Granting of Academic Credit for Work Based Learning in Scottish Higher Education

This paper explores the benefits and costs of formal Work Based Learning (WBL) programmes. It is based on my experience and on the responses of participating employers, learners, and academics in a number of Scottish Institutions to an open questionnaire. Benefits to the employer depended on whether the learner was a full‐time student in placement or a company employee in part‐time study. In the former case, employers were often surprised at the contribution made by the student and valued contact with the University. The potential for developing their employees in an environment which allowed theory and practice to be related was valued in the latter case. Academics identified closer links with industry and increasing the attractiveness of their courses among the advantages. Part‐time students often got an opportunity to advance their qualifications which would otherwise have been denied them. These and other advantages both predictable and unexpected are reviewed. Perhaps the most cogent benefit has been that through awarding of academic credit and the more rigorous approach, the aims of less formal industrial placements are now being achieved. All participants reported attendant costs and problems. These included the logistical problems of planning, mounting, and validating credit for what are often individual schemes for each student, and of assessing student performance. Diversion of organisational effort from its business objectives is mirrored in the need for the college to provide alternatives where learning outcomes cannot be met in the workplace. Obtaining equivalence of opportunity and of assessment standards was of major concern to academics and students alike. Incumbent costs to the organisation were mainly the opportunity costs of diverted equipment and staff. Students often had displacement costs in accommodation travel and low pay. Colleges found that the funding attracted by such schemes generally did not match their true costs. The consensus of opinion, however, was found to be that the benefits outweighed the costs. WBL was seen as a useful option provided it was carefully planned and monitored.