Unitisation: benefits and issues

Unitisation was introduced in Scotland in 1983 and two decades later, many countries around the world have at least an element of unitisation in their systems. However, few of these countries have chosen to implement fully unitised systems of education and training. This paper is based on a survey of documents about unitisation in selected countries around the world over the past two decades. The perceived benefits of unitisation for learners are: rationalisation and simplification of the qualifications system; access to education and training and progression routes through the educational system; uptake or increasing participation; flexibility and responsiveness of the education and training system in terms of meeting the skill needs of the economy and making it easier for people to upskill and reskill; quality of learning; quality assurance of qualifications; and international recognition of qualifications and mobility of workers between countries. The authors provide detailed comments about the benefits and issues associated with each of these aspects. The anticipated and perceived benefits of unitisation tend to be very similar from example to example, but there is a lack of hard research evidence as to whether the benefits actually result from the reforms. This makes it difficult to be clear about the real effects of unitisation. It appears that unitisation is being, or has been, superseded by the development of qualifications frameworks. Show less