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	Vocational provision at key stage 4
	Investigating the costs and benefits of vocational qualifications at key stage 4
	Choosing which vocational qualifications to offer in key stage 4
	Using NVQs in key stage 4

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Choosing which vocational qualifications to offer in key stage 4


		11-16 schools

		6th form schools

		Colleges

Introduction

Once the strategic case for developing vocational provision has been established, the focus turns to selecting the right award.

While the focus must be on identifying qualifications that meet students’ needs, it is useful to break this question down to ensure that all aspects of students’ immediate and longer-term needs are considered. For example, in considering the progression opportunities that awards offer students, it may be useful to look at the potential impact of local or national labour markets.

The following sections discuss the factors that influence teachers when deciding which vocational qualifications to offer in key stage 4. They are intended to help teachers select the most appropriate vocational qualifications from those available.

Which qualifications meet students’ needs?

Meeting the needs of learners must be the most important factor for schools to consider when choosing a qualification.

The key stage 4 national curriculum ensures that most learners will study GCSE programmes in the core subjects, enabling them to achieve at levels 1 or 2. Similarly, GCSEs in vocational subjects (formerly applied or vocational GCSEs) are designed for the whole ability range.

Other vocational qualifications are level-specific and may not be appropriate for whole cohorts of students. The demands of a level 2 vocational course may be too much for some, while entry-level and level 1 courses may not be demanding or challenging for the most-able students.

More NVQs are continuing to become available for study pre-16. NVQs demand assessment in realistic working environments, which will be challenging to the whole ability range. By February 2006, there were 44 level 1 NVQs approved for this age group and 37 level 2 NVQs.

The 14–19 White Paper aims to provide all young people with access to a wide choice of specialised programmes, with the sector-specific diplomas built from a range of qualifications in a vocational area. The Diplomas will be available at levels 1, 2 and 3 and students will be able to progress at their own pace. The first five of these diplomas will be available from 2008. It is not anticipated that individual schools will be able to offer the whole range of diplomas, but that schools, colleges and work-based learning providers will collaborate to offer the complete programme.

A case study of Yale College, posted on the QCA 14–19 learner website, demonstrates how vocational pathways can be built to enable students to maximise their attainment and achieve a group of related qualifications.

GCSEs in vocational subjects are designed to be assessed at levels 1 and 2 and grades are awarded from A*–G. However, as with other GCSEs, teaching styles and learning opportunities should be designed to meet the needs of students, from the very highest achievers to those who have poor standards of literacy and numeracy and struggle to access some parts of the course.

Vocational qualifications may be included in a key stage 4 programme to improve motivation for some students. Courses that relate to the world of work, provide good opportunities for work-related learning or offer opportunities for practical and kinaesthetic approaches to learning may be attractive to students who are in danger of becoming disaffected.

Having courses taught off site in local colleges or skills/vocational centres can also serve as a motivational factor. Such courses can give young people a chance to learn in a new environment and begin to understand the demands of vocational learning and its relationship to progression into further education, training and employment.

Some vocational qualifications may make demands on students that they find difficult to meet because of a lack of social maturity. Certain vocationally related courses can be taught in a familiar school environment rather than in a realistic workplace, and some students will find success through such an approach. Others students may flourish in a new and challenging environment.

Do qualifications offer clear progression opportunities?

All vocational qualifications provide opportunities to develop key skills, but they vary in the demand and opportunity for literacy, numeracy, information and communication technology (ICT) and wider key skills. The decision about whether to use a particular qualification depends in part on the students to whom it is offered and the structure of the remainder of the curriculum. All students will study the core subjects, but their whole programme needs to build transferable skills, particularly in literacy, numeracy and ICT and in the wider skills of problem solving, working as a team and managing their own learning.

It is important for students to have clear progression opportunities after a course is completed. Learning pathways chosen at the end of key stage 3 should lead smoothly to post-16 provision in school, college or the workplace.

If a student has clear aspirations at 14 to move to apprenticeship at 16, then specific occupationally related vocational qualifications in key stage 4 may be the best option. These could be NVQs or VRQs, depending on availability in the occupational area.

The new diplomas in specialised learning areas, as outlined in the 14–19 White Paper, will define these qualifications more clearly in the next few years. The Sector Skills Councils have the responsibility of identifying the required and optional qualifications for these diplomas, which will be available at levels 1, 2 and 3 and identify clear progression routes for students.

A case study of Davison Church of England High School on the QCA 14–19 learner website explores how one school is planning clear progression routes for students.

Progression from some other qualifications is less well defined, although some occupational areas have qualifications at entry level and level 1 that are broadly based in a vocational area and become more specific when progressing to level 2 and beyond.

An example is the BTEC Introductory Diploma or Certificate in engineering, a level 1 qualification. The certificate and diploma mandatory units are in starting work, working in and developing skills in engineering. Both have mandatory units in personal development, while the certificate has one specialised engineering unit and the diploma has three specialised units. The BTEC First Certificate or Diploma (level 2) is more specialised, with three separate areas of engineering available for study.

Schools need to consider progression opportunities post-16 across an area rather than within their own institution. It may be that a school can only offer a qualification to level 1 or 2 but the course may be available at the next level elsewhere in the locality. Some young people will choose vocational qualifications for key stage 4 as part of a general programme and may wish to continue to take an academic route post-16. It is important for schools to offer qualifications that enable students to combine core and optional courses, both general and vocational, to achieve the whole of level 1 or 2 as defined by the DCSF.

What qualifications are available?

All qualifications offered in school must be approved for study on Section 96 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000. These are listed on the DCSF website. Those qualifications approved for pre-16 students within this list can be easily identified using the search facility. All GCSE courses are available but many others are not and it is important to confirm availability. Local authority and Learning Skills Council funding is dependent on offering courses from this list. The QCA’s database of accredited qualifications, Openquals, lists qualifications in subject groupings and is a good starting point for a search of relevant qualifications.

It is important to remember that qualifications are frequently updated and revised. Qualifications have a shelf life as indicated on Section 96 and the Openquals website. Similarly, a qualification that is appropriate for one group of students may not meet the needs of the next cohort as effectively. The problem of providing information in a prospectus can be overcome by describing the area of study generically and then selecting the qualification when the profile of the student cohort is available.

Case studies on the QCA 14–19 learner website describe how four pathfinder centres are dealing with the withdrawal of GNVQ at the foundation and intermediate levels.

Do qualifications meet a variety of learning styles?

Good teaching recognises and caters for the differing learning styles in groups of students. Vocational qualifications offer opportunities for all kinds of learning and skill acquisition. However, opportunities for kinaesthetic learning in practical situations are easier to organise for some vocational courses than for others. This difference may provide the basis for choosing between a GCSE in a vocational subject, an OCR National or BTEC First or a more practical workshop-based NVQ or vocationally related qualification.

It is important for students to appreciate that nearly all qualifications will require them to record planning, development and evaluation in writing and often to complete written assessments. Some qualifications have minimal requirements to record learning in writing, but assessments are often made through multiple-choice tests and will require reading and revision. For example, the ABC level 1 Certificate in motor vehicle studies is taught mainly in a workshop, but has a 30-minute multiple-choice test for each unit.

The 14–19 White Paper requires all students to achieve proficiency to level 2 in functional mathematics and English. Curriculum models need to provide opportunities for students to develop further skills in these areas. Vocational qualifications can be a motivational factor for some young people, keeping them engaged in learning, but should be seen as part of a whole curriculum. Opportunities to enhance literacy and numeracy should be built into vocational qualifications and where possible links should be built between core and foundation subjects and vocational courses. Some teachers may want to rethink their approach to lesson planning and how they cater for differing learning styles in their classrooms.

How are qualifications assessed?

A wider range of awarding bodies offer vocational qualifications than offer GCSEs, and there is considerable variation in the assessment requirements of different qualifications and awarding bodies.

In choosing a qualification, a school needs to be aware of the pattern of assessment. The following prompts can be used to help schools consider the implications of different assessment arrangements.

How many units are there in the course?
What are the option choices?
Does the assessment regime determine the order of teaching of units?
How are they weighted?
How clearly are grading criteria defined, and how easily can their achievement be tracked across units of the course as an indicator of the likely final grade?
Is the subject content of the exam elements clearly signposted in the specifications, so that teachers can prepare students through revision using appropriately focused material? (eg from health and social care GCSE Double Award, ‘Definition of the life stages will carry two marks and life stages linked with physical, intellectual, social and emotional development will carry five marks each.’
How many testing opportunities are there and when do they occur?
Do all students have to be assessed at the same time?
Do all elements have to be cashed in at the same time or can they be phased across the course and according to student need?
What is the style of assessment? Are there, for example, practical tests by external assessors, written exams with long answer questions, multiple-choice tests, portfolios or case studies?
Do some units have more complex tasks than an alternative from another board, eg compare and contrast two case studies rather than describe or analyse one case study?
Can the assessment be achieved in a simulated working environment or does it require a realistic working environment, as for most NVQs?
What are the time constraints on completion of the course? (Some qualifications have to be completed within two years.)
What are the ICT possibilities and requirements for assessment?
What flexibility is there in the assessment requirements to meet special and additional needs?

Some qualifications and awarding bodies have specific requirements that may not be needed for traditional school qualifications. Staff may need to have an additional assessor qualification and there may be a need for specific specialist equipment or ICT software. All of these obstacles can be overcome, but they need to be planned for and may influence a school’s choice between one qualification and another.

Using local labour market information

Information on the local labour market is relevant to the choice of qualifications to offer in key stage 4 for a number of reasons.

Any qualification taken by young people is only vocational if it includes the opportunity to have contact with businesses and employers in the relevant sector of the economy. HMI observed that some of the GCSEs in vocational subjects were being taught without the vocational links and context that is needed to make the experience different from studying traditional subjects. It is possible to generate many of these contacts and experiences through ICT and by simulation, but local opportunities for relevant work-related learning should be considered when choosing vocational qualifications.

Where assessment needs to be in the workplace, it is essential to ensure access to a realistic working environment. Some colleges have found that the purpose-built accommodation for some NVQs does not meet the assessment requirements. Planners should ensure that the criteria for realistic working environments are met.

One of the aims of 14–19 reform is to build a workforce with skills relevant to the 21st century. The new specialist diplomas will link with apprenticeships and there will be closer links between schools, colleges and work-based learning providers. The qualifications to be included in the diplomas will be determined by the universities and the Sector Skills Councils, but in the interim schools can choose qualifications that will offer future employment and training opportunities for their students and help to meet the needs of the local economy.

Does the qualification match the school’s needs and capacities?

A qualification needs to be part of a whole curriculum, planned to give breadth and balance and offering opportunities to build key skills. Some schools have defined pathways for different groups of students, according to their ability and prior attainment. It is essential that these pathways do not become corridors and that students are able to move between areas of the curriculum as they progress.

The Achievement and Attainment Tables (formerly ‘Performance Tables’) will record the number of students who have achieved a complete level 1 or 2. Students need to be able to choose a programme of qualifications that will maximise their chances of achieving a whole level. The contribution of individual qualifications to the whole level is defined on Openquals. Schools may build a curriculum that maximises opportunity for students to achieve points that are accredited to the school in the tables.

Similarly, qualifications may be chosen because they contribute to school-wide themes identified in the school improvement plan. This is particularly true when qualifications have optional units that can be part of the personal development agenda. Examples of such qualifications include those offered by several awarding bodies in career planning, preparation for working life and preparation for employment. These have personal development units or modules, which may contribute to citizenship, PSHE and careers education, as well as a choice of vocationally specific or work-related learning modules.

Descriptions of how two schools, Davison Church of England High School and Castle School, are using qualifications that contribute to school-wide themes can be found in the case studies on the QCA 14–19 learner website.

Most schools have achieved or are working towards specialist status. Vocational qualifications may have been part of some school’s original development plans, while for others this is a relatively new area. Links to traditional subject areas can be established for a range of vocational qualifications. An example is modern foreign languages, where the sharp decline in the number of students studying a language in key stage 4 can be arrested by providing vocational alternatives to GCSEs. Qualifications at different levels can meet the needs of students across the ability range.

Another factor that schools should consider is the availability of appropriate vocational expertise and specialist facilities. There is a growing range of options for schools to offer qualifications that cannot be provided on site. Increased Flexibility Partnerships, skills/vocational centres, further education colleges and work-based learning providers open up a wide range of opportunities for providing qualifications.

Next steps

Further guidance is available on Delivering NVQs in key stage 4.

Case studies

> Vocational provision at key stage 4

Also see

> Using NVQs in key stage 4

QCA web links

> NDAQ (National Database of Accredited Qualifications

DCSF web links

> Section 96