LiveWire

A post by Pat

Flipping the idea that a diploma was your ticket to a better job, the UK is giving kids GCSE-equivalent credit (roughly a U.S. High School course) for working at McDonald’s for two weeks. McDonald’s and other businesses will be awarding these certificates in “Work Skills” which will be recognized by one of Britain’s biggest exam boards.

‘GCSEs’ in work experience at McDonald’s

Teenagers will be able to gain the equivalent of a B grade GCSE for completing two weeks’ work experience at McDonald’s, it was announced today.

They will gain a certificate in “Work Skills” after being given a crash course in preparing burgers, serving customers and communicating with colleagues. […]

The new qualification – billed as the first of its kind in the UK – will be accredited by Edexcel, one of Britain’s biggest exam boards.

During the placement, teenagers will prepare food, serve customers on the tills, learn how to work in a team and improve their communication skills. They will also be supervised by a staff “buddy” and given a mock interview.

Around 20 per cent of the course will be completed at school – after the placement – when pupils are expected to show completed workbooks to teachers and take part in a group discussion.

McDonald’s insisted that it represented 80 hours of learning which was “equivalent to the amount of time required to attain similar level qualifications in other subjects”. Applications for the course open on Thursday.

But Prof Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, said the bar on qualifications was being “set too low”.

“This is really devaluing the qualifications currency,” he said. “If someone can get the equivalent of a GCSE in work experience, how are people going to judge pupils who get an A in physics? They are going to say, ‘that’s almost the same as two weeks at McDonald’s’.”

Well, you can’t flip burgers without physics being involved.