Raddington Mill
Raddington
Taunton
Somerset
TA4 2QW
2 December 2010
SummitSkills Level Two Qualification Proposals
This letter brings to your attention the concerns of the British Association of Construction Heads (BACH) about a potential inequality for young people who wish to follow a level two Vocationally Related Qualification (VRQ) in Plumbing or Electrical Installation.
There has been a long period of discussion about the abolition by SummitSkills of their levels one and two qualifications for full time students in Further Education between BACH, the AoC and SummitSkills. We understand that all other Sector Skills Councils offer VRQs at levels one and two. The decision of SummitSkills to move towards a generic qualification at this level therefore seems inequitable.
We agree that there is merit in young people following a general technical skills introductory programme prior to following a vocationally specific subject either in education or training. It is our understanding that this was the purpose of many of the Diplomas recently introduced to be delivered by local 14-19 partnerships. This should be available from the age of 14 for young people who feel that a vocational route would better serve their development.
We have decided to bring the matter to your attention and ask you to consider the implications for your Department’s objectives and the effect it may have on young people wanting to follow a career in Plumbing or Electrical installation. Current shortages in the UK lead to either immigration of skilled workers or high prices and long waiting lists for plumbing and electrical work.
Background
At our Autumn Conference members were given the opportunity to learn about the broad based level one Access qualification being developed by SummitSkills for Plumbing and Electrical work. The qualification contains some level two units but from April 2011 there will be no vocationally specific level two qualification on offer. The motivation for the introduction of this qualification is to limit the number of people being trained to a level two VRQ in both these vocational areas.
SummitSkills argue that in the past there has been overprovision of those gaining a level two qualification. This resulted in part qualified individuals, who then commence practising as plumbers and electricians without a competence based qualification such as an NVQ. We recognise the importance of and fully support the Apprenticeship route. We believe that most young people who choose a place in Further Education and gain a level two in plumbing and electrical are work ready and have many of the skills for which employers are looking. Many young people move from College to secure employment with the local employers with whom our members have links.
In our meetings with the Chief Executive of SummitSkills we have raised concerns about:
- their not representing the views of all employers in the field
- their proposed unilateral changes to a system that is working in all other vocational areas
- the loss of routes for 16–18 students wanting to develop a career in Plumbing and Electrical work.
We believe that the new broad based qualification being proposed by Summit Skills will result in students becoming disaffected and increasingly difficult to motivate when they realise that they will have to wait until their third year in further education and training before they can specialise in their chosen skill area. The Government provides a guarantee for the funding of 16–18 year olds to continue in a choice of education or training, both full and part time and in school, college, work or an apprenticeship. For students choosing to follow Plumbing or Electrical Installation this guarantee would have expired by the time they were able to follow their chosen skills pathway. Also they could not study without finding an employer to take them on. This is iniquitous as it is not the case for all other FE students, and certainly not the case in higher education.
By way of illustration, a 16 year old student following a Catering programme is able to gain a level 2 qualification by the time they are 18. The progression for this person would be to a level three. The model being promoted by SummitSkills would mean that by the age of 18 a student following Plumbing or Electrical will then have to restart at level one specifically in Plumbing before progressing via level two to level three, thus adding two years to their training period. This would be unfair and would disadvantage young people wanting to pursue their chosen vocation.
The proposed model will also add to the employer’s costs as it will unnecessarily extend the period of time taken to gain a level three qualification. We know that some other employer bodies have also raised these concerns with SummitSkills but have been unable to gain a satisfactory response.
Conclusion
We believe that it would be fairer for a broad based qualification such as the one proposed by SummitSkills to be made available for all young people between 14 and 16 to encourage motivation, choice and successful outcomes for all. Indeed we had thought that the introduction of such programmes was the purpose of the 14-19 Diploma changes.
We would welcome your views on this matter before the existing level two is phased out. We will make ourselves available to meet and discuss this with you or your officials at any stage.
Ray Dowd
President of BACH
CC Jeremy Browne MP
Vince Cable MP
Mark Prisk MP
Chris Morecroft, AoC