A diploma worth the hassle
It really doesn’t matter what the exams are called so long as the certificate has value. Employers who have had to work out how GCEs compare with GCSEs or NVQs will now have diplomas to trade off against A-levels. But if the new qualification can raise educational standards and provide a measure of practical skills, it is worth the added complication.
The big problem with the existing system is that despite more students getting higher grades, employers can see that they are less well educated than previous generations. And what is taught is increasingly less relevant to the workplace.
A diploma that recognises practical skills is thus welcome. It is in the employers’ short-term interests that English, maths and IT are core components of the new curriculum, but it is in the students’ own long-term interest that they emerge with such key skills.
It may be politically expedient to postpone the review of A-levels’ future until 2013 even though the new diplomas start in 2008, but it is also sensible. Running the two exams in parallel will allow employers to compare their value.
The diplomas must not be allowed to become a second-rate qualification however, recognised by employers while universities continue to prefer A-levels. It is imperative that diplomas are not simply handed out to those unable or unwilling to sit A-levels but that they set a standard at least equal the existing exams.
