Alternative Forms of Educational Provision (AQA GCSE Sociology)

Vocational education & training

• Vocational education refers to work-related qualifications and training for students aged 14–18 years, which has expanded in recent years. Qualifications include:

  • NVQs ranging from Level 1-7 in subjects such as :

    • childcare

    • health and beauty

    • teaching and childcare

    • construction and property

    • business and management

  • Applied A levels and Diplomas such as:

    • health and social care

    • engineering

  • T Levels, which are 2-year courses that follow GCSEs such as:

    • accounting

    • finance

    • legal services

    • marketing

  • Apprenticeships that combine employment with training and study

• The growth of vocational education and training demonstrates the significance of functionalist beliefs that the educational system must supply the skills and expertise required by business and the economy in the contemporary world

Advantages and disadvantages of vocational education

• The focus on vocational education and training will result in a workforce that is more qualified and highly skilled, making Britain more competitive

• Vocational qualifications, however, are seen as being comparable to the tripartite system, in which students who do not succeed academically are relegated to lower-status vocational training

• According to Marxists, vocational education is seen as having less prestige than academic degrees and is intended to prepare working-class children to be exploited as workers in a capitalist system

• Additionally, skills training masks the fact that young people with skills have no jobs, as vocational education reduces the number of young people who are NEET

Alternative educational provision, including home schooling and de-schooling

Homeschooling

• Not all children participate in mainstream formal education

• One alternative is home schooling or home learning, which involves teaching children at home rather than in a state or independent school

• Home education provides a different learning environment for students who receive their education from parents, sometimes with the help of tutors

• The number of students being home schooled in England has increased from 116,000 in 2021-22 to 126,000 in 2022-23 (Department for Education, 2024)

Reasons for home schooling

• Parents may feel that the methods of teaching in school are not right for their child and that they can provide a better education for them at home

• Parents may choose to have their child educated at home because their child is unhappy within a school environment due to bullying or mental health problems (such as anxiety)

• There may be religious reasons so being home educated means there is no set curriculum about how children are taught or what they are taught

• Parents may struggle to get a place for their child in a school of their choice to meet their child’s special needs

Issues with home schooling

• There are concerns over the quality of home tuition and its impact on children's social development

• There is also no regulation in place for home education, as councils don't monitor children who have been deregistered from school so they cannot offer extra support at home

De-schooling

• According to Illich (1995), schools suppress children and encourage passive conformity instead of helping them grow into creative individuals capable of independent thought

• Illich is in favour of de-schooling, in which the education system should be abolished with students instead participating in self-directed education via learning networks, which would encourage creativity and real learning

• A school that has this ethos is Sands School in Devon, one of a few progressive alternatives to conventional education

  • Sands School is a democratic school where students and staff run the school together and there is no headteacher

  • At Sands, students have freedom of choice as there are no compulsory classes; students are free to learn the subjects that matter to them