Cambridge OCR · RQF Level 5
OCR Level 5 Diploma for the Learning, Development and Support Services Workforce (QCF)
You don’t just earn this. You learn to use it, one-to-one, on your own real work.
- LevelRQF Level 5
- Total credits65
- Guided learning260 hours
- Units in this qualification46
Awarded by Cambridge OCR · on the Ofqual register
Start here
See how this course maps onto your role
Ten quick questions, one per Future Fluency, asked against this qualification rather than a generic one.
About 5 minutes · No card · Nothing to commit to
What you’ll learn
What each unit actually teaches you to do
These are the units Cambridge OCR registers against this qualification. It is a catalogue, not a syllabus. Which of them you take depends on the combination the qualification requires, and that is set by the awarding body rather than by us. Every unit here is regulated, and every one you earn is yours to keep.
Acting as an advocateReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the role of advocacy in supporting children and young people
- Establish relationships with those involved in the advocacy process
- Prepare for the advocacy process
- Provide advocacy services
Advanced professional practice in learning, development and support servicesReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the key approaches to the delivery of outcome based services for children and young people
- Understand the legal and policy framework for the delivery of outcome based children and young people’s services
- Promote personal safety in the workplace
- Understand how professional practice promotes and protects children and young people’s rights
Building relationships with children, young people and their familiesReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand theoretical approaches to building effective professional relationships with children and young people and their families
- Understand the legislative and policy framework for building relationships with children and young people
- Understand professional relationships with children and young people
- Understand the ethics of professional relationships with children and young people
- Develop and promote professional relationships that value and respect children and young people
- Build effective professional relationships with parents, carers and others
Champion equality, diversity and inclusionReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand diversity, equality and inclusion in own area of responsibility
- Champion diversity, equality and inclusion
- Understand how to develop systems and processes that promote diversity, equality and inclusion
- Manage the risks presented when balancing individual rights and professional duty of care
Communicating and engaging with vulnerable young people requiring legal adviceReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the importance of communicating and engaging with vulnerable young people who require legal advice
- Support vulnerable young people to express their concerns relating to their legal rights
- Support vulnerable young people to find solutions to their concerns about their legal rights
Develop and implement policies and procedures to support the safeguarding of children and young peopleReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the impact of current legislation that underpins the safeguarding of children and young people
- Support the review of policies and procedures for safeguarding children and young people
- Implement policies and procedures for safeguarding children and young people
- Lead practice in supporting children and young people’s wellbeing and resilience
Develop procedures and practice to respond to concerns and complaintsReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the regulatory requirements, codes of practice and relevant guidance for managing concerns and complaints
- Develop procedures to address concerns and complaints
- Lead the implementation of procedures and practice for addressing concerns and complaints
- Review the procedures and practices for addressing concerns and complaints
Develop support for young people with mental health problemsReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the context of supporting young people with mental health problems
- Assess issues affecting young people with mental health problems
- Support young people with mental health problems
- Develop the information or support available to young people with mental health problems
- Develop information or support for those supporting young people with mental health problems
- Review the application of statutory and legal frameworks in relation to young people with mental health problems
Developing and supporting learning mentor networksReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the role of learning mentor provision within national and regional educational strategies
- Co-ordinate learning mentor networks across different educational providers
- Plan to improve the effectiveness of learning mentor networks
Developing strategies for improving attendance at schoolReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand factors that influence levels of attendance and current strategies for improvement
- Understand key approaches to behaviour and full attendance
- Understand how policies and practices can impact on attendance
- Support learning providers to improve attendance
- Support children young people and their families to improve attendance
Employment of children and young peopleReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand legislation and regulation relating to the employment of children and young people
- Provide information advice and guidance on the employment of children and young people
- Issue licences for the employment of children and young people
Engaging parents in supporting children and young people’s learningReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the role of parents in children and young people’s learning
- Understand the services and interventions available to support parents
- Work with parents to promote school engagement
Implementing statutory action in relation to attendance at schoolReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the legislation and regulations surrounding the attendance at school of children and young people
- Understand the effects of statutory action in relation to education on children and young people, their families and schools
- Prepare for taking statutory action in relation to education
- Initiate and follow up statutory action
Integrating and promoting careers education and guidance into the curriculumReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the theory and practice of careers education and guidance and its importance in the curriculum
- Plan to integrate careers education and guidance into the curriculum
- Promote the integration and provision of careers education and guidance within the curriculum
- Evaluate the provision of careers education and guidance within the curriculum
Lead and manage a team within a health and social care or children and young people’s settingReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the features of effective team performance within a health and social care or children and young people’s setting
- Support a positive culture within the team for a health and social care or children and young people’s setting
- Support a shared vision within the team for a health and social care or children and young people’s setting
- Develop a plan with team members to meet agreed objectives for a health and social care or children and young people’s setting
- Support individual team members to work towards agreed objectives in a health and
Lead the management of transitionsReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the impact of change and transitions on the well being of individuals
- Lead and manage provision that supports workers to manage transitions and significant life events
Manage physical resourcesReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the importance of sustainability when using physical resources.
- Identify resource requirements for own area of responsibility.
- Obtain required resources for own area of responsibility.
- Monitor and review the quality and usage of resources in own area of responsibility.
Managing a personal case load as an adviser for children and young peopleReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the importance of managing personal case load
- Manage personal case load
- Understand the consequences of mis-managing a personal case load
Managing the exclusion and reintegration of children and young peopleReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the factors involved in excluding children and young people from school
- Understand the strategies for managing exclusion and reintegration of children and young people
- Support excluded children and young people
- Manage the reintegration process
Mentoring children and young people in a learning environmentReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the issues and needs that can result in barriers to learning
- Understand how mentoring supports children and young people to achieve their potential by overcoming barriers to learning
- Understand how an integrated theoretical approach promotes successful mentoring relationships with children and young people
- Understand why it is important to support children and young people through transitions in their lives
- Develop mentoring relationships with children and young people
One to one work with children and young peopleReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the different approaches to one to one interactions with children and young people
- Understand the nature of successful one to one interactions with children and young people
- Initiate and sustain a one to one interaction with children and young people
- Bring one to one interactions to a positive conclusion
Plan change in own area of responsibilityReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand how to plan change.
- Develop plans for change in own area of responsibility.
- Develop systems for monitoring and assessing progress.
- Evaluate barriers and determine ways to overcome resistance to planned change.
- Develop a communication strategy to facilitate the process for change.
Promote professional developmentReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand principles of professional development
- Prioritise goals and targets for own professional development
- Prepare a professional development plan
- Improve performance through reflective practice
Promoting personal and social development through child and young person centred learning opportunitiesReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand key theories of learning and their relationship to children and young person centred learning
- Understand the impact of teaching and learning styles in the development of person centred learning opportunities for children and young people
- Understand how person centred learning opportunities promote the personal and social development of children and young people
- Understand the influence of national, local and school policies on the provision of person centred learning opportunities for children and young people
- Develop person centred learning opportunities that support
Provide on-going support to clientsReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the need for and types of on-going support available for clients
- Agree the need for and provide on-going support for clients
Providing legal advice to young peopleReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand legislation, case law and guidance relating to the legal rights and responsibilities of young people
- Establish concerns that young people have in relation to their rights and responsibilities under the law
- Provide appropriate advice and guidance to young people on their rights and responsibilities under the law
- Provide young people with access to specialist advice and support on their rights and responsibilities under the law
Source, evaluate and use Labour Market Intelligence with clientsReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the Labour Market Intelligence required by clients
- Understand methods for using Labour Market Intelligence with clients
- Use Labour Market Intelligence with clients
- Evaluate the use of Labour Market Intelligence by clients
Support children and young people as they develop and learnReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand how developmental assessments are linked to outcome planning
- Understand how children and young people make positive life changes that contribute to the achievement of their potential
- Undertake developmental assessments and planning with children and young people
- Support children and young people to manage change and achieve positive outcomes
- Support children and young people to review and evaluate plans and achievements
Support children and young people to participate in the design and delivery of servicesReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand how children and young people can participate in service design and delivery
- Provide opportunities for children and young people to participate in designing and delivering services
- Monitor and evaluate participation of children and young people in designing and delivering services
Supporting children and young people to decide on outcomes and courses of actionReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand how children and young people make decisions
- Understand the legal and ethical issues relating to children and young people’s decision making
- Support the information needs of children and young people to enable decision making
- Support children and young people to make decisions about outcomes and courses of action
- Support children and young people to reviewdecisions and make changes
Supporting learning mentor provisionReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the role of learning mentors within educational establishments
- Support education providers to integrate learning mentor provision into their mainstream provision
- Co-ordinate learning mentor provision
- Review the performance of learning mentors
Supporting policies and procedures that are in the interests of children and young peopleReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand current policies, systems and procedures that impact on the lives of children and young people
- Challenge policies, systems and procedures that are not improving outcomes for children and young people
- Promote changes to policies and procedures that will improve outcomes for children and young people
Supporting the social and emotional aspects of learningReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the importance of children and young people’s social and emotional skills to their learning and development
- Understand strategies that support social and emotional learning and development
- Implement programmes that promote social and emotional learning and development
Supporting young people into employment, education and trainingReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the available options for young people’s employment education and training
- Identify opportunities that are appropriate for individual young people
- Support young people’s job seeking activities
Supporting young people to maintain health and well beingReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the issues and risks to health and well being encountered by young people
- Provide support to young people to maintain health and well being
- Manage health and relationship education programmes
Understand children and young person’s developmentReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the pattern of development that would normally be expected for children and young people from birth-19 yrs
- Understand the factors that impact on children and young people’s development
- Understand the benefits of early intervention to support the development of children and young people
- Understand the potential effects of transitions on children and young people’s development.
- Understand how assessing, monitoring and recording the development of children and young people informs the use of interventions
Understand how to manage a teamReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the attributes of effective team performance
- Support team development
- Promote shared purpose within a team
- Promote a ‘no-blame culture’ within a team
- Understand different styles of leadership and management
Understand motivational theory and practice in learning and development settingsReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand motivational concepts and theories in learning and development
- Understand the principles of motivational design in learning and development
- Understand how to apply motivational design to educational practice
Understand the principles of teaching and learningReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the key pedagogic models used in teaching
- Understand the main theories of learning
- Understand the impact of personal ethics and values
- Understand the importance of an organisation’s ethos and values on teaching and learning
Understanding theories of careers guidanceReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the impact of economic factors and government policy on careers guidance
- Understand the key theories of careers guidance
- Understand how to apply ethical principles and values to careers guidance
Use and develop systems that promote communicationReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Address the range of communication requirements in own role
- Improve communication systems and practices that support positive outcomes for individuals
- Improve communication systems to support partnership working
- Use systems for effective information management
Work in partnership in health and social care or children and young people’s settingsReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand partnershipworking
- Establish and maintain working relationships with colleagues
- Establish and maintain working relationships with other professionals
- Work in partnership with others
Working in courts and formal meetingsReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the legal frameworks, requirements and conventions of the courts and other formal meetings
- Prepare evidence and documentation for courts and formal meetings
- Operate in court and formal meetings
Working with challenging and disengaged children and young people to support learning and developmentReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand challenging behaviour and disengagement
- Support children and young people to understand the impact of their behaviour on their learning and development
- Promote positive behaviour change with children and young people
Working with disengaged families with complex and challenging needsReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the issues faced by families who are disengaged
- Address the needs of families who are disengaged
- Contribute to a multi-agency approach to interventions with disengaged families with complex and challenging needs
Working with groups of children and young people to support learning and developmentReal unit · Cambridge OCR
What you'll be able to do
- Understand the theories and principles of group facilitation and group dynamics
- Facilitate group work with children and young people
- Evaluate group work with children and young people to support learning and development
The honest bit
You’ve started things before
Most courses were built for a room full of people who aren’t you. A cohort moves on whether or not your week allowed it, and by the third week the thing you’re behind on becomes the reason you stop opening it.
There’s no cohort here, and no timetable to fall behind. Before anything starts, Zavmo asks when you’re sharpest and how long you can realistically sit down for, then builds the sessions around those answers. A bad fortnight changes your pace. It doesn’t put you behind.
And you only pay once you start learning. Searching and planning are free, and you can cancel any time — so the cost of finding out is an afternoon, not a year.
Your passport
Every credit is a stamp you keep
Level 5 credits are regulated. They don’t vanish when a subscription ends or a website closes. They travel to any employer, and Zavmo keeps the map of what you’ve earned and what’s next.
Each stamp is a real unit registered against this qualification.
Who’d teach you this
The Evidence Evaluator
Assessor
Helps you show what you can actually do, gathering the evidence that proves it as you learn.
Meet all twelve tutorsWhere this connects
Where these credits take you
A qualification is never a dead end here. See the jobs its credits open, the national occupational standards its units map to, and the future skills they quietly build.
- Advocate on behalf of children and young people
- Advocate with and on behalf of young people so that their interests are represented
- Assist young people to assess risk and make informed choices in the management of their health and well-being
- Build and maintain effective relationships with families to ensure a learner centred approach
- Build and maintain relationships with participants in family learning
- Contribute to the review of polling arrangements
- Develop and support learning mentor networks
- Develop procedures and recording systems for a Training and Competence Scheme
Where this can lead
Lead Transition Manager
Your journey here is about becoming a master of organisational change and operational excellence. Whether you choose to lead people or lead the most complex technical challenges, the opportunities for growth are significant and impactful.
See the whole journey →Showing 6 roles, drawn from 43 job records mapped to this qualification.
Skills it covers
What the job actually needs. These are the standards the units are built against, in the words employers and awarding bodies already use for the work itself.
How you’ll actually learn this
One-to-one, on your own real work
A qualification is usually something done to you: sit the class, sit the exam, hope it sticks. Here it’s the opposite. You learn it one-to-one with a companion, on your own real work, and you keep going until you can use it, not just recall it.
Applied to your work in any of these jobs
- Remember
- Understand
- Apply
- Analyse
- Evaluate
- Create
Built for OCR Level 5 Diploma for the Learning, Development and Support Services Workforce (QCF)
46 units in this credential, in the order it lists them, awarded by Cambridge OCR.
- Acting as an advocate
- Advanced professional practice in learning, development and support services
- Building relationships with children, young people and their families
- Champion equality, diversity and inclusion
- Communicating and engaging with vulnerable young people requiring legal advice
- Develop and implement policies and procedures to support the safeguarding of children and young people
and 40 more in the full unit list below.
One to one, not one to many
No two people run this the same way
A course is written once and handed to everyone. This is assembled around you, and keeps changing as it learns you. Five things it reads, and what each one changes.
- Your actual work Every unit is taught against a live piece of your own work, not a worked example from a textbook.
- What you already know The first conversation finds your starting point, so you skip what you can already do and spend the time on what you cannot.
- The conditions you learn under Not a learning-styles quiz. The evidence does not support those. The dimensions the research does back, read once and used to shape the plan.
- How far you got last time It picks up mid-thought. The tutor knows what you said, what you struggled with, and what it asked you to try.
- Which tutor suits the moment Twelve of them, each for a different kind of thinking. The one who walks you through a first idea is not the one who stress-tests it.
See how you learn, free. Eight questions, no sign-up. A directional taster; the diagnostic inside Zavmo goes deeper and keeps adapting.
Why it sticks
Most courses stop at remembering
There’s a well-known ladder of how deeply you learn something, called Bloom’s Taxonomy. Most courses get you up the first two rungs: you remember some facts, you pass a test, you forget it. Real skill lives at the top. Judging, deciding, creating. And this isn’t a generic ladder: every rung has a named Zavmo tutor who walks you up it.
- 6CreateThe Creative Catalyst
- 5EvaluateThe Evidence Evaluator
- 4AnalyseThe Analyst
- 3ApplyThe Coach
- 2UnderstandThe Connector
- 1RememberThe Builder
Where most courses leave you Where Zavmo takes you
The value
Why the companion is worth £70 a month
You’re not paying for the units. They’re regulated, and the same wherever you earn them. You’re paying for the one thing that decides whether you actually get there: a companion that makes them stick, on your real work.
That is one-to-one on this qualification, every day, on the work you already do, for £70 a month. Your first module is free, so you can see the teaching before you pay for any of it. Billed monthly, cancel any time and billing stops.
Earned on your own work, taught to the top.
Everything you just read, learned one-to-one on the job you already do. Your first module is free, so you can see the teaching before you pay for any of it.
Build my plan, freeNo card. See how this qualification maps onto your role and meet the tutors who’d teach it, free. The learning begins when you subscribe. It’s £70 a month, billed monthly. Cancel any time and billing stops.