UK: Vocational + higher education = success

Students that combine vocational education with academic studies are nearly as successful at gaining entry to and completing the first year of higher education as those with general academic qualifications, a new study has found. But students with only a vocational education are less likely to get to university than those with A levels and are more likely to drop out after their first year. In the study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, Oxford University's Dr. Geoff Hayward found a high proportion of students with combined academic and vocational qualifications gained in state-school sixth forms had similar backgrounds to the traditional academic applicants. Hayward reported that the increasing proportion of students applying to enrol in higher education with combined academic and vocational qualifications could be widening participation - although not substantially.

Read the complete article in July 27, 2009 issue of UNIVERSITY WORLD NEWS by clicking the following link - http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20090724102502608.