Press Release

Date: Tuesday 8 February 2005 (NR/07/05)

Labelling of subjects as either academic or vocational is “false and divisive” says CCEA Chairman.

In response to the recently published Government White paper on 14 – 19 Education, Dr Alan Lennon, the Chairman of Northern Ireland’s curriculum and examinations body, CCEA, has called for new thinking on how we view the current academic/vocational divide in education.

Dr Lennon was speaking at CCEA’s annual Celebrating Excellence Award ceremonies, held to honour those students who achieved top marks in last summer’s CCEA GCSE examinations.

Paying tribute to the student’s receiving awards, Dr Lennon said:

“This occasion not only gives me a chance to congratulate the students on wonderful performances but also to say thank you to the people who have contributed to your success: thanks to parents, school management and subject teachers, family and friends and also to the numerous Northern Ireland teachers and CCEA staff who jointly create, mark, and process scripts and who award the GCSE grades which you have deservedly achieved.”

Moving on to the recently published 14-19 White Paper, he commented:

“While it is important to understand that these proposals only relate to England , in practice the qualifications system has to have UK-wide currency. The direction of this White Paper has important implications for Northern Ireland qualifications – and therefore we take its content very seriously indeed.

When the original Tomlinson proposals were published in October 2004, CCEA underlined that GCSEs and A levels remained top class qualifications highly regarded by students, teachers, employers and universities. We said this, in part, because CCEA had already made radical proposals for a new Northern Ireland post-primary curriculum that deals with many of the matters underpinning the direction of the Tomlinson proposals and which dovetailed well with the existing qualifications structure.

We’re pleased therefore that the Government has decided to build on what’s best in the current system and to put increased emphasis on developing a qualifications system which allows young people to achieve through a range of relevant and challenging pathways. This fits very well with our curriculum development.

However, I have some concerns about one aspect of the White Paper, and that is the proposal for separate vocational diplomas. Rather than building bridges between so-called academic and so-called vocational qualifications, it is my worry that the Government’s approach will effectively drive a further wedge between them and confuse occupational training with education.

There is nothing more divisive in education today than this characterisation of learning and development routes into either academic or vocational. And it is an entirely false dichotomy; outdated and pejorative. It is my view that there is no such thing as an academic subject, only academic approaches to education: to content, to teaching approach and to assessment methods.

Up to age 16 we aim to offer a general education and general qualifications which are equivalent across the board. That is what GCSE means. It is our aim that in all GCSE subject areas there is a proper balance between the theoretical and the applied, such that these qualifications have intrinsic value within themselves and are appropriate stepping stones to A levels or other qualifications and beyond. We aim to ground this broad suite of relevant general qualifications in the common or generic aspects of learning for life beyond education and for work and to supplement all of this with some certificated qualifications in specific occupational areas.

Our aim is to eliminate the wholly false and divisive characterisation of subjects into either academic or vocational and to recognise that all subject areas are more properly characterised by the content, the teaching approach and the method of assessment. Teaching plumbing by means of a lecture and assessing it by means of an essay is as theoretical a nonsense as I can imagine. Practising the techniques of heart surgery is as applied as it gets.

It is the approach, not the subject, on which we should put the labels. And labels, if needed at all, should be meaningful for the users of the qualifications. The White Paper has failed to grasp this important aspect, in my view.”

CCEA’s Celebrating Excellence Awards will be presented during two ceremonies in the CCEA building (Conference Hall) at 29 Clarendon Road , Clarendon Dock, Belfast on Tuesday 8 March 2004 .

The programme of events is as follows :

Morning Ceremony

Refreshments 10.00am

Opening Remarks 10.30am Dr Alan Lennon, Chairman CCEA

Award Ceremony 10.40am Dr, Alan Lennon

Closing Remarks 11.25am Mr Gavin Boyd , Chief Executive CCEA

Tea/ Coffee 11.30am Top candidate photos will be taken at this time

Afternoon Ceremony

Refreshments 1.30pm

Opening Remarks 2.00pm Dr Alan Lennon, Chairman CCEA

Award Ceremony 2.10pm Dr Alan Lennon

Closing Remarks 2.50pm Mr Gavin Boyd , Chief Executive CCEA

Tea/ Coffee 3.00pm Top Candidate photos will be taken at this time

Celebrating Excellence – GCSE top students 2004

Morning Ceremony :

Subject	Student	School
Additional Maths	Colin Maguire	The Royal School Dungannon
Business and communication systems B	Chantelle Kennedy	The Middleton Technology School , Manchester
D&T Product Design B Full	Theresa Williams	Claires Court Schools , Maidenhead
D&T Product Design B - Full	Chantelle Kennedy	The Middleton Technology School , Manchester
D&T Product Design B - Short	Rachel Pollard	Copely High School, Stalybridge
Drama	Claire Marie O’Brien	St. Mary’s Grammar School Magherafelt
Economics	Therese Scullion	St. Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt
English	Claire Louise McSparron	Antrim Grammar School
French	Laura Louglin	BanbridgeAcademy
	Catherine Higgins	Rathmore Grammar School , Belfast
	Daniel McCormick	Royal Belfast Academical Institution
Gaeilge	Caibre O’Caireallain	Meanscoil Feirste
German	Christopher O’Hara	Rathmore Grammar School
Home Economics	Susan Knox	Grosvenor Grammar School , Belfast
ICT	Rachel Irvine	Down High School, Downpatrick
ICT B Full Course	Enzhe Zhang	Sha Tin College , Hong Kong
ICT B Short Course	Neha Patel	The Royal Latin School , Buckingham
Mathematics	Ciaran Moore	St. Patricks Grammar School , Armagh
Motor Vehicle & Road User Studies	Joseph McNally	St. Colman’s College Newry
Motor Vehicle & Road User Studies	Benjamin Andrew Watson	The Royal School , Dungannon
Physical Education	Matthew Holmes	Ballyclare High School (Grammar)
Science:Double Award Non-Modular	Catherine Potter	Rathmore Grammar School , Belfast
Science:Physics	Erin Allison	Ballymena Academy
Science:Physics	Alan McKee	Campbell College , Belfast
Science: Single Award	Julie Scott	Ballymena Academy
Social and Environmental Studies	Nuala McKay	St. Louis Grammar School , Ballymena
Technology and Design	Alan McKee	Campbell College , Belfast

Celebrating Excellence – GCSE top students 2004

Afternoon Ceremony:

Subject	Student	School
Applied Business (B) Double Award	Luke Dowle	Lakers School , Coleford
Applied ICT (B) Double Award	Helen Ingram	Brentwood County High
Business Studies	Claire Hutchinson	Foyle and Londonderry College
Business Studies (B)	Emma Gill	Doncaster RidgeWood School
Double Award Applied ICT	Mark Loughery	St Patrick's and St Brigid's Claudy
Double Award Leisure and Tourism	Kim Barclay	Castlederg High School
Double Health and Social Care	Lyali Banat	Lumen Christi College, Derry
English Literature	Louise Liggett	Omagh Academy
Geography	Erin MacKenzie	Coleraine High School
History	Stephen Begley	Abbey Christian Brothers Grammar School , Newry
Home Economics Child Development	Aine McEleney	Thornhill College , Derry
ICT Short Course	Laura Jeffrey	Foyle and Londonderry College
ICT Short Course	John Quigley	North East Institute of F&H Education
Irish	Sean McClory	Abbey Christian Brothers Grammar School , Newry
Irish	Pauline Dowd	BIFHE Brunswick Street
Irish	Paul McKeveney	BIFHE Whiterock Road
Irish	Erin Kelly	St Brigid's College, Derry
Music	Mairiosa Biddle	Lumen Christi College, Derry
Religious Studies	Dianne Harrison	Lurgan College
Religious Studies	Julie-Ann Henderson	Omagh Academy
Religious Studies	Rebekah Maguire	Portadown College
Religious Studies	Donna McCartan	Sacred Heart Grammar School
Religious Studies	Valerie Johnson	Sullivan Upper School , Hollywood
Religious Studies Short Course	Nicola Speers	Kilkeel High School
Science: Biology	Mary Duffy	Lumen Christi College, Derry
Science: Chemistry	Julie-Ann Henderson	Omagh Academy
Science: Double Award (Modular)	Joseph Marius Walsh	St Columbs College, Derry
Spanish	Sara Cooper	Our Lady's Grammar School,Newry

Media enquiries to Ruth Maguire on (028) 9026 1216, Mobile 07796947993. E mail rhmaguire@ccea.org.uk

ENDS

Note to Editors

CCEA is the Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment.

CCEA places learners and those who have a concern for their educational and personal development at the forefront of its thinking. CCEA's mission is:
"To enable the full potential of all learners to be achieved and recognised"

What we do

CCEA is a unique educational body in the UK , bringing together the three areas of curriculum, examinations and assessment.

Advising Government – on what should be taught in Northern Ireland ’s schools and colleges.

Monitoring Standards – ensuring that the qualifications and examinations offered by awarding bodies in Northern Ireland are of an appropriate quality and standard.

Awarding Qualifications

– as Northern Ireland’s leading awarding body we offer a diverse range of qualifications, such as GCSEs, including the new GCSE Double Award specifications in vocational subjects, GCE A and AS levels, Entry Level Qualifications, and Graded Objectives in Modern Languages.

- CCEA also offers a range of Awards and Certificates in Education, Training and Skills (ACETS) targeted at learners who want to get
the knowledge, understanding and skills needed
to hit the ground running in the world of work.