More young people should be encouraged to undertake vocational education to get jobs, a report has said. The report by international vocation education awarding body City and Guilds surveyed the attitudes of more than 500 young people to vocational training.
Philip Sheridan of City and Guilds said the report found that vocational training was “poorly perceived” among young people. He added that many young people considered vocation training to be a “low status option” and a “route for the less able”.
Shift in attitude
"There is an apparent lack of awareness of what vocational education really means and the opportunities that can be offered. A major shift in attitude is required to give vocational education the status it deserves as a worthy career path for young people," he said.
About half (46 per cent) of surveyed young people had an understanding of the term “vocational education”. Some 60 per cent of those surveyed planned to attend university or complete another academic qualification as their next course of study or work.
Of those planning to take an academic qualification next, 31 per cent did not consider vocational options because their parents would prefer them to have an academic qualification or attend university.
The report found that young people typically saw vocational education as less challenging and less prestigious than academic education; 32 per cent saw it as a route for the less able, and 26 per cent saw vocational education as a low status option. The report found young people would like more information about vocational education to help them learn about alternative career paths.