Employer's Social Mobility Alliance

There is an ongoing debate around the merits of pursuing either a ‘vocational’ or ‘academic’ pathway in post-16 education. There are those who see vocational education as being both desirable and necessary for the economy, whereas others perceive vocational pathways as intellectually inferior to the more traditional academic routes.1 Nevertheless, undertaking either of these routes has been found to be a strong predicator of success in education or employment when compared against the option of failing to engage in any form of education or training.2

However, disparities exist which can be attributed to the institution chosen at post-16 and to levels of career readiness.3 A recent study examining the relationship between students’ education and their destinations (using data from the Department for Education) found that students with higher attainment levels who followed an academic pathway had higher rates of progression to any destination (education, employment or training) than those on vocational routes.4 Students undertaking vocational pathways were less likely to reach their intended destination than those undertaking an academic route. Despite this, vocational courses appear to have a vital role in motivating students who are low academic achievers and may otherwise have dropped out of education.

There is a need, therefore, to establish credible vocational pathways, ideally in collaboration with employers, which exist alongside current academic routes and challenge the view that “education is solely a quest to identify the best academic minds” and instead see it “as an enabler of all talents”.5 It is important to identify and recognise good quality vocational learning as a disparate, but no less valuable route into higher education and employment. According to the influential ‘Wolf Report’ on vocational education, any programme of study, whether academic or vocational should provide appropriate educational or employment opportunities for the short or long term.6 But this means greatly improving careers, advice and guidance to ensure that learners, and their influencers, are aware of the outcomes of various educational options.

In recent years, both academic and vocational education in England have been bedevilled by well-meaning attempts to pretend that everything is worth the same as everything else. Students and families all know this is nonsense. But they are not all equally well placed to know the likely consequences of particular choices, or which courses and institutions are of high quality. Making that information available to everybody is the government’s responsibility. Too often, it, and its agencies, have failed at this task.7