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The Contribution of National Vocational Qualifications to the Growth of Skills in the UK
Author(s) -
Grugulis Irena
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
british journal of industrial relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.665
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-8543
pISSN - 0007-1080
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8543.00282
Subject(s) - apprenticeship , underpinning , vocational education , german , political science , public relations , pedagogy , psychology , management , engineering , economics , philosophy , linguistics , civil engineering , archaeology , history
This article evaluates the British system of NVQs, focusing on their capacity to increase skill levels. It reviews the way NVQs were designed and argues that they are ill‐equipped to encourage knowledge and skills, partly because they simply replicate the weaknesses which currently exist in the labour market and partly because of the focus on observed workplace behaviours. NVQs were intended to be ‘employer‐led’ and the assumptions underpinning their design are unitarist. In contrast, the German apprenticeship system is developed and implemented by pluralist consortia and results in qualifications that are far better equipped to support skill levels.