‘Structural barriers’ holding back vocational qualifications, say teachers and parents 22 September 2026

Educators, students and parents greatly value existing vocational and technical qualifications for 14-16 year olds, but are frustrated by structural and reputational barriers to their wider adoption, according to research carried out by Cambridge OCR.

The research included a survey of over 700 respondents and focus groups, as well as in-depth interviews and stakeholder roundtables. It revealed that perceptions of vocational qualifications were largely positive, particularly among those who were more familiar with them. It was carried out as part of our upcoming report Untapped Potential, chaired by former education secretary Charles Clarke, into 14-16 vocational education, to be published in the autumn.

While understanding of the qualifications was low among parents at around 40%, compared with 73% for GCSEs, this is far higher than what teachers assumed: of those teachers surveyed, only 8% thought that parents had a good understanding.

This low awareness is compounded by a lack of coordinated and consistent information for parents and students. A lack of awareness was cited by parents as the top reason for their child not taking any vocational qualifications.

One parent said: “I didn’t actually know until the school options evening that you could even do a [vocational qualification] at GCSE.” A school leader agreed, saying: “Tons of people don't know about this. There's lots of parents, individuals, employers, people in society who just genuinely don't know that there's even these offers available.” For teaching staff, the biggest barriers to wider uptake were structural. The most common reason given for limited provision was staff capacity, cited by 33% of surveyed teachers, followed by resources (27%) and the impact of school accountability measures prioritising GCSEs.

A consistent finding from the survey and focus groups was the positive experience of vocational qualifications among those who had experienced them, particularly students. Despite a lack of overall understanding or awareness, when parents were asked about the specific benefits of vocational qualifications they were overwhelmingly positive, particularly the practical real-world learning they offer (valued by 93% of surveyed parents) and their development of transferable skills (88%).

Students in focus groups said they particularly valued the more balanced assessment model than GCSEs, with a greater focus on non-exam assessment. They linked this to confidence, progress and relevance.

One student said: “I feel like you get such a better understanding of how things actually work in the real world," while another said: “You can actually see how it links to jobs and careers rather than just learning something for an exam.” However, they also spoke of misconceptions, with some saying they had thought they would be a “softer” option than academic qualifications, but found the course and assessments demanding in reality.

Myles McGinley, Managing Director of Cambridge OCR said: “Vocational education represents one of the biggest areas of untapped potential in education. ‘Parity of esteem’ has become a tired cliche. It’s time for pragmatic action.

“This research shows that the myth of vocational education being a ‘softer’ or less challenging route for less able students persist. This is a falsehood, and it’s time to quash such myths once and for all. The reality is vocational qualifications have something to offer everyone: every student - whatever their background or ultimate destination - can benefit from a broader and more varied education.

“We can achieve greater access to technical education by removing the structural barriers cited by teachers: a lack of resources, staff, and accessible information for students and parents.”

Former Education Secretary Charles Clarke, who is chairing Cambridge OCR’s Untapped Potential report, said: "The time is right for a renewed focus on aspiration and opportunity. Our extensive research with young people, their parents and teachers has found that access to quality vocational education is key to unlocking opportunities and fulfilling potential.

“The answer is not to separate young people into 'vocational' or 'academic' students. Vocational education has a great deal to offer every young person, from all backgrounds, whatever their future aspirations.”