National Occupational Standards (NOS) are statements of the standards of performance individuals must achieve when carrying out functions in the workplace, together with specifications of the underpinning knowledge and understanding.

NOS, as nationally recognised standards, can be used in a number of ways. The most common ones are to: 

• inform the content of vocational and professional qualifications
• inform the content of training programmes
• form the basis of company/organisation competency frameworks 
• form the basis of a range of vocational qualifications 
• inform licences to practice with industries
• raise skills levels and improve business productivity
• form the basis of all types of human resource management and development including: ·
• workforce planning
• performance appraisal and development systems
• job descriptions
• mapping job vacancies and skills shortages/gaps
• workplace coaching
• reflective practice and continuing professional development ​

They are presented in the form of individual NOS in a common, consistent format which we call the “NOS Template”

Each NOS describes a key part of someone’s job. All NOS consist of a title, an overview, performance criteria and knowledge and understanding. And some NOS will also detail further information such as behaviours underpinning effective performance.

Example NOS

A collection of NOS are referred to as a ‘suite’ which represents a particular job role or occupation and there will typically be a dozen or more NOS in each suite. ​

Sector Skills Councils (SSC) are responsible for maintaining and developing the National Occupational Standards for the industries and sectors they cover.

NOS are industry-led
National Occupational Standards (NOS) are developed by employers and other stakeholders to describe the competences required in an occupational area. The SSC or other standards setting organisation is responsible for working with employers and other stakeholders to develop, maintain and help implement NOS.

A key part of the process is employer and stakeholder engagement across the 4 UK nations and SSCs are required to carry out appropriate consultation in each of the 4 nations.

A typical NOS development process

SSCs will work with employers to use organisations’ role profiles (job descriptions) and the experience of industry practitioners to develop Functional and Occupational Maps.

Functional Maps - are developed to describe the broad work activities that take place across the sector. It describes the work activities in general terms to build up a picture of the type of work (functions) that are carried out by an individual member of staff.

Occupational maps – are developed to chart the overall area of the NOS project.They identify all the accepted broad job roles at all levels within a sector.

This step-by-step interactive guide (opens in a new window) provides an introduction and background to the principles of Functional and Occupational analysis.

Draft NOS are also presented for wider industry consultation. As NOS need to apply to both SMEs and large organisations it is essential that many industry practitioners feedback into their development.

To learn more about the background to NOS development view this step-by-step interactive guide (opens in a new window)

Once developed NOS are reviewed
Sector Skills Councils are responsible for ensuring that the NOS are up to date and reflect changes in legislation and industry practices. This will mean that NOS will be reviewed as appropriate to the sector. Full reviews are typically carried out every two/three years, with small changes being made as appropriate prior to this.

For more information in relation to the development of NOS in your industry please refer to the relevant SSC.

National Occupational Standards are not mandatory.  However, they are nationally recognised standards developed by employers, and are an important benchmark of best practice that can be used by employers to ensure that they are meeting the standards set by their industry.

One of the main advantages of NOS, as frequently commented on by organisations becoming aware of them and using them, is that they avoid a need to ‘reinvent the wheel’. And importantly in the current economic climate, they can save both time and money.