Star comment: Teaching pupils for the real world

To be relevant to the jobs market and the real world, schools have to be more than academic hothouses which prepare the more able to go on to university or college.

With the raising of the school leaving age which will keep more teenagers in school for longer, some of whom will be itching to get away into the world of work, it is going to be important both to keep their interest and also provide them with useful skills.

A new range of A-level standard vocational qualifications has been launched in England.

They will include things like motorcycle maintenance and a diploma in professional patisserie and confectionery, and the Royal Ballet School has backed a qualification in performing arts.

As it is often employers who are the first to complain that our schools are turning out youngsters who are inadequately equipped for the world of work, the backing being given by leading employers to these qualifications is significant and will ensure that they are widely accepted in the jobs market place.

The question that arises is how schools and academies will reshape themselves to provide these courses, which will need specialised teachers and in some cases specialised equipment.

It represents a significant revamp of what they deliver for their older pupils. The aim is laudable, but we shall have to see how it all works out in practice.

In future there will be a higher proportion of older pupils in schools who have run their course in the academic system and offering them further academic qualifications is neither going to appeal to them nor, crucially, help them in the careers they have in mind.

Many will feel being forced to stay on at school is a waste of their time.

The good thing about these courses is that they will be offered something that will be of use to them.