"Vocational qualifications" refer to certifications or qualifications that are focused on practical skills and knowledge needed for specific jobs or trades. It involves training and education in a particular field of work, such as plumbing, nursing, or automotive mechanics, providing individuals with the necessary skills to pursue a career in that specific area. These qualifications are different from academic qualifications such as degrees as they primarily emphasize practical abilities and knowledge directly applicable to the workplace.
Full definition
If attainment across a broader range of subjects are be counted, then arts subjects and
vocational qualifications count for something in school accountability as well.
There are also
great vocational qualifications which offer either work experience placements or a «sandwich» year, allowing you to gain a real insight into the working world.
The report suggests that this could be because high attaining pupils were the first to be encouraged by their schools to enter the EBacc, whereas lower attaining pupils may have been steered away from
vocational qualifications in the direction of the arts.
The Department for Education (DfE) changed its methodology last year for the calculation of key stage 4 performance measure data, to factor in the removal of
vocational qualifications from the league tables and to only count a pupil's first entry to an exam.
As well as English and maths, it will measure how well pupils perform in at least three subjects from the English Baccalaureate — sciences, history, geography, languages — and Computer Science, and in three additional subjects, whether those are arts subjects, academic subjects or high
quality vocational qualifications.
The publication of the GCSE results gives the clearest picture of which subjects are most popular - although the results do not include
vocational qualifications taken by increasing numbers of students.
He said that independent school heads were often fearful of introducing
vocational qualifications as they could be perceived to be «dumbing down» their offering.
Our most recent research using the 2014 GCSE results (which excluded
many vocational qualifications from counting towards school performance, and reduced the contribution to the total point score of those qualifications included) suggests the improvement was because of disproportionate use of GCSE equivalent qualifications in sponsored academies compared to similar maintained schools.
Meanwhile, policy is marginalising non-EBacc subjects, including some that would underpin its push towards
new vocational qualifications, like Design and Technology, and this has led to fewer prospective teachers applying.
«This proposal will lower the status of
vocational qualifications at a time when employers are demanding that schools leavers have skills relevant for entering the workplace.
«We pride ourselves on offering relevant and
valuable vocational qualifications to ensure students have their best chance of walking into work after leaving us,» says Alan Jones, Curriculum Manager for Culture, Media & Sport at Darlington College.
Then there is the choice of three subjects from the English Baccalaureate (core academic subjects), and any other three from the DfE's approved list of qualifications -
including vocational qualifications.
«The staple offer for between a quarter and a third of the post-16 cohort is a diet of low -
level vocational qualifications, most of which have little to no labour market value,» said the Wolf Report.
Craftspeople can progress to more experienced posts with
vocational qualifications such as the RFS Certificate in Arboriculture, which combines written and practical elements with experience.
A new training centre to help Indigenous and other job seekers
gain vocational qualifications and secure work in the tourism industry was launched in Cairns by the Minister for Employment Participation.
Both EBN schools offer a programme of study that encompasses GCSEs in sciences, English and maths, as well as the opportunity to work
towards vocational qualifications in a range of other subjects.
«We are delighted to be partnering with Active IQ whose extensive experience in further education and the fitness industry has helped shape a Tech Award that can benefit from practically applied leadership learning and can lead seamlessly onto
more vocational qualifications if they wish,» says Lucy Supperstone, Awards and Qualifications Director, Sports Leaders UK.
The IRTE and IMI will also work together to develop future irtec assessments, as well as new National Occupational Standards and
vocational qualification frameworks for the commercial vehicle sector, to ensure that the evolving needs of employers are met.
The latest development is the commitment to raising standards for school leavers in English and maths, in response to the Wolf report that exposed
fake vocational qualifications.
The fact that there has been a 2,300 per cent increase in the number of students taking
vocational qualifications since 2004 should not solely be attributed to students and schools taking the easy option in maintaining their position in the league tables.
In an article for the Telegraph, Bashaarat claimed that
although vocational qualifications are «highly rated» by universities, many parents remain «in the dark» about the pathways the that BTECs open up for learners and added that the qualifications were «victims of intellectual and class snobbery».
VET programs allow students in the latter years of high school to study towards a nationally -
recognised vocational qualification, while at the same time earning credits towards the senior secondary certificate of education.
We do need to demand high academic standards from as many lessons as possible, and I think it's the kind of core academic skills in literacy and numeracy, which actually are the
truly vocational qualifications.
Former Education Secretary David Blunkett said it was «entirely wrong» if schools were deliberately seeking to skew league tables but warned the tone of reforms risked discrediting
important vocational qualifications.
Inspectors who visited the school on February 5 and 6 also noted leaders were having a «positive impact» on improving teaching, had «successfully improved relationships» with pupils and staff, had reduced absences and introduced academic and
vocational qualifications following criticism that the curriculum was too narrow.
(These have superceded the National /
Scottish Vocational Qualifications (N / SVQs) which nevertheless remain valid qualifications for those who have already achieved them.)
The main ones for school leavers are an apprenticeship (started after GCSEs, A levels and / or
vocational qualifications depending on the level) or a graduate scheme after university.
But now the Department for Education has set out strict new criteria so that what it says are only
valued vocational qualifications are recognised in the tables.