Parents and Carers - what is the Diploma?
For the first time, there are now opportunities to gain qualifications which combine general education with work-related learning and which are highly valued by schools, colleges and universities. Because the delivery of the Diploma does not require the full week, it can be offered alongside a variety of other subjects, thus creating opportunities for students to achieve other qualifications (such as GCSEs and A-levels) as well.
The Diploma is designed to bring together the best of academic and work-related learning into an innovative programme which is supported by education and employers alike and which creates excellent opportunities for all our young people to prosper by developing the talents and skills they will need in this fast-changing world.
- Closing the gap between the academic-vocational divide which has hampered people and industries for too long
- Bringing about a closer integration between education and the world of work
- Providing learners with an unprecedented opportunity to gain a qualification highly valued by schools, colleges and universities for its unique blend of general education and work-related learning
For far too long, there has been a divide between academic study and work-related learning. If a student was considered academic, they were made to follow the academic route leading to A-levels and, often, university. Such education offered a prospect of better jobs and more fulfilling careers.
If, however, a student was not academic, they would leave school at 16 - or even earlier - and the best that could be hoped for was a job with training (such as an apprenticeship); otherwise, all that awaited was an unskilled job, often with little prospect of planned progression and few opportunities for continued learning.
This divide has hampered industries and the people who work in them by foreclosing their opportunities to fulfil their potential. Like all other 14-19 Diplomas, the Diploma in Hospitality is designed to bring about a much closer integration between education and industry, enabling both to prosper. Our young people, too, stand to benefit from this integration by having a much greater choice of progression routes within and from school, including those leading to higher education and the workplace. Those progression routes are able to accommodate a wide variety of abilities and talents, ensuring that each young person makes the most of his or hers.