What does the announcement about new Tech Level qualifications mean for Business Studies education?

If, like me, you are an advocate of vocational education and understand the power it has to up-skill and change young peoples’ lives then I’m sure that you were fascinated to hear the government’s recent announcement with regards to the introduction of level 3 ‘Technical Level’ qualifications.

According to statistics, the uptake of vocational qualifications has risen by nearly 200% since 1995 whilst the number of students taking A levels has risen by just over 20%.

Given the right content and assessment pattern, vocational Business studies can be highly effective in preparing students for the world of work – having a particularly strong impact on improving confidence, harnessing creativity and building an understanding of the need to work in teams. Added to this, comes an in-depth knowledge of how a business works.

Alongside the Technical Level qualification announcement there are other equally interesting details starting to emerge.

Let’s start with a few facts about the Technical qualification. They are skill specific – there will be a Tech qualification in Accounting but general Business Studies will be left to the more traditional vocational course. The qual will be the equivalent of (at least) one A level and will need to be ‘supported’ by employers (either in design or through work experience).

In a sense, this should be the qualification’s key strength – through employer involvement it should deliver knowledge and skills directly needed by modern Accounting businesses.

I might ask ‘what is the incentive for a student to take a Tech in Accounting?’ If I want to become an accountant, the most cost effective method is to take an Apprenticeship with a potential for employment at the end? If I want to keep my options open won’t I take an A level programme anyway (keeping the assessment process consistent)?

In my view, just having a good qualification is not sufficient. What we ask students (and their parents) to do, every time we design another vocational qualification, is to take a risk with their careers. The risk, in this case, is that an uninformed employer asks the student ‘what’s a Technical Level qualification?’ Or worse – assumes that the student took the Technical qualification because they weren’t strong enough to take A levels.

The government will need to ensure that the publicity surrounding the Tech is aimed equally at employers. They should also attempt to make sure there are guarantees that the Tech won’t be abandoned after the General Election of 2015. Have all parties bought in to the concept?

And what of the more ‘traditional’ vocational quals? According to plans to be in place by 2014, only those that receive the backing of universities and can indicate a genuine route to employment will be given the status of counting towards an institution’s performance tables. They will also have to have some sort of external assessment.

External assessment of vocational qualifications is still common and, of course, has been tried before. If you are as long in the tooth as me you may recall that the GNVQ and AVCE all had external assessment. There is an argument that the external assessment increased students focus. However, the current lack of external assessment does make the qualification attractive to some students – especially those who work better when given time to develop a project. If it’s just about adding rigour and credibility then why not make the whole course externally assessed?

The government has said that, just because a qualification no longer counts towards a performance table it does not stop a school or college delivering it. What remains to be seen is whether the funding will remain in place for those courses that no longer count towards performance table!

Awarding bodies seem keener than ever to ensure that as many stakeholders get involved in the design of new courses so look out for opportunities to contribute.