Good Practice
Vocational Qualifications
Good Practice - Vocational qualifications, a draft good practice statement and checklist of good practice principles for articulating and assessing vocational qualifications for entry to HE.
As part of the wider SPA objective concentrating on the encouragement of good practice in admissions decision-making, SPA is working with HEIs and other stakeholders to support vocational progression to HE. The external drivers affecting progression to HE in the UK include the recognition of the context within which a learner applies to enter HE. SPA is working to ensure that all a learner is offering, not only in terms of qualifications, but also relevant work experience, Accredited Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) or Accredited Prior Learning (APL), skills and relevant contextual factors are considered, and that each learner is treated as an individual.
There is a responsibility upon HEIs to be aware of and to understand the different types of UK HE progression - not all learners will apply directly from school or college and many may have taken qualifications which are less familiar to those making admissions decisions. These different routes include what may be described or viewed as being less 'traditional' i.e. not via a purely academic route. Many learners apply having followed more vocational courses and it is important for HEIs to recognise these as having utility for progression to HE. SPA's definition of a vocational qualification is a qualification relating to a particular line of work or specific job or career, with an emphasis on the assessment of practical skills and knowledge. Examples of vocational qualifications include BTECs, City & Guilds, National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs), OCR Nationals and Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs).
In some institutions it may be believed that applicants with vocational qualifications would not be qualified or prepared for the academic depth and rigour needed to succeed on traditional academic programmes. SPA is working with stakeholders to try to widen the knowledge and understanding in HE of the range, content, levels, breadth and depth of vocational qualifications, apprenticeship frameworks and the Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF) developing in England and those elsewhere in the UK.
SPA is working with HEIs throughout the UK to ensure the appropriate articulation of entry criteria and offers, including the provision of quality Entry Profile information as a lack of transparency in entry requirement statements will not help applicants to match their qualifications against the requirements of the course they wish to study. If a learner's perception is that an HEI has not considered their qualification in detail in order to construct an appropriate entry requirement statement or to be transparent about the suitability of all types of qualifications, they may feel their type of progression is not valued and may therefore either not apply to highly suitable courses, may waste a choice on an ill-targeted application or may completely exclude themselves from the application process. SPA is working on the production of a draft good practice statement and checklist of good practice principles for articulating and assessing vocational qualifications for entry to HE. The draft statement is available below and this will be disseminated to HE sector colleagues and other relevant stakeholders for consultation and comment.
Please contact Annie Doyle, SPA Senior Project Officer, at a.doyle@spa.ac.uk or on 01242 544777 if you have any questions or comments about this work.
Vocational Qualifications: draft good practice statement and checklist
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Created: February 2010