Nominations open for VQ awards

The award was introduced last year to recognise employers who promote the value of vocational qualifications in the workplace. There will be two categories for this award, SME (1-249 employees) and large employers (250+ employees). Employers and learning providers are also encouraged to nominate outstanding students and employees for the national VQ Learner of the Year award sponsored by OCR. A new study, commissioned by the Edge Foundation, polled over 2,000 18-35 year olds, split between those who had opted for a vocational education and those who had taken a wholly academic route. The results revealed that many young people are still being actively discouraged from opting for vocational education, with just a quarter of parents (27%) judging it to be worthwhile. Nominations for all the awards will be judged by a panel and the winners will be presented with their awards by a Minister at the VQ Day Awards ceremony on 3 June in Westminster, London. The deadline for submissions is 2 May 2014. For more information, visit: www.vqday.org.uk/vq-awards The picture shows past winner Joe Latta who won the England Learner of the Year Award for his region, the West Midlands, last year. He achieved the NVQ level 2 Diploma in mechanical manufacturing engineering.