Diploma, 14-19

The Diploma was originally proposed as a new type of qualification in the 2005 White Paper 14-19 Education and Skills, being introduced in September 2008.

However, by 2011 it could be classed as another educational idea that ended up in a cul-de-sac. By then it had already fallen out of favour even though it had literally just left its starting blocks.

After three years of developments from 2005, the Government’s Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) published, in 2008, the document 'Promoting achievement, valuing success: A strategy for 14-19 qualifications' which outlined their aim as being to have after a further 5-years (i.e. by 2013) four national qualification routes for 14 - 19 year olds:
• GCSEs and A Levels.
• Apprenticeships.
• Foundation Learning Tier (called just Foundation Learning from 2010).
• The (14-19) Diploma.

The Diploma initially covered 4 subject areas, increasing to 17 different occupational subject areas (called diploma lines of learning) which were determined as being representative of the economy. The subjects covered were:
1. Business, Administration and Finance.
2. Construction and the Built Environment.
3. Creative and Media.
4. Engineering.
5. Environmental and Land-based Studies.
6. Hair and Beauty Studies.
7. Hospitality.
8. Humanities and Social Sciences.
9. Information Technology.
10. Languages and International Communication.
11. Manufacturing and Product Design.
12. Public Services.
13. Retail business.
14. Science.
15. Society, Health and Development.
16. Sport and Active Leisure.
17. Travel and Tourism.

The Diploma was designed to bridge the gap that existed, and still exists, between academic qualifications (such as GCSEs) and vocational qualifications (which are non-academic and more practically based), by providing a qualification that had a blend of both theoretical and practical elements within it.

Diplomas were available at Levels 1, 2 and 3 and they offered another learning option for people of school age to consider. Whether this was an option too many, which may have confused school children and parents is debateable, it did provide them with an opportunity to gain applied knowledge of a particular work sector, rather than having to choose either a loose mixture of academic or vocational qualifications.

Another consideration for the Diplomas was that they also required learners to have a minimum of 10 days' work experience over their period of study. This helped provide valuable insight to learners as to what it was like to work in a particular sector of the economy. A counter argument against the inclusion of work experience at this school age was that, in practice, students would typically be given menial tasks to do and also that they were too young to be able to make an informed decision as to whether they would really like to pursue the type of work as a career option.

After the Diploma was quietly phased out in the early 2010s, the Government’s reflected on what was need and introduced new, but similar, qualifications called T Levels. These were available from September 2020 for 16-18 year olds in three subject areas, but with a total of twenty subject areas being planned for being available for September 2023.