In this report, the author notes that the UK has struggled to provide the right balance of academic and vocational education to suit the choices of young people and the needs of the economy. In particular, vocational education has been under-valued and treated as second-best to academic qualifications. In an attempt to correct the imbalance, successive governments have sought to expand and improve opportunities in vocational education, but problems remain. This report examines how vocational take-up has changed in recent years; how parents view vocational qualifications; and the issues school
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In this report, the author notes that the UK has struggled to provide the right balance of academic and vocational education to suit the choices of young people and the needs of the economy. In particular, vocational education has been under-valued and treated as second-best to academic qualifications. In an attempt to correct the imbalance, successive governments have sought to expand and improve opportunities in vocational education, but problems remain. This report examines how vocational take-up has changed in recent years; how parents view vocational qualifications; and the issues school leaders contend with when deciding what courses to offer. It presents up-to-date analysis from the latest year of the National Pupil Database, along with new and original polling results and interviews with head-teachers, to show how the binary divide between academic and vocational qualifications is breaking down.
The research finds that many more pupils are taking both types of qualifications; and an increasing proportion of young people who are meeting the standard of five [General Certificate of Secondary Education] GCSEs at A*-C are going on to take vocational qualifications too. Parental attitudes lag behind these changes. Improving the perception of the quality of vocational qualifications is therefore of ongoing importance. At the same time, the report notes the importance of recognising the challenges that some schools experience - for example, capacity, access to facilities and the demands of the accountability system - in providing vocational qualifications. Ways to overcome these challenges will be considered as part of the next stage of this research, which will analyse the returns from vocational qualifications and how effective they are in supporting young people to build their careers.
Edited excerpts from publication.
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