sorry, this is quite a long tedious message

The thing is, we are in the midst of the biggest shake up in our Education system in the past 60 years, but the waters are quite muddy as to what exactly is changing and how it's going to be changed...this is partly the fault of the government, who aren't making things overly clear, and the media, who are being t**ts.

The traditional route into University (level 4....the Education system is sounding more and more like Scientology, I find) was always A levels, seen as academic and a sensible progression. Then you had various vocational qualifications, BTEC being the most substantial, which could lead straight into work, or on to University. However, vocational routes were not seen as 'academic' and so there was a lot of confusion about their value at University level.

Now, with the 'skills gap' between us and a lot of other countries, the govenment were looking of a new way of students progressing from Level 3 to Level 4...something which could combine book learning with work learning..so, ta dah! Diplomas! Diplomas are being slowly rolled out in a variety of subject areas..but all diplomas are split into two parts, one worth max 300 UCAS points (which would be the core subject learning) and one worth max 120 (additional and specialist learning, this could be an A level, or whatever).

This stuff today with McDonalds is quite confusing, even if you have a good idea of what the new system is going to look like...so the media have pounced on it, muddied the waters further to cause all sorts of problems.

The governement has basically recognised that companies spend vast amounts of money on training their staff and that a lot of this training is similar to the kind of things students are expected to do as part of their diplomas...eg. work based learning, work placements etc. So the government have said to these companies 'you brush your standards up, and we will accredit your courses'.

The company then can then say they are providing a high level of training and staff there get a formally recognised qualification. In one swoop, you then have several large companies who can provide part of the diploma process...either for their own staff who can either 1) just have the accredited training or 2) use that training as part of a diploma or for outside students, who can come in to fulfill the work-based part of their learning.

As far as I can tell, McDonald's involvement would begin and end there...just as a part of a larger qualification.

From the BBC: "It means students could combine units from in-house courses with others to obtain the new Diplomas, which combine practical and theoretical learning. "
which is fine and dandy and accurate, but then they say:
"Exams watchdog, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, said all three firms had been given awarding body status to Level 3 - which is equivalent to A-levels or the advanced Diploma."
which is true, but misleading. They have to be given Level 3 awarding body status for their training to be included within the new Diploma, but it's not as though they are being made into St McDonald's School of Burger Flipping and Grumpiness, which is what that sentence implies. Or to put it another way, they won't be teaching physics to their staff inbetween pings of the microwave.
So what's in it for McDonalds? Well, prestige and PR. but that's true of any company who gets on board with this....it's just that McDonalds have such a bad name (all that McJobs business), they have a lot to gain from this. I don't know how the funding will work, but you have to assume that the government and the tax payer is getting the better end of this, otherwise the gov't would have had to start paying large employers to offer this stuff eventually.
I have severe worries about McDonalds being involved with the education system, as they have not proved themselves to be particularly trustworthy in the past...however, this could work out to be quite a coup for the government, one where we are tapping McDonalds (and other companies) for resources and asking them to provide real, substantial training which goes beyond a few stars on a badge.
Or, it could all go tits up.
Aren't you glad you aren't 16 anymore? Poor sods.

Posted By: Hertz van Rental, Jan 28, 14:45:32