needabreak
Registered: 08/11/08
Posts: 2
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| | 08/11/08 at 01:32 PM | Reply with quote | #1 |
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Firstly, thanks for an informative forum.
Can you answer this please?
What do you make of the comment by the Director of AQA that students who do not pass every part of the diploma will get no qualification at all?
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Mike
Registered: 02/23/08
Posts: 25
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| | 08/11/08 at 08:46 PM | Reply with quote | #2 |
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Hi needabreak.
There is more than a little irony in your chosen name given that it is August!
It was reported in some papers today that Mike Cresswell, director general of AQA said that "There will be some people who don't complete the full course and don't get the diploma as a whole. There will be plenty of kids who don't finish all three functional skills and don't complete all their specialist learning".
He also reported as saying that more work was needed to ensure that the individual parts of the diploma were recognised and valued by employers. A DCSF spokesman responded to say that all all the elements of the diploma apart from work experience were good qualifications in their own right.
I think this is a reasonable warning from a key person that diplomas must be seen and valued both as a whole and as separate components.
It also confirms the point that achieving the diploma should not be seen as an easy option for lower-achieving students.
The following grade equivalents have been confirmed:
Level 2 : PL 4.5 GCSEs (A*-C), ASL 2 GCSE (A*), P 0.5 GCSEs (A*-C), FS 1.5 GCSEs (B) = 8.5 GCSEs
Level 3 : PL 1.5 A levels (A*-E), ASL 1 A level (A), EP 0.3 A level (A*-E), PLTS 0.2 A level (A*-A), FS 0.3 A level (A), WE 0.2 A level (A) = 3.5 A levels
The Diploma is a complex qualification with very different components, (and different opportunities to learn). Because it is of an unfamiliar format it will take some time to set up and ensure that each of the component parts are valued.
It seems to me a good idea to point this out now so that a system that still largely feels that the 'high value' qualifications are still GCSE's and A levels gets used to the idea that there are other ways to bring out the best in young people, and particularly in a work-orientated context designed to ensure employability. |
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needabreak
Registered: 08/11/08
Posts: 2
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| | 09/03/08 at 10:54 PM | Reply with quote | #3 |
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Thanks Mike I have had a break now and feel better for it.
There are many concerns by teachers, whether involved with diplomas or not, that this is just another Big Idea of politicians in the same mould as other attempts to introduce vocational education in the past. It brings in two-tier education again and no-one wants to be second best.
Parents want A levels and few teachers are going to advise their best students to choose to do diplomas. The result will be that the dimmer students will be pushed into it and from what you say will find it too hard.
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