Assessment and verification of national vocational qualifications: policy and practice

Abstract

The design and delivery of National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) in the United Kingdom have suffered from both conceptual operational problems. This article identifies two ways of dealing with these problems that are based on wider research findings. The first approach is to move from a narrow model of quality control to a Total Quality Management approach. The European Quality Foundation model for Total Quality Management is suggested as an appropriate approach. This model is then analysed against the current approaches to assessment verification of NVQs. The approach of developing ‘situated learning in communities of practice’ is used to focus on the weaknesses of the existing system. The specific issues of simulation and sampling analysed are covered in some depth, with improved approaches suggested. Finally, the article explores the implications of the adoption of radically different quality criteria, with built-in continuing professional development based on collaborative and situated learning. These implications include substantial modernisation of existing policy and practice, and allocation of appropriate resources, as well as the development of an approach to the implementation of change consistent with these findings.