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The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of City & Guilds' development of simulation‐based assessments for its ICT user qualification. These simulations are authentic scenario‐based replicas of word processing and spreadsheet software, which present a series of tasks that the test‐taker completes as if they were using actual software, thus demonstrating their ICT competence.

The methodology for the pilot study involved running a series of small trials at five customer sites, with test‐takers completing a detailed questionnaire. It is from this questionnaire that most of the conclusions about the simulations are drawn.

The case study explains the reasons why City & Guilds wanted to pursue this development work and presents the findings of a pilot exercise in which the simulations were trailed by a group of learners and tutors. The strengths and weaknesses of the simulations are evaluated, particularly in terms of assessment validity, and opportunities for further development work are discussed.

The main limitation of this paper is that the sample used for trialling was small; this was a necessity imposed by tight budgets and deadlines. Furthermore, the authors were required to use the existing City & Guilds test delivery platform, which had implications for the type of simulation that could be developed.

In terms of originality, it is the authors' opinion that the paper has value because it offers a unique insight into the challenges faced by a vocational awarding organisation in its efforts to develop new assessments. Although the technology involved is not completely new, it is believed that the candid evaluation of the simulations will be of interest to anyone working with e‐assessments, regardless of their level of familiarity with the UK education system.

The purpose of this paper is to show how and why government discoursal constraints have obstructed the development of viable degree apprenticeships for regulated healthcare professionals working in England and suggests some ways these constraints can now be managed and overcome.

The study uses an analysis of published literature, reviews of government and health professional body policies and regulations and semi-structured interviews recorded with those leading on the development of degree apprenticeships in healthcare-regulated professions.

Once created, a bureaucracy tends to look for ways to control discourse, to sustain itself and to extend its reach. In doing so, fault lines may be exposed which undermine the position of that bureaucracy, but it will continue to control discourses to maintain power over those it requires to act. There is no pedagogical need for End Point Assessment (EPA) to measure the competence of regulated healthcare professionals. The paper produces evidence to show how meeting health professional registration requirements is a sufficient metric for measuring successful degree apprenticeship outcomes.

This paper examined current practices relating to the registered nurse and nursing associate degree apprenticeships only. The validity of EPA for measuring occupational competence should be further investigated.

The NHS and other public service organisations should use these findings to re-examine and challenge the requirements for EPA in degree apprenticeships for all regulated professions.

Understanding how “centering” bureaucracies control discourse in their interests can help those in their orbit find ways to challenge and alter the course of policy.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight how accreditation of prior experiential learning (APEL) is implemented, the challenges faced by the APEL assessors while assessing candidates as well as to suggest recommendations for improving the APEL process.

This paper is written based on the critical reflection of two accreditation of prior experiential learning: admissions (APEL-A) assessors appointed from a Malaysian Qualifications Agency approved assessment centre. This process would add depth and breadth to the study based on the assessor’s experience.

The study identified five challenges in the implementation of APEL-A. They are limited literature and records of the existing practices, conceptualisation of the APEL process, complicated and time-consuming APEL process, standard of acceptance vary according to discipline and lack of continuous training for APEL assessors. The four recommendations for improvements are as follows: the need for transparent and clear guidelines, ensuring consistency in practices and fairness to those from conventional learning, integrating APEL as part of the institution’s academic policy and providing continuous training for all APEL assessors.

Until now, not much research has been done regarding its implementation in Malaysia. The number of learners enrolled through this form of assessment may be low but growing. The feedback on the implementation of the APEL-A assessment process would be greatly beneficial to the stakeholders involved in improving its implementation process. The highlighted challenges faced as well as the recommendations put forth may also be useful for the continuous improvement of the APEL-A assessment process. Relevant stakeholders would benefit from this study.

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have transformed the global outlook for international higher education. Given the rapid shift to online learning, the Tokyo Convention in the Asia-Pacific entrusted to UNESCO has become an important policy framework to facilitate regional collaboration, authoritative information sharing and recognition of qualifications across diverse modes of learning. This paper examines the role of the Tokyo Convention to establish an inclusive platform for monitoring and collaborative governance of mobility and internationalization based on fair and transparent recognition policies and practices in the Asia-Pacific.

In August 2019, a standardized survey instrument was sent by the Secretariat of the Tokyo Convention Committee at UNESCO Bangkok to competent recognition authorities in 46 countries in the Asia-Pacific, including the eight State Parties to the Tokyo Convention that ratified the Convention as of the reporting period. In total, qualitative data from n = 27 countries/states was received and analyzed to assess implementation of the Tokyo Convention throughout the region. The research design illustrates how normative instruments such as the Tokyo Convention are monitored and assessed over time.

A multi-stakeholder approach based on collaborative governance is needed to effectively monitor implementation and implications of the Tokyo Convention for diverse higher education stakeholders in the Asia-Pacific region.

Implications include establishing baseline data and methods for monitoring implementation of the Tokyo Convention. Based on collaborative governance theory, the paper explores potential for a multi-stakeholder approach to promote mutual accountability in the Asia-Pacific and to develop mechanisms for inclusive participation in the governance of the forthcoming Global Convention on recognition.

As the first systematic review of its kind, this paper includes a unique dataset and insights into UNESCO's methodology to monitor implementation of standard-setting instruments for qualifications recognition in the Asia-Pacific.

Despite debate and criticism, the notion of “competence” has risen to prominence very rapidly and now has an important place in the vocabulary of human resource management (HRM). Seeks to explain such a rapid rise by drawing on discourse theory. The discourse of competence may be seen to arise through the convergence of discourses in four separate domains, and thereby gain legitimacy from the stocks of already formulated meanings in these separate domains. Taking a discourse theory approach also exposes the control aspects of competence through the constitution of the individual as a social subject in terms of the inscription of assessment judgements. However, the convergence of discourses has not resulted in complete closure. Concludes with some speculation about the degree to which the competence approach will successfully achieve employer commitment.

This chapter will use the lens of Foucault’s governmentality to critique the use of foreign qualification recognition (FQR) in Australia’s skilled migration programme. Foucault suggests that an imperative for governments is to find ways to manage its population to ensure its security and well-being. Foucault notes the explosion of measures designed to facilitate this imperative. We argue that FQR’s use in Australia’s skilled migration programme is another such measure. It is a process designed to ascertain the relative value of one person against another using educational attainment as the meter. We examine the literature on the subject and find there are three key themes: scale, barriers and the persistence of the problem. We explore the concept of value in FQR and find arguments are divisible according to two camps. The first finds that an education qualification represents some objective and meritocratic value that a migrant possesses and that the barriers and persistence of problems are traceable to an inability to find the right way to realize this value. The second supposes that qualifications essentially represent a claim that need not have any basis in a form of essential value. Using Foucault’s governmentality, we suggest that FQR’s primary source of value in Australia’s skilled migration process is its utility as a part of a regime that identifies and classifies migrants and establishes a regime with which to assure governments of the acquisition of a population it believes are most likely to contribute to its security and future prosperity.

The purpose of this paper is to make a case for creating a strand of negotiated qualifications in the English (and more generally UK) vocational education and training (VET) system, using the approach established through Ufi-Learndirect Learning through Work (LtW).

The paper identifies some limitations in the recent Whitehead review of adult vocational education in relation to people already in work. Drawing on research into learning at work, modifications to the VET qualifications system are proposed based on the LtW approach.

The VET qualifications system assumes a purpose of preparing people for occupational entry and developing essential competence. The needs of adults already in work can be accommodated provided that they can be fitted within structures reflecting this assumption. It is less able to meet the bespoke needs of individual workers or employers. The LtW approach, which enables individual accredited programmes to be negotiated, offers a way forward that preserves the integrity of the qualification system.

Implementing a LtW-type approach in the VET sector is structurally more difficult than in higher education, although less likely to encounter academic resistance. The main challenge is likely to come from the need to modify regulatory rules and design principles for vocational qualifications.

Individually negotiated qualifications have been resisted in VET due to largely unfounded fears about reduced rigour and loss of control of content. The proposed approach offers a means of meeting individual needs while retaining the integrity of the qualifications system and reducing the proliferation of units and content within it.

Takes a sharp look at the nature of assessment, and in particular at all the people that become excluded from education provision because they do not happen to be skilled at delivering those qualities measured by assessment systems and instruments in common usage. Suggests that success in assessment often depends on people′s ability to write examination answers, whereas the real product of education should be people with far more diverse skills than this. Concludes with a set of recommendations and questions to consider in developing the quality of assessment.

The purpose of this paper is to establish a typology of a profession and to then assess the circumstances under which management could be classified as a profession against such a typology.

The current paper is conceptual. The research approach consists of formulating a typology of a profession based on the literature research methodology. The resulting typology is applied to assess management as a profession.

Although there have been efforts in recent literature and media commentary to position management as a profession, no thorough conceptually based analysis to rigorously analyze nor test this claim against the dominant arguments in the literature has been undertaken. The typology presents comprehensive research and analysis across disciplines to identify the circumstances under which management could be considered a profession.

The paper offers a complete typology upon which to classify a profession. It provides highly supported arguments to discern elements of a profession. The key limitation lies in capturing and organizing extensive concepts and views across diverse literature disciplines to refine a holistic perspective (i.e. accountancy, business management, ethics, psychology and sociology).

This conceptual typology enables the design of a highly operable assessment system. It considers requisite standards for professions. It also informs potential professional bodies of the obligations to which they and their members must adhere to achieve and retain the status of a profession.

A comprehensive typology indicating the interdependent requirements and obligations required by a profession has not been espoused in either popular business journals or academic journals across the discipline areas now covered by this research investigation. The contribution provides a comprehensive academic argument to answer the question: can management be considered a profession?