National vocational qualifications, scottish vocational qualifications and competence-based education and training: from de ville to beaumont1

Abstract

1996 marked the tenth anniversary of the Review of Vocational Qualifications undertaken by Oscar de Ville (now Sir Oscar) and the setting-up of the National Council for Vocational Qualifications (NCVQ), of which he was the first Chairman. National Vocational Qualifications and Scottish Vocational Qualifications (NVQs/SVQs) have exerted a major influence on training and education in Britain. Despite widespread criticism from a number of quarters, NVQs have, until recently, appeared to enjoy a charmed existence, bolstered by official approval and supportive financial arrangements. The publication of the Beaumont Report, A Review of 100 NVQs and SVQs, in December 1995, may have marked a decisive turning point in the history of the NCVQ movement. This article outlines the development of competence-based education and training (CBET), and traces the influence of the 1981 New Training Initiative, including the transformation of its original ideas in the period leading to the publication of the 1986 Review. It considers some of the recent critiques of CBET. The article argues that the critics have misinterpreted the original ideas, and questions the conspiracy theory of CBET as a vehicle designed to take over education and training.