One in five secondary schools fails to sign up for flagship diplomas
Tuesday, 26 February 2008
David Laws, the Liberal Democrat schools spokesman: 'The Government has fudged the implementation of diplomas'
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More than 550 state secondary schools have failed to sign up to deliver the Government's flagship diplomas just months before they are due to be introduced in the classroom.
The figures, revealed in an answer to a Commons question from the Liberal Democrat schools spokesman David Laws, mean that one in five state secondary schools are still uncertain over whether to embrace the new qualification. Mr Laws said the figures showed "a stark lack of enthusiasm" on behalf of schools for the reforms.
He said: "The Government has fudged the implementation of diplomas by running them alongside existing qualifications and creating a new and confusing multi-tiered system. This has resulted in many schools being expected to offer an impossibly vast range of diploma qualifications.
"Ministers must produce a coherent qualifications framework which pupils, teachers and employers can easily understand."
The diplomas are being promoted as an alternative to A-levels. The Schools Secretary, Ed Balls, has indicated they could become the main route in education for sixth form students.
But a breakdown of the figures reveals that in two authorities not a single school has signed up to a consortium to deliver the diplomas. Ministers have indicated that no one school can be expected to deliver the entire range of 14 diplomas and that schools should link up with other institutions to ensure delivery of the programme.
The diplomas are due to be introduced in England this September – when the first five qualifications, covering subjects such as engineering and leisure and tourism, will be offered in selective schools and colleges.
The entire programme of 14 diplomas will be up and running by 2013. A spokesman for the National Union of Teachers, John Bangs, said: "There is a real lack of awareness about the diplomas. We want them to work. If they don't, we'll have lost a once in a lifetime chance to get the mix between academic and vocational qualifications right."
He said that proposed take-up was "really uneven" around the country and blamed local authorities for failing to give the qualification a high enough priority.
Mick Brookes, of the National Association of Head Teachers, said he felt some heads were waiting to see how the first diplomas were delivered before committing themselves.
Jim Knight, the Schools minister, argued there had been "a very positive response" from schools, with the vast majority (2,501) already signed to a consortium. "We expect every secondary school to be involved by 2013 so that all young people can access diplomas if they wish," he added.
The diplomas were developed following a government-led inquiry into education for students aged between 14 and 19, headed by the former chief schools inspector, Sir Mike Tomlinson.
