Vocational qualifications AN EMPLOYER’S PERSPECTIVE


A 2016 survey revealed that nearly half of businesses placed equal value on job applicants’ academic and vocational qualifications. We take a closer look at the growing popularity of vocational qualifications in the UK and the way in which employers are welcoming them.


O


ver the past few years, the number of vocational qualifications available in the UK has increased dramatically. UCAS, the UK’s


Universities and


Colleges Admissions Service, has witnessed annual increases of over 4,000 students entering higher education and holding a BTEC qualification in recent years.


The increases have largely been driven by businesses’ concerns about a lack of skills in the workplace. In 2015, the government announced its intention to increase the quality and quantity of apprenticeships in England, to reach three million starts by 2020.


Recent reviews of the UK’s vocational education and training (VET) system have placed vocational qualifications in the spotlight. Former Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove, commenting on the Wolf Review in 2011, said that that “our international competitors boast more robust manufacturing industries” and “our technical education remains weaker than most other developed nations”. Doug Richard, author of the 2012 Richard Review, found that “no matter who I speak with, when I mention apprenticeships, people react warmly. The warmth crosses ages and party lines, regions of the country and backgrounds, ethnicity and gender”.


ROUTE TO UNIVERSITY According to a 2016 CBI/Pearson education and skills


survey, employers see academic and vocational qualifications as having equal stature. It is no coincidence, says the survey, that BTEC combined with A Level is now the fastest-growing route into university.


The survey shows evidence that, when recruiting school and college leavers, 45 per cent of businesses value academic or vocational qualifications without a particular preference, while 27 per cent prefer recruits to hold a mix of academic and vocational qualifications.


Nick Boles, the Minister of State for Skills, says, “Bringing training for young people and adults in line with the needs of business and industry will drive up productivity, which has lagged behind in the country even as economic growth and employment have improved.


“Not giving young people the right opportunities to gain the skills, knowledge and behaviours needed for the world of work represents a waste not only of human capital but of enthusiasm, of potential, of the life chances that their parents and teachers have worked so hard to provide.”


BUILDING CAREERS


In September 2016, the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) welcomed 31 apprentices across five of its office in England, having launched the recruitment process in June. This is the first time the organisation has embarked on such a large-scale apprenticeship scheme. “We want to provide individuals with a genuine opportunity to improve their lives by offering them an alternative career path from the traditional university route,” says Matthew Coffey, Ofsted’s chief operating officer.


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