Would you like fries with your
qualification?
Monday 11 February 2008
McDonalds is among a number of organisations to win government approval to run courses and become an exam board. The fast-food giant has been piloting a basic shift manager programme to teach its staff all they need to know to run a McDonalds restaurant, from customer service and marketing to human resources. The pilot scheme will now be developed into a Level 3 course, recognised by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). Two other firms – Network Rail and Flybe – were also approved by QCA to award their own qualifications.
Whilst there is support from government for allowing commercial companies to award nationally-recognised qualifications based on their own training programmes, the scheme is not without its critics. Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union, said the qualifications were 'very narrow and specific to one organisation'. Nevertheless, the qualifications could count towards the points needed for university entry. UCAS has yet to decide whether to accept them, but a spokesman for UCAS admitted that they could prove ‘a valuable route into higher education’. This is an important step towards ending old divisions between company training and national qualifications and, with QCA likely to give exam board approval to more employers in future, there could be a shift in the way vocational training is provided.
Visit www.qca.org.uk for more information about the employer recognition scheme or visit our Services section to see how Tribal supports employers to deliver work-based vocational training.