Creativity and imagination are integral to the development and enrichment of young minds – shaping the way they look at the world and helping them to express themselves. Something that we are very passionate about here at NCFE.

For the past few months I’ve continued to keep you posted on our V Cert qualification development and in February we gave you an update on where we were at with the first stage of the pilot project with schools. Throughout March, April and May participating schools have continued to work with us to review the content of the new qualifications and where possible deliver a selection of sample units to their pupils. We really wanted to give schools the opportunity to explore what we’d developed to help ensure that the qualifications really do help to maintain creativity within the core curriculum and continue to engage pupils.

The pilot project has been an invaluable source of information for NCFE and the schools that have taken part (and hopefully the wider school community). Given the ranging pressures that schools are under, I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every school and staff member that’s been involved in reviewing these qualifications. Without your help it wouldn’t be possible for us to develop our qualifications and resources for schools.

So what feedback did we receive? Well, there was some really useful feedback during the project’s second phase. One key concern for the schools involved in the project is the differences in grading between the old and new generation of vocational qualifications. Previously many of the old style vocational qualifications did not require a formal grading structure. However, under the new system, in order to be deemed sufficiently rigorous and therefore achieve parity of performance points with GCSEs, V Certs, like all new vocational qualifications, must have an element of external assessment and grading if they are to carry Performance Points in the 2015 tables.

The good news is that with the provision of grading descriptors and the ability to apply assessment through project based learning, schools are not disadvantaged by this new approach. The consensus of the feedback from schools appears to support this also. What is important though is the recognised need for support for these qualifications. From the sample units reviewed, teachers have found that the style of project based learning is a style that learners find genuinely engaging.

Taking on feedback from the schools who’ve worked with us, we’re now developing a number of resources to assist schools with approaching grading for the qualifications in an objective way. These include a number of resources such as Sample Assessments and a Teacher Guide. We’re also working on some new interactive web resources which we hope will further enhance the engagement of these qualifications. All of these will of course be free and we expect them all to be ready by September and in time for approved schools to plan their delivery of the new V Cert qualifications.

The schools themselves have also expressed the value of the new vocational qualifications. Sarah Tinson, IUS Manager at Pent Valley Technology College, has had a positive experience with the qualifications so far, "The value of the NCFE V Cert qualification is that it will enable us to continue to offer a mixed curriculum that meets the needs of all our learners. The language used and the processes embedded in the V Certs mean that learners can learn in a style that reflects genuine industry practice and context; there is no dumbing down nor is there unnecessary complexities."

Of course, V Certs are not the only vocational qualification choice. In fact even schools looking to bolster their creative qualification offer for completion in the 2013/14 can still use the existing version of the qualification as part of the DfE grace year. And while the wider range of vocational qualifications will no longer attract performance points, they will remain available to schools who wish to run learning and engagement programmes within wider subjects areas.

We’re continuing to offer this wider portfolio because of one key reason. Over the years, many schools have described to us the benefits of vocational qualifications not using words like ‘performance points’ or ‘tables’ but talking about ‘engagement’, ‘motivation’ and ‘relevance’. These later descriptions describe the true benefit of vocational qualifications to those that are taught. They are clearly where the real value of vocational education lies. Both V Certs and all other vocational qualifications, regardless of their point value, will continue to enrich pupil learning and education.