Generic (Foundation) competencies are skills and knowledge that are shared across different industries and trades and are relevant to most people in the workplace. They are complementary to the industry-specific competencies which specify specialized skills and knowledge specific to an industry or profession.

The Specification of Generic (Foundation) Competencies (SGC) covers four strands of foundation skills, namely, English, Chinese, Numeracy and Information Technology. The SGC sets out the foundation competencies from QF Level 1 to QF Level 4.

For each strand, the SGC comprises three parts: a Function Map which gives an overview of the basic functional areas of the strand; a Summary Table of Generic Competencies which lists all competencies at each level; and the Units of Competency (UoC) section which provides full details of each competency unit in terms of performance criteria, range of application, assessment guidelines, etc.

It is important to note that these competencies are developed in vocational context and the focus is on meeting workplace requirements rather than addressing the general education needs of learners.

The SGC may be used by training providers to design training courses. Course designers are free to select and adapt competencies in the SGC according to the needs of their target population. However, the use of the SGC in the context of the SCS-based courses under the QF must comply with the Qualifications Guidelines issued by the Education Bureau.

Four strands of foundation skills	Download
Chinese	（Chinese Version ONLY）
English
Numeracy
Information Technology

Note:

    1. The 4 strands of SGC have been moderated by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ) to ensure consistency of QF level across all the UoCs involved.

    2. The contents of the SGC will be updated as and when necessary.

Copyright:

    All the Specification of Generic (Foundation) Competencies ("SGC") and other related materials contained in this website are protected by copyright, which is owned by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

    Permission is granted for users to download the SGC to store them in local computers, provided that this is solely for personal or non-commercial internal use, and provided further that this copyright notice is downloaded at the same time.

    Save the above permitted use, any other use (including without limitation any reproduction, adaptation, distribution, dissemination or making available to the public) of the SGC is strictly prohibited.