ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the process of restructuring vocational qualifications and focuses on the work of the government-sponsored Review of Vocational Qualifications, and the impact of the consequent White Paper, but will obviously also say something about the other parts of the system. The actual reviews were of the role of industrial training boards, the efficiency and effectiveness of colleges of further education, and the future of vocational qualifications. Vocational education and training can thus be seen as a heterogeneous system based on a variety of industrial standard-setting bodies, a range of examining and validating bodies and a whole series of further education institutions. The need to improve standards of vocational education and training to the levels of competitor countries was raised first by the MSC, which persuaded government to adopt its ideas. The White Paper acknowledged the complexity of the system for the certification and assessment of vocational skills and knowledge.
