First count to five: some principles for the reform of vocational qualifications in England

an article by David Raffe (University of Edinburgh, UK) published in Journal of Education and Work Volume 28 Number 2 (March 2015)

Abstract

Vocational qualifications in England are undergoing another round of reform.

This paper starts by reviewing the alleged weaknesses of English vocational qualifications, but argues that these do not necessarily establish a case for radical reform. The issue is not so much whether the system needs to be changed as the nature of the change that is needed.

The paper argues for a more deliberative and incremental approach and proposes five principles upon which this should be based.

These are the following:

• that the process of change is as important as the content of change;
• that institutions matter;
• that the purposes of reform need to be clear, consistent and realistic;
• that reforms should help to create a more unified qualifications system; and
• that the interests of the UK’s other home countries should be considered.

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On the functions of a system of vocational qualifications

an article by Gerard Lum published in Journal of Education and Work Volume 28 Number 2 (March 2015)

Abstract

While acknowledging that a system of vocational qualifications might be perceived as having any number of possible purposes, this paper identifies three primary functions that any vocational qualification must fulfil by dint of being a vocational qualification.

It is argued that current arrangements are unable to fulfil these essential functions due to certain intrinsic and irremediable conceptual difficulties with the National and Scottish Vocational Qualification (N/SVQ) system. The practical implications of this are illustrated through an account of little documented events in the 1990s when many of the UK’s major companies found it necessary to abandon the UK’s system of N/SVQs in favour of an alternative system precisely because of concerns that the N/SVQ did not fulfil the functions required of a vocational qualification.

Of particular significance is an apparent inconsistency between the N/SVQ system and health and safety law: the so-called ‘competence’ assessment procedures of the N/SVQ being seen to be methodological at odds with the legal requirements for competence.

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The diploma qualification in England: an avoidable failure?

an article by Tina Isaacs (Institute of Education, Department of Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment, London, UK) published in Journal of Vocational Education & Training Volume 65 Issue 2 (June 2013)

Abstract

In 2005, the UK government introduced new vocationally-related diploma qualifications.

Two-year programmes were examined in the summers of 2010 and 2011; initial government hopes for candidate numbers proved largely ephemeral and results were disappointing.

This article explores what happened to the diploma’s lofty ambitions using the summer of 2010 and 2011 results and a 2006 government policy analysis that went largely unheeded, in order to draw out lessons from this centrally developed programme.

Critical insights from earlier vocationally related, centrally mandated qualifications such as General National Vocational Qualifications were generally ignored in policy-makers’ misguided attempts to create something ‘new’. The analysis centres on the neglected aspects of the qualification’s complex structure, hurdles-based assessment model and insistence that candidates had to pass Functional Skills qualifications, all of which were major contributors to its demise in the autumn of 2011.

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The Purposes and Validity of Vocational Qualifications

a SKOPE Research Paper (No. 105 November 2011) by Cathy Stasz (RAND Corporation)

Abstract

UK policy makers continue to focus on increasing skills as a means to economic and social prosperity and social mobility.

Qualifications – the certificates and diplomas awarded following education, training or learning – stand as a proxy for skill and many policies aim to raise levels of qualifications held. Policy makers have focused much attention on vocational qualifications and history is replete with efforts to reform the vocational education and training (VET) system. Many studies have identified both strengths and weaknesses in the current system, most recently the Wolf Review (2011).

This paper does not attempt to cover old ground, but to look at more basic questions:

• What are the purposes of vocational qualifications?
• Are they fit for those purposes?

While the first question has been addressed in policy and scholarly circles, less attention has been paid to the second question. This paper draws on literature related to the validity of assessment, because an award of a vocational qualification rests on a candidate’s successful performance on particular types of assessment tasks. It examines conceptions of validity and their implications for the interpretation of assessment results. The review shows that judging the validity of vocational qualifications is much more complicated than the architects of National Vocational Qualifications envisioned. The purposes of vocational qualifications have expanded and also vary for different stakeholders. The paper argues that the extent to which vocational qualifications support valid inferences for different purposes remains largely unexplored.

Full text (PDF 30pp)

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