§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to the answer of 16 April 2002,Official Report, column 895W, and with reference to Sir Gareth Robert's Review 'Set for Success—The supply of people with science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills', if vocational qualifications are treated as non-academic. [60561]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisThe Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) accredit qualifications in relation to three broad categories, general, vocationally-related and occupational. GCSEs in vocational subjects are available and suitable for young people of all abilities, and are categorised as vocationally-related. Other vocational qualifications are categorised according to the published QCA criteria as either occupational or vocationally-related. National curriculum GCSEs and GCE A-levels are categorised as general qualifications.