Retail is the latest sector to publish its National Occupational Standards.

Sector skills council Skillsmart Retail said the revised standards have been approved in all four UK nations and it is expected that National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) and Scottish Vocational Qualification (SVQ) units will be developed from the retail NOS by the end of January 2006.

Angela Roberts, Standards Manager at Skillsmart Retail, said the standards were "blueprints" to guide the standard of training courses and qualifications, describing what an individual needs to do, know and understand to carry their job.

"The retail NOS provide the standard of competence for the sector and underpin its qualifications. Employers can use them to design, deliver and evaluate training and identify individual development needs," she added.

The retail NOS form part of the newly launched online directory of UK National Occupational Standards available at www.ukstandards.org.

Users can search the directory by keyword, by the SSC/standards setting body responsible for the standards, by the appropriate sector or industry, or by the name of the suite of standards.