Sport and Leisure diploma to boost university aspiration

As John Buswell sees it, one of the challenges for the more inclusive Sport and Leisure Diploma is to encourage increasing numbers of young people make the decision to stay in full time education, whilst maintaining educational standards.

Building progression levels With Hospitality, Leisure and Sport still emerging as a degree subject, universities must continue to build appropriate and stimulating progression levels throughout the course.

“The success and public perception of a degree comes down to how its content is put together and how rigorous the quality assurance and assessment standards are,” says John.

Embracing the new diploma standard

He feels that whilst those working in higher education well understand the traditional A level standards, designed as preuniversity exams when just 5% of 18year olds were going onto university, they will need to fully understand and embrace the new diploma as an alternative and valuable qualification which will entitle those achieving to claim their rightful place on a degreecourse.

“We have to work hard to achieve the Government’s target of at least 50% of 18year olds moving onto university. Currently the figure is 43% where it has stuck for several years, and England and
Wales lag behind a number of other European countries in this respect, as well as behind countries like Poland and New Zealand where 70% of young people continue into higher education,” he said. As for the young people, John says that whereas A levels are still seen by many as narrow and not fit for purpose, so the elements of the new diploma, including an emphasis on personalized and reflective learning will provide young people with the level of education required to achieve a place at university together with a route into employment.

Mix and match qualifications

John also feels that the new diplomas fit in well with the existing qualifications framework as thereare clear pathways and connectivity points at many levels, so students can mix and match if that gives them the qualifications they need to achieve the career of their choice.

Better engagement with industry

However, employability is the key to the development of a successful diploma and he says that
many higher education institutions are now much better at engaging with the industry than before.
“We work more closely with employers and when they tell us the skills and requirements they need to develop their businesses, to a certain extent we are able to modify the content of our degrees accordingly. I think that the strong personalised learning requirement within the new specialist diplomas will help students to consider their career plan more carefully and develop the appropriate skills necessary to achieve successful employment in the area which interest them most,” he said.

The most important thing, according to John, is to build a qualification that helps students prepare for the demands of the twenty first century. A levels were never really designed to do this, but the new Sport and Leisure Diploma as with the other specialist diplomas currently being developed should allow the scope for integrating practical and theoretical learning to achieve a qualification of much greater value to both the young person and their future employers.
 

     

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