This week we were told that the diploma for sixth-formers, the Advanced Diploma, to be introduced next year, will be worth 3.5 A-levels in the league tables. The Higher Diploma, taken at Key Stage 4, is to be worth seven A*-C GCSEs – an equivalence which the Times Education Supplement (TES) gently points out that is ‘…on the high side’. The same could be said of the Advanced one.
Talking to the (TES), general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, John Dunford, comments that the Advanced Diploma equivalence is likely to mean a high take-up rate. The opinions expressed by both the Daily Mail and Alan Smithers of Buckingham University indicate why this might be. The Mail shows how an Advanced Hair and Beauty Diploma would be worth more, within this system, than a combination of A-level maths, chemistry and physics; Professor Smithers is quoted in the TES voicing concerns that schools may end up pushing pupils into doing diplomas in order to boost their league table position despite the fact that employers and universities may not value the diplomas.
Not valued by either of these parties, the diplomas are unlikely to signify educational value for the pupil. If pupils are pushed into doing what ultimately benefits only the government’s “productivity” record, then the diplomas will be yet another disastrous blow for not just standards, but learning. Worst still, the introduction of diplomas is unlikely to mean an abundance of well-trained hair and beauty therapists. Rather than being improved, the practical training needed to develop excellence in vocational skills, looks to be in jeopardy.
Theoretically, the aim of the diplomas is to raise the status of vocational skills. However, the move to shift them more closely into the academic schedule has smacked from day one of misguided attempts to make vocational skills more “acceptable” by making them pseudo-academic. This would seem to be the exact opposite of what is trying to be achieved, sending a message loud and clear that vocational equals inferior. More classroom-based learning of practical skills, as appears to be on the agenda, could not be more amiss.