each qualification is evaluated against categories of level descriptors to identify in which of the 10 levels of the National Qualification Framework it falls.

The regulatory examinations do not test all the categories applicable to a qualification, so it can not be seen to have any equivalence to any level of the National Qualification Framework.

The FAIS legislation is quite clear in separating qualifications from regulatory examinations.

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