Agreements herald a new era for vocational skills

The rationalising of vocational qualifications and courses is a step closer following last month's launch of the formal agreements between employers, suppliers and government by the four 'pathfinder' sector skills councils (SSCs).

CITB ConstructionSkills, e-skills UK, Semta and Skillset were licensed early last year, and the sector skills agreements (SSA) are the culmination of their work so far in taking an employer-led approach to addressing skills issues in their respective sectors.