Tripleback Business Systems Ltd are this week launching a website aimed mainly at NVQ providers to act as an information and resource centre.

They claim "NVQ-Online provides support to the NVQ community both nationally and internationally. Support is provided to individuals and organisations that are interested in all aspects of the National Vocational Qualifications."

At the heart of the site will be an NVQ Provider Directory, where users can locate appropriate support from providers and assessors. There will also be information at routes to NVQ qualifications, assessment information and career guides. There is no information regarding Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs).

At present, access to the information requires users to enter personal registration details. A key feature of the site is also the NVQ Club where much of the advisory information will be held and which will offer a discussion forum, portfolio download and other documents. Annual membership of the NVQ Club is priced at £35 plus VAT.

TrainningZONE says: The value of such a site is critically dependent on its success in persuading NVQ Providers to enter their details. There is no information currently displayed on the site indicating the number of providers or their coverage. Such services are useful, but will require very extensive marketing in order to create a viable database of providers. And providers will only enter their data if they know that candidates are visiting the site in large numbers. A subscription model for the service is interesting as its a model to which several other websites are turning to finance their activities; only time will tell. It's a useful idea - but will require considerable effort to make it take off. We'd be interested to know of other sites which members use for NVQ directory purposes. Please use the Comments feature below to stimulate debate on these issues.