Teenagers in England will be offered new vocational GCSEs from 2029, in what has been described as the biggest change to the qualification in more than a decade.
New courses available
From that year, pupils will be able to take courses in building and construction, creative media production and child development alongside compulsory GCSE subjects such as English, maths and sciences.
Regulation and structure
The Department for Education (DfE) said the new GCSEs would be two-year courses taken in years 10 and 11, with nationally set content, grading and assessment. They will be regulated by Ofqual, England's qualifications watchdog, to the same standards as academic GCSEs.
Share your experience
The Guardian is asking people who sat vocational qualifications in the past and more recently to share their experiences. How helpful were they for pursuing further education or securing a job? Responses can be shared via an online form, anonymously if wished, by those aged 18 or over. Submissions are encrypted and only the Guardian has access to the data, which will be used solely for the feature and deleted when no longer required.
