This paper outlines the preliminary findings from a project which is exploring the nature and value of 'hybrid qualifications', namely those qualifications which facilitate entry to the labour market and have currency for progression to higher education (HE).  Funded by the EU’s Leonardo programme, the research is being carried out by teams based in England, Germany, Austria and Denmark.  The main focus of this paper is on the English system where a range of qualifications designated as Level 3 (the level normally required for entry to HE), have the potential to be considered ‘hybrid’. These include: Applied A Level; NVQ Level 3; the Advanced Diploma; BTEC and OCR National Diplomas.  Although not a qualification, the notion of ‘hybrid’ is also relevant to the Advanced Apprenticeship, which includes Level 3 qualifications in its framework.

The paper will discuss the definitions and types of ‘hybridity’ which have been developed by the cross-national project team (see country reports at www.hq-lll.eu/). However, the identification of ‘hybrid qualifications’ and how they are understood and located in the English system is by no means straightforward.   The process of examining and applying the notion of ‘hybridity’ in the English context brought us up against the division between academic and vocational qualifications, which is a key and persistent characteristic of the system (Davey and Fuller 2010). The strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and barriers associated with the concept of hybrid qualifications are closely bound up with the legacy of the English system’s established education and employment paradigms (inter alia Lumby and Foskett, 2005; Pring et al 2008 ).  We are seeking to explain the position, popularity and potential of hybrid qualifications through an analysis which a) recognises how the broader socio-political and economic context shapes the trajectories of qualifications; and b) utilises the lens and metaphorical power of terms such as currency and exchange value to unpack the ways in which qualifications are ascribed worth in the employment and education paradigms. As Eraut  (2001: 88) has pointed out, qualifications are seen by governments as ‘serving wider economic and social purposes’, and contemporary academic and policy concerns such as widening participation in higher education and strengthening vocational pathways (Hoelscher et al 2009) are highly relevant to the debates about the role of  hybrid qualifications which are raised in this paper.  On the basis of both our desk and empirical research , we argue that the currency and status of hybrid qualifications, as routes to employment or higher education is dependent on a complex array of historical, systemic and cultural factors.

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