National Occupational Standards (NOS) describe the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to do a particular job to a nationally recognised level of competence. They form the basis of qualifications and training programmes required to work in social services in Scotland. NOS Navigator is a tool to help you find your way around the NOS for the social service sector in Scotland.

There are over 300 NOS units, and over 3000 pages of information. We've grouped the NOS by award and then by practice area to make it easier for you to find the standards you need. Just click on the suite of units you want to view (e.g. Social Services and Healthcare), click the award you are interested in (e.g. the SVQ at SCQF level 6) and select the practice area which is the closest fit to your work. You will then be able to see the units most applicable to you. Select “All units” to see all the units in the award.

We have included some stories from around the sector giving the views of people who have achieved their SVQ or who work with candidates to give a flavour of the benefits of the awards and the impact they can have on achieving better outcomes for individuals.

You can choose the level of detail you see on screen and choose how much information (if any) you print out - unit titles; whole units or practice areas.

This isn't intended to be prescriptive, nor are we suggesting this will provide all you need. It's intended to suggest a place to start.

We hope you find this tool useful.