Professor Gordon Stobart:

Yes. I go back to the point of us being embedded in a particular system. Going back to Norway, it was the teachers who wrested the exam system from the universities back in the 19th century. They wanted to be the centre of assessment. That tradition has carried through, so they are central. The related element is the vocational. Again, that is traditional in that the introduction of exams in England in the 19th century came off the professional examinations. Because written subjects and written exams were valued in the high-status professions, the education system took over and the vocational has always been treated as second fiddle to that. There is the idea that if you can do it, you should do it through the academic route. How we change that is an issue of making vocational tracks attractive and recognition in higher education and the like. Ireland has gone a long way with that with the vocational programme, but the status of that is problematic. If we can have apprenticeships and good destinations for vocational qualifications, that is well worthy of support.