June 2012

As the Eurozone economy continues to stumble on, with youth unemployment rates in some countries reaching 50% and bank bailouts becoming the norm, the need to focus on equipping young people with the skills they need to secure employment is becoming more important every day. As highlighted in the media, young people are finding it increasingly difficult to get a job because they’ve not had the opportunity to acquire the skills and experience needed.

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According to reports yesterday, Education Secretary Michael Gove is preparing to scrap GCSEs from Autumn 2014, in favour of ‘tougher’ O-level style exams in English, Maths and Science. Less academic pupils would sit a ‘more straightforward’ exam, like the old CSE. Mr Gove said action is needed to tackle ‘competitive dumbing down’ and restore rigour to the system, allowing England to keep pace with educational improvements in other countries.The ideas, which are going to be put out for consultation, would amount to the biggest change to the exams system for a generation if they were introduced. This is in addition to recent changes whereby many vocational qualifications will cease to hold GCSE equivalency from the end of the 2012-13 academic year, in line with Professor Wolf’s recommendations.It’s a time of much uncertainty for schools who are trying to digest the changes that emerged from the Wolf report as well as understand the implications of Gove’s newest proposals.According to Labour's education spokesman Kevin Brennan, Gove’s plans would take the exam system 'back to the 1950s,' dividing children into winners and losers at just 14. But we’d like to know what you think.Is the reform a backwards step, segregating the young people? Will the ‘more straightforward’ exams be seen as an inferior qualification for the less able? Surely, we want to avoid making a decision about a child’s capabilities too early in their career and risk demotivating them...Or alternatively, is the proposed 2 tier system a good step forward, allowing young people to focus on their individual skills and talents? Is the current exam system letting children down? After all, there’s no doubt that some young people will be more engaged by technical / vocational study with others better suited to the academic route…

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The 5th Annual VQ Day is taking place tomorrow (Wednesday 20 June 2012) celebrating the success of learners, colleges, training providers and employers achievements when it comes to vocational qualifications.Today there is much more innovation being brought to the area of vocational qualifications helping to prepare learners more for the work place and making sure they are work ready when they achieve their chosen qualification.Looking more broadly, we can see it being used to persuade young people that the vocational route can be a sensible and viable alternative to Higher Education.And by signposting a clear career progression through the vocational route, are we able to give learners the confidence they need, showing them that they can enjoy success? It’s all about high quality courses leading to proven employability and genuine opportunities. Isn’t it?!

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Welcome to the brand new NCFE blog! We’ll be providing you with up-to-date information on NCFE, our qualifications, news from the sector, changes to funding and much more. We’re also really looking forward to finding out what YOU think and sharing thoughts, information and opinions. You can sign up to the blog by entering your email into the 'Subscribe' box in the top right – this means you’ll be notified whenever there's a new post. If you choose to leave a comment on a post or another person's comment, it's up to you if you want to receive email notifications of any further comments thereafter.

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Blog Archives: June 2012

Richard Review of Apprenticeships – have your say

Gove’s GCSE plans – what do you think?

Raising awareness of Vocational Qualifications

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Lindsay Plumpton

David Grailey

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

Esme Winch

Michael Lemin

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