Vocational A-Levels Marked `Erratically'

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Vocational A-levels are often time-consuming and unreliable, and many teachers lack the skills and confidence to teach them properly, according to an Ofsted report due out today.

The latest criticism of General National Vocational Qualifications (GNVQs), introduced in 1991, will fuel fears that Sir Ron Dearing's planned reforms of 16 to 19-year-olds' education will have to be delayed.

Ofsted, the national schools inspection body, found that students' work was often marked inconsistently. Right-wingers have argued for years that the exams, which are both set and marked by teachers, are bound to lead to problems.

Although some improvements have been made …