Ofqual celebrates VQ Day

Many students at these colleges will be celebrating gaining their qualifications. Because their qualifications are regulated by Ofqual, the students can be safe in the knowledge that their qualifications are highly thought of by employers and are awarded by recognised awarding bodies.

The vocational qualification sector has shown strong growth with 5.3 million achievements this year compared with 4.6 million last year, and more than one and a half times the number of achievements compared to 2002–03 (2.2 million).

Kathleen Tattersall said today: "VQ Day is a celebration of the people who gain vocational qualifications every year, and those who help them achieve this success. I would like to congratulate those students on gaining their qualifications. At Ofqual we are working to ensure that all regulated qualifications are of a high quality and meet the needs of learners and employers. Ofqual reported earlier in the year that the number of students achieving vocational qualifications had substantially increased over the last five years. These qualifications open doors for learners and can lead the way to better opportunities for individual students and for the nation as a whole."

Ofqual's Director of Regulation, Fiona Pethick will be visiting Hackney Community College which is hosting the national VQ Day event for England. The College is a Centre of Vocational Excellence for both business and construction, and home to the recently launched Open Kitchen Bar & Restaurant (training restaurant for the London City Hospitality Centre).

The day will be hosted by celebrity chef James Martin, whose vocational training was the springboard for his considerable success, and will feature demonstrations of a range of vocational skills from catering to fashion and legal practice to motorsports. James will also announce VQ Learner and VQ Young Learner of the Year 2009.

 Notes to editors

1. Achievements in vocational qualifications
   
   

   Number of vocational qualifications (VQ) achievements by year (in millions)
   Year	02-03	03-04	04-05	05-06	06-07	07-08
   Total number of all VQ achievements	2.2	3.0	3.7	4.2	4.6	5.3

   Source: Ofqual statistics database providing snapshots for 2007–08, extracted in January 2009.
   
   This table is taken from the Annual Qualifications Market report published by Ofqual in April this year, for more information the full report can be downloaded from: http://www.ofqual.gov.uk/2271.aspx
2. Vocational Qualifications Day was launched in 2008 to raise the profile of VQs and celebrate vocational achievements. For more information please visit the VQ Day website: http://www.vqday.org.uk/
   
3. Ofqual in its interim form is part of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). On 2 April 2008 Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, announced that the government intended to legislate to make Ofqual a separate statutory authority reporting directly to Parliament.
4. For further information journalists should contact the Ofqual press office on 0300 303 3342, or 07798 924552 outside office hours. Members of the public should call the Ofqual helpline on 0300 303 3346.