Last month, thousands of UK teens received their GCSE results. Pupils, parents and teachers interrupted their summer holidays and congregated at schools across the country to open that all-important envelope!
Overall, the 2014 results show a 98.5% pass rate, down 0.3 percentage points (but with a rise in students receiving A*s). Significantly, the number of English entries dropped by more than 215,000 while the number of maths entries dropped by 76 per cent, from 170,357 down to 39,292.
It’s unsurprising to see some of these changes following an unprecedented overhaul of the system. It has been a year of transition in secondary school education with a new focus on end point examination, (removing the earlier ‘January series’ re-sit and modular examinations). What’s more, from September 2013, most vocational qualifications ceased to hold GCSE equivalency, so therefore no longer counted within school performance tables.
As a result of this change, perhaps unsurprisingly, we’ve seen fewer schools offer vocational qualifications for pupils, demonstrating the strong link between school accountability and vocational education. Undoubtedly, the league tables have had a real impact on school’s buying decisions. At this time last year, there were around 700,000 pupils engaged in vocational education at school – a number that is likely to dip this year as schools battle to balance timetables and accountability measures with their pupils’ needs.
However, it’s encouraging to see that significant growth has been recorded in certain vocational subjects such as Computing, Business and IT– subjects which build useful skills, can often lead to Apprenticeships and most importantly, are highly sought after by employers.
So what is the incentive for schools to offer vocational subjects at a time when traditional academia has been placed at the apex of the education system? Is it possible to look beyond school accountability? Is there life beyond league tables and data?
Well, at NCFE we believe that vocational qualifications can work side by side, hand in hand with academic qualifications. In fact, vocational education within schools has long been associated with increased engagement in crucial maths and English attainment. In a study of ‘disengaged’ pupils for the DfE (Ross 2011), it was found that those taking vocational subjects were 70% more likely to achieve 5 A* to C grades at Key Stage 4 than those who weren’t studying a vocational qualification. Young people’s lack of basic skills upon leaving school has been widely reported as a barrier to them finding work. However, for those students who are not academically inclined, a vocational qualification alongside their maths and English can help them put their literacy and numeracy skills into practice in a practical way.
The inclusion of vocational education also reduces the risk of pupils leaving the education system early with no qualifications. Most schools have personal / social / health education timetabled into the curriculum at some point, even if it is within registration time. During this time, students could be completing a short vocational qualification (for example in Personal Effectiveness or Thinking Skills) to support them in their wider learning. These qualifications may not be included in the league tables, but they do give pupils a range of benefits, offering them a well-rounded education and increasing their transferable skills.
Of course, for all schools, the ultimate aim is to be able to offer high quality vocational provision while also maintaining school standards, rigour and quality. With this in mind, it’s interesting to note that there is a growing range of vocational options available which carry performance points in the 2015 and 2016 Key Stage 4 performance tables and hold GCSE equivalency. For example, NCFE offers a range of V Certs in creative and other subjects. These are seeing an increased take-up as schools seek alternative options.
Overall, it’s likely that we’ll continue to see schools continue the age long battle of balancing the curriculum, meeting individual pupil needs and meeting accountability measures. However, it’s also likely that we’ll see more schools questioning the status quo. With the increased recognition given to alternative curriculum within the new progress 8 measure, we may even see some increased uptake in vocational qualifications with more schools seeking to support their pupils in all areas. Young people are not statistics and the choices given to them at school can be life-altering. Let’s help them be more than a number.
