National Occupational Standards (aka NOS) are a set of standards that can be applied to all job roles across the whole of the UK. They help define what a job role is by detailing the functions of that role which in turn shows what skills an individual will need in order to perform well in their job role.
There are lots of different organisations across the UK which work towards creating and maintaining these standards for all the different industries. These organisations are called Sector Skills Councils and we've had the opportunity to work with quite a few of them now. The encompassing body for all of this is the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.
NOS are used in education to define what a qualification/certificate consists of and what the student needs to show competence in before being awarded with the achievement. You will often find the Sector Skills Councils logo's on college certificates as an endorsement for the award because SSC's are responsible for ensuring the qualification provides the correct skills for its level and target industry.
Once an individual is in a working job role NOS are used to help maintain performance, career progression and training needs. Because NOS define what qualifications are and what job roles require then there is a direct map between the skills required for a job role and which qualifications will provide those skills. This is the basic principle from which many different applications are formed.
We have become a leading company in this area and provided web-based solutions to many SSC's, all focused on improving business performance and skills throughout the UK.