4 Academic Versus Vocational

The paper acknowledges that the proposed system is a compromise, with both academic and vocational learning acknowledged in the same system, but shown differently in the record of learning. It further argues that the system is based on the argument that academic work requires holistic assessments whereas vocational work requires analytic assessments. So long as these dualities are preserved, the changes are unlikely to result in significant change in the divide between academic and vocational learning

The achievement standards in the conventional subjects are `analytic' to the same extent as unit standards in the vocational subjects, in as much as they seek to disaggregate chalk from cheese in the assessment and reporting of conventional subjects. What is sought also, however, is a broader, more "all considering", professionally informed assessment judgement. The assumption behind this is that informed professional judgement is likely to be more acceptable, and, in the end, more valid than any technocratic tick box approach. Using the concept "holistic" to describe this in the written papers may have led to some confusion.