Introduction
Skills for Work Courses can be traced back to the National Debate of
2002 and the demands for more breadth and choice in the secondary
curriculum, and a better balance of academic and vocational learning.
The Curriculum Review Group outlined the values, purposes and
principles of curriculum reform in A Curriculum for Excellence,
published in November 2004. In the Ministerial response published at the
same time, the Executive announced its intention to ‘deliver a new course
and qualification in learning about skills-for-work for 14–16 year olds by
2007’.1
In many areas the delivery of Skills for Work has also drawn on
the Determined to Succeed programme to develop enterprise in
education.2
Skills for Work Courses are ungraded National Courses. The first pilot
Skills for Work Courses were introduced in 2005–06 in four subjects:
Construction Crafts (Intermediate 1), Sport and Recreation (Intermediate
1), Early Education and Childcare (Intermediate 1 and 2) and Financial
Services (Intermediate 2). Further subjects and levels were added for
phase 2 of the pilot in 2006–07, and SQA plans to increase the number of
Courses each year to support a national roll-out. Most are delivered
through school-college partnerships, although employers and training
providers have also been involved.
The rationale for Skills for Work Courses says that they are designed to
help candidates to develop: skills and knowledge in a broad vocational
area; Core Skills; an understanding of the workplace; positive attitudes to
learning; and skills and attitudes for employability. Employability skills
cover generic skills and attitudes valued by employers, as well as specific
vocational skills and knowledge. A further key feature of the Courses is
an emphasis on experiential learning.
The pilots were introduced on a relatively tight timetable. It is now
appropriate to take stock and to explore the issues for their development
in the longer term. It is all the more important to take a strategic view of
these issues because:
♦ these issues lie at the heart of current debates about the definition
and future development of comprehensive education in Scotland.
Decisions about Skills for Work will help to shape this future.
♦ our interviews suggest that the development of Skills for Work and
related provision is being driven by capacity issues, and educational
considerations risk being sidelined.
1
Curriculum Review Group. (2004) A Curriculum