Chapter 5 – Developments in the 20th Century – Continued

The 1944 Education Act

The 1944 Education Act has been more fully described in the history of technical education but it obviously had implications for not only technical education sector but its associated examinations. The Act was preceded by a number of key reports namely the Spens Report of 1938, the Norwood Report on the Secondary Schools Examination Council on ‘Curriculum and Examinations’ published in 1943 and the White Paper on ‘Educational Reconstruction’ published in 1943 that laid the foundations for this major Education Act. These various reports and others began to define the tripartite system of secondary schools and their examinations and as a result triggered the more precise location of the technical education sector within the overall system. The Act created the tripartite system namely grammar, technical high and secondary modern schools. It raised the school leaving age to 15 and advocated the leaving age to be raised to 16 as soon as was practicable. However it was light on detail for technical education which was increasingly referred to as further education. Sections 41- 47 of the Act deal with Further Education.

Section 41 is divided into two sections and laid down the duty of the LEA to secure the provision of adequate facilities for –

• ‘Full-time and part-time education for persons over compulsory school age
• Leisure-time occupation, in such organised cultural training and recreative activities as are suited to their requirements, for any persons over compulsory school age who are able and willing to profit by the facilities provided for that purpose’.

LEAs were required to survey their areas and submit schemes to the Minister for developing further education provision in their areas.
The Act reintroduced the idea of County Colleges first mentioned in the 1918 Education Act. In fact only one college was ever established, because of hostility from parents and employers and that was in Rugby. The guide lines stated that it was the duty of each LEA to serve every young person in their locality, who was not exempt from compulsory attendance, with a ‘college attendance order’ directing him or her to attend at a specified college’.

The following exemptions were given as:

• ‘Anyone in full-time attendance at a school or other educational institution
• Anyone who is shown to the satisfaction of the LEA to be receiving suitable and efficient instruction, full-time or part-time, equivalent to 330 hours per year
• Anyone who does not cease to be exempt under the first point above or until the age of 17 years and 8 months
• Anyone undertaking an approved course of training for the mercantile marine or the sea-fishing industry, or having completed such course is engaged in either of these occupations
• Any person employed by or under the Crown in any service or capacity with respect to which the Minister certifies that, because of the arrangements made for the education of young persons therein, it would be unnecessary
• Any person certified as a mental defective or lunatic
• Any person who was 15 before the coming into operation of this section, unless required by previous legislation to attend a continuation school’.

The language is that used at the time!

The wording was ambiguous and gave LEAs a great deal of leeway and freedom to interpret the so-called duties in a number of ways and this inevitably gave rise to a wide range of interpretations by LEAs. Many LEAs developed large, vibrant and successful colleges whilst others were not so progressive and this lead to all sorts of problems later in the century especially when the Further Education Funding Council was established in 1991. However at least it began to define and locate technical education and its constituent institutions and established a pattern of provision that is recognisable today. Subsequent Acts rationalised and clarified many of the ambiguities. The use of language in many Education Acts often leads to misinterpretation which can take decades to sort out. The Act and subsequent legislation created a wide range of technical institutions and Further Education became more consolidated and gradually expanded. Various titles described their respective purposes and priorities e.g. Art Schools, Evening Institutes, Colleges of Further Education, Colleges of Technology. The clearer definition of the Further Education Sector allowed greater choice of progression after leaving school and increasing numbers went on further study whether onto full-time, part-time, evening, day or block release courses.

The examinations offered by City and Guilds, Royal Society of Arts, REBs, London Chamber of Commerce etc continued to develop as more students elected to attend colleges. In addition many other awarding bodies offered qualifications to college students in new areas that were becoming popular e.g. hairdressing, nursery nursing, nursing and secretarial studies The traditional areas of commerce and technical subjects likewise expanded in range and level as the numbers of students increased and new occupational areas were identified and which were largely satisfied by the well established examining boards. Many of the bigger colleges offered a mixed economy of provision spanning technical, commercial, professional, academic programmes i.e. GCE ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels and at higher education level. In addition there were specialist colleges focussing on programmes in particular industry sectors e.g. agriculture, construction, horticulture, hospitality, marine studies and non-vocational subjects etc.

A good example of a mixed economy college was Portsmouth College of Technology. I left secondary modern school and went to Portsmouth to take GCE ‘O’ levels, stayed on to take GCE ‘A’ levels and finally studied for an external special honours degree accredited by the University of London. The further education college was and still is the place where second chances are truly provided especially when the 11+ was still in operation! Portsmouth eventually became a Polytechnic and then a University. Its’ roots were in the earlier technical and Mechanics’ Institutions established in the Gosport and Portsea areas.

As the Further Education Sector expanded and became more consolidated, national, regional and local structures had to be established to oversee the sector. One such regional structure was the Regional Advisory Councils (RACs). They had a major influence on examinations particularly the distribution of provision in terms of levels allowed in particular colleges in order to reduce duplication. Very often the discussions for course approval could be heated between a college wanting to introduce a course that was already available in another college in their locality. Issues around supply and demand were carefully considered. One pleasing feature of these approval procedures was that a specialist subject HMI would be involved along with the colleges’ general inspector. It was a very open and civilised process.

The Regional Advisory Councils (RACs)

The Councils played an important role in technical examinations within their respective regions.

There were nine such Councils covering the following regions, namely:

• East Anglia
• East Midlands
• London and Home Counties
• Northern Counties
• North West *
• South West
• Wales *
• West Midlands *
• Yorkshire and Humberside *

*These Councils had a formal relationship with the Regional Examining Bodies (REBs) see chapter 4.

The main function of the Councils was to provide a joint forum for FE and HE institutions and representatives from commerce and industry to plan and monitor the provision within a particular geographical area. They were particularly active in considering and making recommendations on the location of advanced programmes i.e. programmes above GCE ‘A’ level standard e.g. HNC/HNDs and professional awards. In addition some RACs had responsibility for the location of non-advanced programmes. During the 1970s the RACs became responsible for the approval of proposals for the Diploma in HE and other initial teacher training programmes as well as part-time non-degree programmes leading to post-graduate awards. The Haslegrave Report (see later) held that the pattern for technician and business programmes was too complex and confused because of the overlaps in provision and management by CGLI and the Joint Committee and action on their recommendation significantly altered the qualifications landscape by introducing new national administrative and co-ordinating arrangements. Their recommendations led to the creation of TEC and BEC (again see later).

The main examining bodies in technical and commercial subjects in the 1960s continued to be City and Guilds of London Institute, London Chamber of Commerce, National Awards (Joint Committee), Royal Society of Arts, Regional Examining Unions and the Professional Bodies. A large number of smaller more niche market examining boards existed e.g. College of Preceptors, Institute of Linguists, Nursery Nurses Board and Pitman’s et al. In addition there were the GCE boards offering ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels and some were beginning to offer technical and commercial subjects. Numerous governments throughout the years had attempted to reform the courses/programmes and the related examinations in vocational and technical education. One good example was the 1961 White Paper ‘Better Opportunities in Technical Education’ proposing a series of recommendations many of which were implemented.

The chief proposals included:

• Courses available to students leaving school would include: National Certificates and Diplomas for students aiming to become at least high grade technicians; technician courses devised specifically for particular industries; craft courses and courses for operatives
• ONCs should last two years instead of three and entry requirements raised.
• There should be new courses of four or five years specially for technicians which became known as T courses
• New general courses should be introduced leading to either technician or ONC/D courses which became known as G courses
• Craft courses should be modified in a number of ways i.e. updating and making the theory more relevant to the practical/ vocational skill required by the occupation
• Courses for operatives should be vigorously developed to reflect the needs of industry more.

The recommendations were an attempt to reduce the non-completion in technician and commercial subjects and other programmes especially among the younger students. The reasons for drop out were the familiar ones of poor teaching, difficulty of access to study and the problems associated with weak basic literacy and numeracy skills and an inadequate appreciation or knowledge of scientific concepts. The introduction of the diagnostic G courses lasting one or two years were referred to as G1 and G2 respectively and were taken at the beginning of FE studies unless the student possessed four GCE passes. The Union of Lancashire and Cheshire Institutes also introduced G courses from1953/4. The more specialised technician courses were staged by the City and Guilds of London Institute.
A number of people argued that the National Certificate and Diplomas were complex and expensive to operate and service and the numbers declined as the university sector expanded and the polytechnics became established and offered a wider range of vocational subjects. Also as already mentioned successive governments preferred to encourage ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels as the country’s primary qualifications at age 16 and 18. In 1973 the government again pushed for reform and appointed the Haslegrave Committee to advise. In retrospect the government had driven a system that was founded on college-based assessment, (e.g. the National Awards), rather than external assessment to national standards. This approach was against the majority view held by employers and reinforced the belief that the Department of Education and Science (DES) was biased towards the academic route and qualifications.

The Haslegrave Report (1969) on technician courses and examinations significantly changed the examinations landscape. The Report recommended that the CGLI and the REBs should consider ‘– – drawing closer together to form a unified administrative organisation for the examinations, testing and general assessment of performance’. Following the recommendation the Technician Education Council (TEC) and its counterpart the Business Education Council (BEC) were created which resulted in the REBs having no specific role in examinations or validating technician courses. Consequently after 1974 the majority of the REBs reconstructed themselves and merged with Regional Advisory Councils for FE.

Further major reforms followed and in 1985 the Review of Vocational Qualifications in England and Wales, (the De Ville Report), was published driven by the ongoing concerns about the lack of a coherent qualifications structure and the confusing multitude of awarding bodies. Following its recommendations the National Council for Vocational Qualifications (NCVQ) was established. The report recommended that a national framework for qualifications should be created and that the awarding bodies should become more integrated. So National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) were born and Scotland had a similar set of arrangements in SCOTEC and SCOTBEC. Once implemented the national framework actually increased the number of qualifications and the number of awarding bodies remained at approximately 150. However, this was in the view of many people the first major move to nationalise and create a more centralised system for qualifications and the associated examinations system.

The De Ville Report was followed by the White Paper ‘Working Together-Education and Training’ and established Lead Bodies to set the national standards for occupational/industry sectors which meant for example that City and Guilds role of standard setting was curtailed. So for the CGLI this transition meant the focus shifted from the wide representations (e.g. teachers, professional bodies and other subject specialists and T.U. representatives) of their National Advisory Committees to one where the employers’ needs would predominate. In many ways this was a regressive development. The advisory committees of CGLI had played an important part and were on the whole excellent forums to monitor and improve technical examinations. The advisory committee structure for the REBs had also provided valuable opportunities to work with people and organisations who were key partners with the colleges.

NVQs and Employers

On past evidence the role and consequent influence of employers on examinations and qualifications has been changeable and questionable. Too often successive governments have been inconsistent in their views about the involvement and role of employers. Employers have a pivotal role to play but there has to be a balanced and representative group of knowledgeable people to develop effective programmes and assessment regimes which meet up to date needs of their workforce. Throughout their existence NVQs have been heavily criticised as expensive and bureaucratic and the majority of employers have voiced concern about the costly assessment regimes with their numerous assessors, internal and external verifiers. The NVQ system was also attacked by a few ill-informed academics who had little understanding of technical education and training. Sadly as so often happens government ministers and civil servants were unduly influenced by these questionable research publications. All these negative factors undermined and eroded the true potential that competence based assessments in the work place could achieve for many occupations. The initial hope (dream?) that NVQs would become universal across all occupational sectors and thus eventually replace all other work-based qualifications was in hindsight greatly misjudged which in many ways was unfortunate. NVQs continue today and are constantly under review particularly as the new vocational diplomas and apprenticeship schemes are introduced.

Personal Observation.

The introduction of NVQs represented a marked departure and I would argue a welcome improvement from previous approaches to reform work based education and training particularly to assessment methods. NVQs had a key set of values that made them distinctive i.e. competence based; reflecting fully knowledge, understanding and practical application for /in the workplace. I will further consider the various advantages and disadvantages of the reforms in technical and work based education and training in the last chapter of this history.

Professional Institutions

As already mentioned a number of professional bodies have conducted examinations for entry into their professions and they have had a major influence on the development of technical education and the examination system [see biography on the professional bodies]. However a few examples of their influence will assist this presentation. The Institution of Civil Engineering began examinations in 1897 whilst the Institution of Mechanical Engineers started examinations in 1913. Since then the Professional bodies have set their own standards which candidates achieved partly through examinations and awards of various grades e.g. student, graduate, associate and member. A wide range of professions offered examinations include Chemistry, Construction, Engineering and Physics. Recognition for the various grades within the profession was gained through experience and successful completion of the examinations. As the examinations developed throughout the 20th century a system of exceptions for some of the grades was recognised for students gaining qualifications from public examinations e.g. School and Higher Certificates, GCE O and A levels, HNC/Ds, Diplomas in Technology and degrees in science and engineering etc. Similar arrangements exist today with the equivalent qualifications.

Professional bodies represent a wide range of professions including agriculture, business, commerce, construction, engineering, financial services, medical and paramedical sciences, science and technology. Millerson (1) identified about 160 qualifying bodies about 80 in science and technology, 50 in commerce, law and the social sciences and about 12 in agriculture. Approximately 120 conduct their own examinations and around 75 award qualifications that are recognised as HE. Their primary purpose is to maintain standards and regulate entry to the particular profession. The professional bodies work closely with colleges and higher education institutions which they recognise to run their programmes. They worked in joint partnerships such as through the National schemes. In agriculture and agricultural engineering the certificates and diplomas awarded were referred to as ‘nationals’.

The Council of Engineering Institutions (CEI) founded in 1965 by the major engineering bodies to promote the interests of the profession had responsibility for engineering examinations until it was succeeded by the Engineering Council following the Finnistan report in 1980 and this was later reformed to create the Engineering Council (UK). Currently the Engineering Council (UK) still continues to offer the long established Engineering Council Examinations which are now administered by the City and Guilds of London Institute. The examinations comprise three parts, the final part being for chartered engineers and the examinations are particularly popular internationally.

The review of vocational qualifications (DeVille Report) in 1986 identified 250 professional bodies involved in examining and accrediting qualifications.

College Awards

A number of colleges and Polytechnics offered their own awards to satisfy local needs in topics that were not met by other established or recognised qualifications. Obviously relatively few colleges were able to establish national recognition or currency for their own awards but before the various reforms a number did create some awards that satisfied local employment needs and were greatly valued by local employers. Such awards were set at both non-advanced and advanced level and were ultimately linked and accredited by professional bodies, local universities or the CNAA.

It might help to provide some information in table 1 about the size and the names of institutions in 1955 that formed the further education sector at that time.

Table 1. Titles of Technical Institutions in 1955.

*Includes the eight National Colleges three of which were based in London Polytechnics

Source: Venables. P.F.R. ‘Technical Education’.

A number of colleges within the further education sector were monotechnics i.e. specialising in a single discipline such as art, building, catering/food and commerce. These monotechnics offered examinations from the most of the main awarding bodies e.g. CGLI, LCCI, ONC/OND/HNC/HNDs, RSA, etc. as well as offering their own specialised certificates/diplomas.

Personal observation

The recent announcement by this current Labour government in 2007 resurrected the prospect of colleges creating and awarding their own qualifications! This coupled with the encouragement of private companies to similarly become awarding bodies surely will cause all sorts of problems and difficulties not least in terms of the issues about quality assurance and validity, reliability and probity of the awards. Other issues associated with the qualifications would be about their national credibility and currency and how colleges could resource their development and maintenance. In addition it will further complicate the qualifications and examinations landscape for students, parents, employers and other end users – it’s a strange old world!

National Colleges

One interesting development in the 1940/50s was the creation of specialised colleges and monotechnics. In all, eight national colleges were established between 1946 and 1951 and maintained by central government with significant support from the appropriate industry. A Ministry of Education Annual Report of 1947 identified a number of strategically important industries or sectors that employed relatively few workers but required advanced training in specialised colleges. The national colleges were:

Source: G. L. Payne. ‘Britain’s Scientific and Technological Manpower’.

Interesting to note the specialism’s chosen in the 1940/50s and the London centricity although to be fair the polytechnics established by Quintin Hogg [see biography] were based in the capital.

The national colleges provided a wide range of courses including higher degrees and although the numbers of students were small the colleges produced highly specialised and competent technologists for the relevant industries. It was hoped they would provide the apex of technical education building on the achievements of the Further Education Sector. A number of the colleges conducted research activities supported and funded by government and/or their parent industries. Courses and the related examinations were designed for their particular industry and were dependent on entry requirements and included college diplomas, higher nationals, degrees and postgraduate awards. The national colleges progressively underwent a number of title changes including Colleges of Advanced Technology (CATs) and eventually became universities or were absorbed into the university sector. Cranwell is now a world-class university with outstanding business and manufacturing programmes.

Universities

Much has been written about the history and development of the university sector and individual institutions so I will provide only a very brief account of their involvement with technical education and examinations. The role the ancient universities played in scientific and technical education was minimal as they were preoccupied with classical and religious studies. The exception was mathematics at Cambridge. The methods of teaching and high cost of provision at the ancient universities further added to their exclusive nature. In spite of this reluctance by Oxford and Cambridge Universities to teach science and technical subjects a number of attempts were made to extend their activities into these areas and engage with the Mechanics Institute movement. One example from Cambridge was Arthur Hervey who proposed the creation of ‘four circuit professors’ who would travel to such cities as Birmingham, Brighton and Manchester to teach such subjects as astronomy, geology and natural philosophy (science). These ideas and suggestions made by Hervey and Sewell from Oxford University were instrumental in getting their universities to agree to administer local examinations for the Society of Arts. The Universities of Cambridge and Oxford introduced the ‘local examinations’ that subsequently influenced the development of the examination systems for schools and for entry into universities.

Table 2 illustrates the initial growth of the Cambridge and Oxford local examinations.

Table 2. Cambridge Local Examinations.

Oxford Local Examinations

Source:Balfour. G ‘The Educational Systems of Great Britain and Ireland’.

These boards offered commercial subjects e.g. shorthand. They evolved into ‘A’ and ‘O’ level examining boards and throughout the 20th and into the 21st century offered both technical and commercial subjects and are now involved in developing vocational diplomas.

Science and Technical Teaching in HE.

The teaching of science and technical subjects and their associated examinations came very late to English universities compared with the dissenting academies, universities in Scotland and on the continent. Until the mid 19th century few opportunities existed for students who wished to pursue scientific and technical subjects at higher levels at Oxford and Cambridge. Between 1850 and 1900 new institutions in London and the larger cities were created and began to specialise in applied and pure science and technological subjects. London University, Kings College, Royal College of Mining and University College set the pattern in the capital. In Birmingham (Mason College) Leeds (Yorkshire College of Science), Manchester (Owens College), Royal Technical Institute Salford (1896) and Sheffield (Firth College) schools of pure and applied science were established. Similar institutions were founded in Liverpool and other major cities in England. With the expansion of the Universities throughout the 20th century and the absorption of the polytechnics into the university sector in 1992 many began to specialise and some became centres of excellence in the sciences and technologies. One interesting aspect of the degrees offered by some universities was the development of thin and thick sandwich programmes. As I mentioned in the introduction one of the ongoing concerns in technical and vocational education is how to achieve the balance between theory and practice and prepare students more effectively for employment. This also reflects on what and how students are assessed. Sandwich degree programmes are very effective in achieving these essential aspirations. For example CGLI accredit a number of universities who offer thick sandwich programmes by recognising the students’ work experience and awarding the successful students the Licentiateship Grade. The Institute also accredits some professional bodies, the armed forces and some companies undertaking programmes of Continuing Professional Development (CPD). The Senior Award recognises experience and achievement in the work place for the student on a work placement and represents an added value element for the students’ HE studies. The Senior Awards are also used by a number of professional bodies, the armed forces and employers to recognise experiential learning and skill acquisition in the work place.

Special mention must be made about the unique feature of the University of London degrees namely the external degree. This degree at general and honours level was offered in a number of the larger technical colleges or colleges of technology throughout Britain and the majority were in science and technology. Many of the colleges offering these higher awards ultimately became polytechnics and then universities. The external degree made a significant contribution to the number of scientists and technologists during the 1950/60s. In 1952 there were 1,102 students pursuing external degrees in colleges. As mentioned earlier I was fortunate to take an external degree at Portsmouth College of Technology.

Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA)

As the college sector became more established many institutions were offering higher education programmes e.g. HNC/HNDs, professional awards, teaching qualifications as well London University external degrees. Some colleges also had special arrangements with local universities to run HE courses. It was inevitable that special arrangements would be introduced to approve and inspect this provision and in1964 the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) was created following a recommendation of the Robbins Report on HE. The Council validated HE programmes including degrees and diplomas for students in maintained institutions outside the university sector. It replaced the National Council for Technological Awards (NCTA). It later assumed responsibility for teacher education and in 1974 in conjunction with the National Council for Diplomas in Art and Design became responsible for degrees in art and design. It was also responsible for the Diploma and Certificate in Management Studies. From 1974-75 the Council along with a number of universities validated the Diploma in Higher Education. The Council achieved a great deal and its work was valued by many colleges which offered higher education programmes. It was dissolved in 1993 following the enactment of the Higher and Further Education Act and the establishment of the Higher and Further Education Funding Councils.

National Examining Board for Supervisory and Management Studies (National Examining Board for Supervisory Studies Management (NEBSS/M)

NEBSS was established in 1964 under the umbrella of CGLI and from 1966 offered examinations for managers and supervisors. It had a national responsibility and contained representatives from CGLI, commerce, industry, professional bodies and relevant government departments. It raised the profile of management and supervisory education and before the merger had 50.000 registrations. NEBSS was an excellent example of a relatively small awarding body that identified and satisfied an important niche market. In 2002 the National Examining Board was merged with the Institute for Supervision and Management (ISM) to establish the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM). ILM is still a part of the CGLI group of companies.

TEC and BEC/BTEC/Edexcel

The Technician Education Council and the Business Education Council were created in 1973 and 1974 respectively following the recommendations of the Haslegrave Committee. Scottish equivalents were created namely SCOTEC and SCOTBEC. Wales and Northern Ireland had same structures as England. TEC was established to unify and validate technical educational programmes in FE and HE Institutions. These programmes led to ONC/ONDs and HNC/HNDs, which were previously the responsibility of a number of professional bodies and other organisations. BEC was required to rationalise and improve the relevance of sub-degree vocational business programmes in FE, HE and Polytechnics. BEC assumed responsibility for ONC/ONDs and HNC/HNDs in 1976.
The TEC’s Art and Design Committee established the Design and Art Technician Education Council (DATEC) in 1980. Similar arrangements were established for Scotland.

BEC and TEC were merged in 1984 to become BTEC and offer a wide range of awards at First, National and Higher Certificate and Diploma levels. During the 1990s BTEC became involved with the General National Vocational Qualifications (GNVQs). GNVQs, after a relatively short life were phased out between 2005 and 2007 being replaced by vocational GCSEs and Diplomas. BTEC checked and moderated programmes but did not directly assess the centre staff. That responsibility resided with employers and employer groups. In 1996 BTEC merged with the London Examinations Board to become Edexcel. As a result Edexcel offers a wide range of qualifications including ‘A’ levels, GCSEs and BTEC vocational subjects. Edexcel is currently involved with the development of Foundation degrees.

Edexcel currently operates internationally and awards over 1.5 million certificates every year. Edexcel and CGLI are by far the largest awarding bodies for vocational and technical subjects and are largely complementary.

The next chapter will complete the history of technical and commercial examinations up to the present time and will include the developments of Foundation Degrees, Vocational Diplomas and other government reforms.

References:

1. Millerson. G. ‘The Qualifying Associations’. RKP. 1964.

Other Useful References:

• Payne. G. L. ‘Britain’s Scientific and Technological Manpower’. Stanford University Press. 1960.
• Sanderson. M. ‘The Universities and British Industry 1850 – 1970’. RKP. ISBN 0 7100 7378 X. 1972.
• A more comprehensive book list is at the end of Chapter 6.
• A comprehensive chronology and glossary on examinations accompany this history and can be found on this website.