- guardian.co.uk, Thursday May 17 2007 10.23 BST
MPs have criticised the way work-based courses are being introduced in schools and colleges in a report that questions whether new diplomas offered as alternatives to GCSEs and A-levels for 14 to 19-year-olds will be ready by September next year.
The government must do far more to convince students, parents, employers and universities that the qualifications are worth taking, says the commons select committee on education. The present regime of league tables and competition between institutions are also further undermining their introduction, it says.
Even the purpose of the qualifications is confusing, according to the report from the Commons select committee on education, which adds it is unclear whether the new programmes are intended to be vocational or serve a more general educational purpose.
Exam bodies will have little time to develop curricula for the qualifications, and there has been too little feedback from small and medium-sized employers whose reactions will be vital in "creating a climate of business acceptance."
The MPs say Tony Blair's rejection of earlier proposals to make GCSEs and A-levels mere components in a single overarching qualification that combines academic and vocational routes means it is important the diplomas offered instead are viewed as providing something "different and exciting".
The government should promise another long-term review of all 14-19 qualifications once diplomas have settled in, they said, adding that they are also worried that existing vocational qualifications will be left to fade away.
The concerns over the speed of introduction and the complexity and purpose of the diplomas follow an admission from Alan Johnson, the education secretary, that they "could go horribly wrong" and lead to a two-tier exam system. He has since asserted "things are going horribly right", and regards the diplomas as vital to the success of government plans to effectively raise the school or college leaving age from 16 to 18.
Headteachers, however, have warned of "meltdown" in secondary schools next year as other curriculum and examination changes are introduced at the same time.
Barry Sheerman, the Labour chairman of the committee, said: "The government must ensure the diplomas are a success from their inception. The diplomas have the potential to offer a unique and valuable pathway to skills and qualification for young people. This is an opportunity too precious to miss."
The committee say the first year of diplomas, in which five subject areas will be taught in a limited number of schools and colleges, must be a genuine pilot, with expansion delayed or reviewed if things go wrong. It warns diplomas must have "sufficient practical content to inspire and enthuse those ill-served by existing programmes" and says the temptation to make them more desk-based and theoretical must be resisted.
The MPs are also worried about timetabling and travel problems as students switch between sites, since no one school or college is likely to be able to offer the full range of 14 diplomas. Co-operation could be undermined, they say, by government policies that promote competition between institutions. These include exam league tables and a presumption that schools without sixth forms should be allowed to have them where there is sufficient demand.
Steve Sinnott, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "Most schools are unaware of the reforms. There needs to be a crash programme of resourcing and training to ensure that schools and colleges are prepared for diplomas... The diploma contents are still too narrow. They currently risk being ignored by universities as proper qualifications."
Maggie Scott, director of learning and quality for the Association of Colleges, said the new qualifications had "huge potential" but only if delivered in "new and different environments and not in traditional classrooms." The association had consistently argued that league tables fostered competition "which may not be in the best interests of young people."
Greg Watson, chief executive of exam board OCR, said: "If the lessons are learned quickly, diplomas are still rescuable. We have never seen big new public qualifications arrive with so little input from people who have experience in qualifications and teaching."
A survey of more than 550 secondary school teachers by the education foundation Edge has found nearly two-thirds think diplomas will have lower status than GCSEs and A-levels and a similar proportion believe they will simply be seen as training programmes leading to low-paid, low-status jobs.
