The seventh annual VQ Day campaign has kicked off with a call for vocational excellence to be recognised within the world of business – with companies being encouraged to nominate themselves for the VQ Employer of the Year award, sponsored by City & Guilds.
VQ Day was established by the Edge Foundation in 2008 to raise the status of technical, practical and vocational learning and celebrate vocational achievement.
The VQ Employer of the Year award was successfully introduced last year to recognise employers who promote the value of vocational qualifications in the workplace. There will be two categories for this award, SME (1 – 249 employees) and Large Employers (250+ employees).
Employers and learning providers are also encouraged to nominate outstanding students and employees for the national VQ Learner of the Year award sponsored by OCR.
A new study, commissioned by the Edge Foundation, polled over 2,000 18-35 year olds, split between those who had opted for a vocational education and those who had taken a wholly academic route.
The results revealed that many young people are still being actively discouraged from opting for vocational education – with just a quarter of parents (27%) judging it to be worthwhile*.
This is despite evidence that people who choose a practical, hands-on approach to learning are as fulfilled as people who took an academic route. All those surveyed were asked to rate their current career in relation to factors such as career choice, salary, success, fulfilment and overall job satisfaction. The answers reveal remarkably little difference in satisfaction between people who chose academic and vocational pathways.
Additionally, research from the 2012 First Steps to Wealth Report, illustrates that the lifetime earnings of a graduate are comparable with the lifetime earnings of many former apprentices – for example construction apprentices earn £1,504,000 compared with £1,612,000 for a graduate.**
Jan Hodges, CEO of the Edge Foundation: “At Edge, we acknowledge that there are many paths to success – vocational education is one of many routes available for people looking to gain qualifications suited to their individual skills and needs. It is imperative that vocational qualifications are seen by society as on a par with other qualifications.
“VQ Day is an opportunity to celebrate vocational achievement. This year we have revitalised the awards to celebrate not only the successes of VQ learners and employers but also to recognise vocational education teachers and trainers who have inspired and helped their learners to gain the technical, practical and work-related skills to get the edge in their chosen careers.”
Nominations for all the awards will be judged by a panel and the chosen winners will be presented with their awards by a Minister at the prestigious evening VQ Day Awards ceremony on the 3 June in Westminster, London.
The deadline for submissions for both the VQ Learner and Employer of the Year Awards is 2nd May, 2014. To find out more information and how to enter, visit: www.vqday.org.uk/vq-awards.
*Research conducted by OnePoll in January 2014, surveyed 2,230 people aged 18-35 in full time employment in the UK. **Research sourced from the First Steps to Wealth Report, published in 2012.