South Yorkshire young people among first to pilot new Diplomas

2 November 2007

Young people in Sheffield, Barnsley and Rotherham will be among the first to try the new Diploma qualifications announced by Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, yesterday.

Diplomas are part of a national programme to widen the choice of courses for young people. They will give young people a fully rounded qualification, which combines academic study with practical experience of employment sectors and includes functional English, Maths and ICT.

The new qualifications will provide a real alternative to traditional A Levels and are the most important changes to the country's education system since the introduction of GCSEs. They will offer excellent preparation for further and higher education, or support young people whose preferred pathway to a successful career is through an Apprenticeship.

Diplomas will be available as a national entitlement from 2013 but in some areas of South Yorkshire students will be able to have the option of taking certain Diplomas in some subjects from 2008:

Barnsley
Society, Health and Development
Construction and the Built Environment

Sheffield
Engineering
IT
Creative and Media
Construction and the Built Environment

Rotherham
Construction and the Built Environment

Sheffield City Council, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council and Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council are working in partnership with employers and universities to design the new Diplomas. This will ensure that each Diploma is guaranteed to give students the right knowledge for each sector of today's economy. Major employers including Cisco, Oracle, BT, Vodafone, British Gas, JCB, RWE npower, Rolls Royce, Jaguar, Channel 4, Barnados, McAlpine and Lovell are supporting Diplomas as a compelling route for young people to learn and apply their skills.

Local employer David Kay, Director of Sero Consulting says "In the IT and digital industries, a qualification which arms young people with academic knowledge, workplace skills and also experience of real business processes is desirable to employers. The structure of a Diploma will offer students a bridge from school and college to workplace, and prepare them to keep on learning to succeed in a rapidly changing world."

Academic institutions also welcome the Diplomas. Professor Tony Tricker, Assistant Dean, Head of Undergraduate Studies, Faculty of Arts, Computing, Engineering and Sciences, Sheffield Hallam University says, "The introduction of this qualification will have a positive effect in broadening educational opportunities and we're pleased that pupils in South Yorkshire will be among the first to benefit from them. Many of the practical and vocational courses we're currently developing in our Faculty reflect this government agenda and we look forward to welcoming Dip Ed students."

For more information, please visit www.direct.gov.uk/diplomas