Government proposals to reform vocational qualifications for 16 - 19 year-olds
Nursery World
Thursday, May 16, 2013
The Government is consulting on proposals to establish rigorous standards for Level 3 vocational qualifications taken by 16 to 19 year-olds in schools and colleges from September 2014, so that only high value qualifications count in performance tables.
Views are being sought on proposals to:
- Establish a process and set of characteristics by which vocational qualifications could be judged for inclusion in 16 to 19 performance tables.
- Introduce two separate categories of vocational qualification - 'applied general' and 'occupational' in addition to academic qualifications.
- Only include applied general and occupational qualifications that meet pre-defined standards in future performance tables.
The consultation also seeks views on whether the Government should fund learners who are over 19 to take vocational qualifications that meet the new characteristics but do not conform to the Qualifications and Credit Framework. The reforms will not prevent other qualifications being offered where these are best suited to individuals' interests and abilities.
The Government will publish a list of high value 16 to 19 vocational qualifications in autumn 2013. This list will be updated on an annual basis, as the list for 14- to 16-year-olds has been since 2011.
