Commenting on a new report by the Cambridge OCR exam board, calling for a ‘vocational ecosystem’ to be built around every GCSE student, Paul Whiteman, general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“Vocational and technical pathways can be more engaging and motivating for many young people, but the challenge is a system that continues to favour academic routes and doesn’t reflect the diversity of students’ needs, strengths and aspirations at Key Stage 4.

“We need to see the political will to fundamentally rewire the system, because for many years government policy has prioritised a knowledge-rich, academic-focused curriculum, starting in early years education.

“Vocational achievements have been systematically undervalued, while policies such as the now-scrapped EBacc, the current Progress 8, and proposed caps on technical qualifications have reinforced a hierarchy where academic GCSEs are seen as superior.

“We support the government’s ambitions to achieve greater parity between academic and vocational learning and it will be vital that schools and colleges have the staffing, expertise and resources needed. We also need accountability measures and curriculum policies that give vocational qualifications the recognition they deserve and make it easier, not harder, for schools to offer them."