Diplomas could bridge generation gap

The first diploma courses come on stream in September, in 97 local authorities.

Teaching: the GTC magazine, spring 2008

The diplomas were proposed as replacements for GCSEs and A levels by the Tomlinson 14-19 Review of 2004, but ministers then insisted that the traditional qualifications stay in place.

Now, secretary of state Ed Balls says that diplomas could become 'the qualification of choice for young people'.

One of the first schools to run a diploma will be Newstead Wood girls’ school, Orpington, as part of a Bromley LA pilot with Langley Park school and Bromley College.

Newstead Wood, a specialist engineering school, offers that subject at diploma levels 2 and 3. Its partners offer other subjects and levels, and students share the opportunities.

'There is superb 14-19 collaboration in our LA already,' says Newstead Wood head teacher Elizabeth Allen. “For our teachers, diplomas are ameans of extending and developing what they want to do.

'In engineering, the areas that are most exciting are real projects, not simulations,' Ms Allen believes. 'The diploma has a great emphasis on projects, and working with partners such as London Transport.'

Many of the school’s young women have high aspirations, and she believes the diploma programme 'is sufficiently rigorous for the best of higher education, including Oxbridge and the Russell Group.'

And in a traditionally male-dominated area like engineering, there is a wider dimension too. 'The core skills of engineering are areas in which able young women have a lot to offer,' Ms Allen says.

'Give us a generation and we will develop young women who can be ambassadors in engineering.'

Newstead Wood students at Ironbridge, Shropshire

What diplomas offer

• Strong core emphasis on English, maths and ICT
• Project work, problem solving and teamworking
• Learning applied in work-related contexts

Diploma subjects

• IT
• Construction and the built environment
• Engineering
• Society, health and development
• Creative andmedia
• More subjects in preparation

Diploma levels

• Foundation (level 1) – matching five GCSEs grade A*-G
• Higher (level 2) – matching seven GCSEs grade A*-C
• Advanced (level 3) – matching 3.5 A levels.

These gradings were established by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service.

Diploma spread

• September 2008: 145 consortia in 97 LAs
• September 2009 (provisional): an additional 197 consortia

What we said about Tomlinson

We supported the Tomlinson approach. We were worried about how the diplomas will relate to existing qualifications, and are keen that ‘vocational’ and ‘academic’  qualifications have parity of status.