ABSTRACT
The relationship between modularization and 14–19 qualifications represents a paradox within the English education and training system. There is widespread enthusiasm for modularization as a tool, not only to respond to changing patterns of participation but as a means of developing a more flexible, unified and coherent qualifications system. At the same time, however, the development of, and even the debates on modularization are fragmented and reflect the major divisions within the qualifications system itself. What this chapter will argue is that two different strands of development and debate in relation to modularization have grown up on either side of the academic/vocational divide. If modularization is to be used as a tool in the design of a unified qualifications system, therefore, the developments and debates traditionally associated with either the academic or the vocational track will need to be brought together and reconciled in a more common way. In this chapter we will attempt to situate the English debates about modularization within the wider international picture in order to broaden the debate and to take it beyond the confines of the academic/vocational divide.
