Assuring quality in Access Courses ‐ the authorized version
| Date | 01 March 1997 |
| Published date | 01 March 1997 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09684889710156567 |
| Pages | 32-39 |
| Author | David Wilkinson |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Introduction
Access courses provide an altemative route into
higher education for adults without traditional
sixth form qualifications or vocational qualifica-
tions, allowing them to prepare for and gain
entry to degrees and other higher education
programmes… (Higher Education Quality
Council, 1994, p. 96).
This is the first of two articles examining the
development and operation of authorized
validating agencies (AVAs). The quality assur-
ance processes of these organizations are
outlined and generalized to enable cost-
benefit implications to be discussed in the
next issue of this journal.
History
What are now termed Access Courses (with
upper case initial letters) had their origins in
programmes designed for those with few
acknowledged qualifications. The structure
and delivery of these programmes was less
formal than traditional courses of study,
allowing learners to study at their own pace
and accommodate other commitments such
as family responsibilities, work, etc. The
Russell Committee, reporting in 1972, com-
mented that this type of provision was “... not
intended to cater for those who seek formal
qualifications” and was outside “the main
areas of technical, art and higher education”
(Department of Education and Science,
1973) but recommended, inter alia, that adult
education of this type should provide adults
with the opportunity to study and gain a
qualification.
Since the 1970s, questions of access and
participation for adults moved from the
periphery to near the centre of national policy
in education and training: “... initiatives for
access had their origin in high places: within
and through the state, and formally at the
instigation or request of the Department of
Education and Science ... ” (Parry, 1996).
The Department of Education and Science,
in 1978, invited eight local education authori-
ties to set up new preparatory courses for
32
Quality Assurance in Education
Volume 5 · Number 1 · 1997 · pp. 32–39
© MCB University Press · ISSN 0968-4883
Assuring quality in
Access Courses – the
authorized version
David Wilkinson
The author
David Wilkinson is a research student of the Continuing
Education Research Unit at City University, London, UK.
Abstract
Outlines the development of Access Courses and explains
the national quality assurance framework developed to
co-ordinate standards within such provision. Generalizes
the quality assurance processes of authorized validating
agencies (AVAs) in order to facilitate a future exploration
of some typical costs and benefits and the appreciation of
the problematic nature of such an exercise.
The author is grateful for the comments given on
previous drafts of this paper by Dr Pat Davies and
Julia Carter of the Department of Continuing
Education at City University. Suggestions made by
the initial reviewer, Professor Gerald Vinten, also
assisted in shaping the work.
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