NEW DIPLOMAS FOR 14 TO 19 YEAR OLDS

The new Diplomas are exciting composite qualifications for 14-19 year olds. They are designed to give young people in England an insight into work and provide the skills, knowledge and understanding they need for further or higher education. They will eventually be available 14 employment sectors (lines of learning), the first five of which will be introduced from September and will include Creative and Media.

All trainee teachers on the Academy’s PGCE: DT programme, who gain Qualified Teacher Status, will be competent to teach on the 14–19 Diplomas. As such the RAD will be one of the first, if not the first, dance teacher education and training provider whose teachers will be trained to deliver dance specialist elements of the Creative and Media Diploma. Our undergraduates on the BA in Ballet Education too will become aware of the requirements for the Diplomas as part of their Educational Studies modules. They too will be aware of how they can use their knowledge and skills in the delivery of the Diplomas generally, and in the Additional Specialist Learning areas for which the Academy’s Examinations Department is a Component Awarding Body.

The Academy has been approved by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) as a Component Awarding Body for ASL. Graded and Vocational Graded examinations have been placed in the QCA catalogue of qualifications for Specialist Learning for the Creative and Media Diploma and Additional Learning for the Diploma in the other four lines of learning also being introduced in 2008. This means that Diploma students may count their RAD examinations towards the award of the Diploma, subject to the approval of the centre through which the Diploma is offered.

The Diplomas are very flexible qualifications that have been designed to help young people of all abilities realise their potential. They are comprised of several different qualifications and units offered by various Awarding Bodies. As the Diploma is such a broad qualification, it is unlikely that any one institution will have the resources to offer all aspects. Schools and colleges have, therefore, formed consortia to offer the Diploma. There are just over 60 approved consortia who will be offering the Creative and Media Diploma in 2008 and more will be introduced in future years. We would recommend that RAD teachers in England find out if they have an approved consortium in their local area and, if so, make contact with them. The current list is available here.

The Academy will also contact the consortia offering the Creative and Media Diploma to provide them with full details of RAD Graded and Vocational Graded examinations and RAD Registered teachers in their area.

For further information read our Frequently Asked Questions

For further details, see: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/14-19

To request a leaflet please contact the Examinations Department