§ Mr. Harold Walkerasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what Relationship exists between the qualifications required for associate membership of technical institutes and the curricula of the Higher National Certificate and technical diploma courses; and if he will take steps to eliminate any distortion in such curricula that might arise from the requirements of the institutes.
§ Mr. PrenticeHigher National Certificates and Diplomas are primarily qualifications in their own right for the senior technician in industry and commerce, and courses are devised with this end in view.
Certain professional institutions still grant a measure of exemption from their 622W own requirements to holders of these qualifications, although with the general tendency of the institutions, to raise standards, both qualifications are likely in the future to afford less exemption.
However, the granting of exemptions by institutions is not the object at which these awards are aimed, and I would not accept that courses approved by Joint Committees leading to the awards are distorted in order to meet the requirements of the institutions.