Qualifications Free(d) for All

There has always appeared to be a hidden ‘scandal’ about the way that qualifications are developed and then marketed in the UK. Registration and examination fees have grown incrementally each year, to the point where some High schools are spending the same amount on exam entries than they do on the salaries of five teaching staff.



This would be just about legitimate if the money from the fees, was ploughed back into the education system, however the truth is that there are cases where the money has disappeared directly into the pockets of individuals.


There was a point where this looked like it was all getting sorted out. The previous government had introduced the Qualification Credit Framework. Underpinning this approach was the notion that units of learning were to be shared and therefore the ability of awarding bodies to ‘own’ and market qualifications was starting to be eroded. However one of the first actions was to remove the quango responsible for the implementing the QCF and declare that the business of developing and designing qualifications should again directly be the responsibility of awarding bodies.


So cue for big celebrations amongst all the large awarding bodies because they can again sit back and watch their profits again start to steeply rise. However there are dangers to the market economy and there is news that there are new players starting to enter it, who are beginning to challenge some of the ‘big players’. Losing the ability to award qualifications for a small sector like for example furniture skills, may not fundamentally shake their foundations but like a small hole in the dam it has the potential to have a significant impact, not least in demonstrating that all Goliaths have their David.