There John Hillier goes again: trying to defend the indefensible (TES, October 18). The plain fact is that if 80 per cent of employers supported national vocational qualifications they would be using them and there would be no problem. They are not, so there is.
Most of the interview I gave to The Money Programme for October 6, like all of John Capey’s and others’, was not used. This was not, however, because I refused to say anything negative about NVQs. Late in its preparation the direction of this short item changed from the politics of NVQs to their educational value.
Alan Smithers Director Centre for Education and Employment Research Brunel University
