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Putting NVQ's On The Map
- 14 July 2008
- Brenda Comer, a voluntary shop assistant for the charity Scope, was 81 when she signed up for a Level 2 NVQ certificate in retail. Meanwhile, Taj Atwal was 16 when she started a national diploma in dance and acting. Both women demonstrate the huge age range of people who sign up to take voluntary qualifications.
Atwal credits the qualification with turning her life around. Having moved out of home aged 16 following a family breakdown, she struggled with her studies at first but, with the support of her tutors at York College and the teenage support service Connexions, she not only achieved the qualifications but left with distinctions in both subjects and gained funding through the government's Dance and Drama Awards.
"When I was going through all those ups and downs, it really helped to have the structure of college and working towards the qualifications," says Atwal, now 20 and a first year student at Guildford School of Acting, one of the leading drama conservatoires in the UK. "I could put my focus and attention on the course and it took me away from my problems outside college. I don't know where I would be if I hadn't got that qualification."
This summer will see the first ever Vocational Qualification Day, on 23 July. The national event will highlight the increasing importance and variety of NVQ courses, held by 17 million people in the UKyet still misunderstood by many employers.
"Every year millions of people across the country study for a vocational qualification, leading to further vocational study or university, better jobs and enhanced skills," says Andy Powell, CEO of educational foundation Edge, which is championing VQ Day. "However, despite these clear benefits, vocational qualifications do not enjoy the prestige of their more academic counterparts."
Figures show that less than half of the population believe vocational qualifications to be as important as A-levels, which for many higher education institutions and employers remain the gold standard.
"There is a bit of a stigma surrounding vocational qualifications, with some traditional employers having very entrenched views about their value," says Jonathan Ovenden of Creating Careers, which provides online training in NVQs. "Yet more employers are starting to appreciate the value of having someone trained up for the world of work. If you know what sort of job you want to go into and do a targeted vocational qualification, it can give you a tremendous head start in your career."
Even those who hold degrees appreciate the value of a NVQs; according to a recent YouGov survey, a third of people with degrees have later gone on to take a NVQ as well. What's more, the survey found holders of NVQs are half as likely to spend a long time looking for work and are a quarter more likely to feel ready to work from day one compared to those who hold a degree. And of those who did a NVQ as an adult, a quarter received a pay rise as a direct result (double the amount who received an increase following an academic qualification) and 17 per cent achieved a promotion.
But as the world of work changes, with fewer "jobs for life" and more short-term contracts and self-employment, so too are people's attitudes to education and training. According to the sector skills council Lifelong Learning, one in six people has switched careers three times, and more than half of those had to retrain. Workers need to be flexible and ready for anything, and this is where NVQs can help, particularly with the advent of online and distance learning programmes. "Changing career direction and priorities is no longer difficult or frowned upon," says Gareth Phillips, strategy director at accredited awarding body EDI, which offers over 540 vocational qualifications.
Students can now study for vocational qualifications in secondary schools as an alternative to GCSEs, through their local FE college or via an online training course.
The qualifications have been given a boost by the Government's Train To Gain funding scheme (education chiefs are keen to overturn research which shows some 1.3 million people go to work every day without the skills they require to do their job proficiently).
The most popular NVQs are those specifically aligned to jobs, namely IT, business administration, management, team leading and customer service skills, but are also available in a wide range of subjects including childcare, driving instruction, hospitality and retail skills.
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