ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses and expands upon the work of a research project directed by the author to study current British practice in the formal assessment of professional competence for the purposes of qualification, registration or membership of professional bodies.1 It comprises both a description of current practice and a policy analysis in which current practice is compared with the recently developed system of National Vocational Qualifications, discussed in the previous chapter. The evidence cited is derived from case studies of eleven professional groups, chosen from four groupings:
• Engineering and construction Architecture Chartered surveying Civil engineering Electrical engineering
• Health and caring professions Nursing Optometry Social work
• Teaching Teaching in Scotland
• Business and management Management accountancy Management (industrial) Management (personnel)
The subsequent discussion of issues is based on consultation with a wider group of professions and interested parties. Its purpose is to consider both ways in which current practice might be achieved and ways in which the NVQ/SVQ system might be adjusted to better meet the needs identified by the professions. It should be noted however, that none of the issues raised are exclusive to occupations claiming professional status, that is the adjustments might benefit other occupations as well. The research did not cover academic qualifications giving exemption from professional examinations if they made
no claim to assess professional performance or knowledge in use in professional contexts. This was a matter of imposing realistic constraints on the scope of the research, not a judgment that such qualifications were irrelevant. The relationship between academic qualifications based on prepositional knowledge and practical professional performance was discussed in Part 1 and will be further discussed in Part 3.
