Employing an 'employer-led' design? An evaluation of the development of diplomas

Abstract

This paper presents some of the findings of an evaluation of the development of the first fourteen 14-19 Diplomas in England. It focuses on the question whether the government's aim to develop the new qualifications in an employer-led way has been fulfilled. In order to answer this question, the paper evaluates the contributions of employers in the Diploma development process, the strategies used to engage employers and employers' satisfaction with the outcome. The paper concludes that while employers have had a significant role in defining the content of Diplomas, they have been by no means leading or driving the overall process of qualification making. Due to the complex nature of the qualification system and the need for collaboration of a variety of actors, the role of employers may more accurately be described as key partners in the development process. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Vocational education 14-19 Diplomas Diploma development process Employer-led

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations

Department of Education, University of Oxford, Linacre College, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

Associate research fellow of the ESRC Centre on SKOPE, RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA, United States

Funding & Acknowledgements

Economic and Social Research Council, ESRC

Grant: ES/G020183/1

The authors wish to thank their collaborators in the research study: Julian Stanley, Prue Huddleston, Geoff Hayward and Andrea Laczik. The research was funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, but the views expressed here are not necessarily those of it or other government departments.

Department for Children, Schools and Families, DCSF

The authors wish to thank their collaborators in the research study: Julian Stanley, Prue Huddleston, Geoff Hayward and Andrea Laczik. The research was funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, but the views expressed here are not necessarily those of it or other government departments.

References 10 References

1 14 19 Opportunity and Excellence, (2003)

2 14 19 Education and Skills, (2005)

3 Reviewing Diploma Development Evaluation of the Design of the Diploma Qualifications, (2009)

4 New 14 19 Diplomas, (2007)

5 14 19 Diplomas, (2007)

6 What do Employers Want from Education A Question More Easily Asked than Answered, (1998)

7 What Might the Tomlinson and White Paper Proposals Mean for Vocational Education and Work Based Learning, (2005)

8 National Evaluation of Diplomas the First Year of Delivery, (2010)

9 Sector Skills Councils and Employer Engagement Delivering the Employer Led Skills Agenda in England Skope Research Paper no 78, (2007)

10 Diploma an Overview of the Qualification, (2008)

Employing an 'employer-led' design? An evaluation of the development of diplomas

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