Dearing and Beyond: Steps and Stages to a Unified 14‐19 Qualifications System?

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
This paper aims to provide an analytical framework through which to evaluate the recommendations of the Dearing Review of Qualifications for 16‐19 Year Olds and its potential for future development towards a more unified qualifications system in England and Wales. It argues that the Dearing Review has to be seen in its historical context, particularly as a response to developments since the 1991 White Paper Education and Training for the 21st Century and that despite its aim to consolidate the existing track‐based qualifications system, it can also be seen as a basis for future reform. The paper goes on to examine how the qualifications system might be developed in the future by building on the Dearing recommendations, though in the English context, the possibilities will be significantly determined by the outcome of the coming General Election. It argues that reforming the qualifications system must be an incremental process which takes into account the different dimensions of the system. At several points throughout the paper, comparisons are made between the reform processes in England and Scotland. They highlight how complex and fragmented the English system is and why it is so important to develop a broad consensus for change which builds on the proposals in the Dearing Review.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: