Alan Smithers: Care needed when going vocational

Vocational A-levels have yet to prove themselves. Anyone thinking of taking them should be very clear about how the courses would fit in with what they are good at and want to do. The new A-levels are likely to appeal most to those whose strengths are practical rather than academic, to those who have completed an intermediate GNVQ, and to those who are considering a related vocational course in higher education.

Extra care needs to be taken in deciding whether to take a vocational A-level in a subject where an A-level already exists. Take science: the vocational A-level has been established in direct succession to courses designed to train laboratory technicians. It consists of units such as "investigating science at work" and "working in a science-based organisation", but it does not include enough chemistry, physics or biology to go on to do degrees in those subjects. It is intended mainly for those aiming to go straight into employment or to train as technicians.

Vocational A-levels are new, but the advanced GNVQs that they are replacing provide some clues as to how they might fare. It has to be admitted that GNVQs, themselves introduced as recently as 1991, were not a great success. At their height, they were taken by only about 80,000 candidates a year across the 14 subjects, fewer than regularly take the English A-level.

GNVQ completion rates were low, never reaching 60 per cent. The high drop-out is a comment on the courses, but some students gave up when a job they wanted came along. Although intended as a broad preparation for employment, successful completion of an advanced GNVQ became mainly a route through to higher education for those not quite making the grade at GCSE.

Advanced GNVQs were repackaged in 2000 to the same shape and size as A-levels and renamed vocational A-levels. This was done partly to increase flexibility post-16 and partly in the hope that they would come to enjoy the prestige of A-levels. Although they are still mainly assessed by course work, they are now graded to notionally the same standard as A-levels on a common A-E scale.

In 2001, the first vocational AS exams had a pass rate of 66 per cent compared to the 87 per cent of the academic ASs. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, which oversees school qualifications, is concerned that the standard may have been pitched too high. It is likely that further changes will ensue.

Vocational A-levels are a potentially important development. They should, however, be taken as part of a coherent combination. Although all A-levels, including the vocational, carry the same UCAS points, they are not treated the same. Universities and employers often ask for particular subjects.

Anyone attracted to vocational A-levels should go with their instincts. Under the new arrangements, A-levels that do not work out can be cashed in after a year as ASs. But the right choices, vocational or academic, are the stepping stones to future work or study.

The writer is the Sydney Jones professor of education and director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Liverpool