New report calls for stronger future for vocational qualifications
8 Nov 2013
A report published today calls for changes in the way the country’s vocational qualifications are designed, developed and delivered in order to help boost the relevance and return on investment of publicly-funded qualifications.
The Review of Adult Vocational Qualifications in England, commissioned by Matthew Hancock, the skills and enterprise minister, and written by Nigel Whitehead, Group Managing Director of BAE Systems and a Commissioner at the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, sets out seven recommendations for strengthening vocational qualifications for adults in the short and long term.
It calls for a system which provides the basis for growth for employers, enabling them to work with unions and in partnership with well-regulated awarding organisations and flexible training providers to design, develop and deliver qualifications which provide growth for employers and progression for learners.
Under the plans, the qualifications regulator, Ofqual, would require awarding organisations, such as City & Guilds and Pearson, to work with employers in the sector to design and develop qualifications. Awarding organisations, in turn, would require all training providers delivering their qualification to work with local employers to support curriculum design and implementation.
Employer-led collaborations, known as industrial partnerships, would have responsibility for setting occupational standards where industry needs them and they do not already exist. These occupational standards would be free from the current levels of prescription, allowing them to meet employers’ needs more closely. Importantly, the same standard would apply for all adult vocational qualifications as well as apprenticeships and Tech Levels.
The report also recommends that all awarding organisations and training providers should make information about the impact of their qualifications publicly available, enabling learners and employers to make informed choices about the qualification which is best for them. There should be a single point of access to the various qualifications databases, which should be simple to use and understand, even for those without a background in education or training. Finally, the report also notes that training providers should be encouraged to keep pace with new technology, with Ofqual, Ofsted and the Skills Funding Agency providing incentives for providers to do this where necessary.
The report’s author, Nigel Whitehead, Group Managing Director of BAE Systems and a Commissioner at the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, said:
“As a former apprentice myself, I know that acquiring skills can be the route to success. Sadly, at the moment, despite a huge amount of investment, this is not always the case.
“I believe that vocational qualifications need to be relevant, rigorous and recognised if they are to deliver the skills both learners and employers need for success. I believe the plans I have set out today can address these three issues, paving the way for qualifications which deliver strong and sustainable returns for learners, businesses and training providers.”
The review outcomes aim to:
• Allow employers to have a positive role in describing what skills are required to sustain and grow their sectors
• Allow training providers to help develop qualifications, designing parts of them to meet local needs if necessary
• Help awarding bodies to work alongside employers, creating qualifications which hold real value
Skills minister Matthew Hancock said:
“I am very grateful to Nigel Whitehead and his team for this thorough and wide-reaching report. Everyone involved with adult vocational qualifications should consider the implications it has. We are already using elements of his approach to streamline and simplify the publicly-funded adult vocational qualifications offer, and will use it to inform our work as we drive to make our skills system more rigorous and responsive to the needs of employers and learners.”
Rod Bristow, President of Pearson UK, commented:
“I welcome Nigel Whitehead’s vision for adult vocational qualifications in England. It is encouraging that the recommendations align with Pearson’s own strategy to ensure our vocational qualification offer is informed, co-created with and endorsed by industry.
“We look forward to working closely with UKCES, employers and other partners to consider the implementation of each recommendation in detail and ensure the proposals impact positively on the employer and the learner.”
