I am flabbergasted. This government cannot lie to the people it represents can it?
Silly me I forgot about Tony Bliars assertion that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and they were 45 minutes away from Britain. Telling the odd porkie about the diplomas is almost an irrelevance in the light of that downright lie.
Still the ASA is independent enough to put the DCSF in it's place, not that our Ed and Vernon accept its verdict. Have a butchers for yourselves.
Link
A government advert which claimed the new Diploma would get teenagers into "any university" has been ruled misleading by the official watchdog.
The Advertising Standards Authority
said the radio and press adverts were misleading because not all
universities accepted all five Diploma courses. It also noted that
Cambridge only accepted the engineering Diploma if it was taken
alongside A-level physics. The Department for Children, Schools and
Families disagreed with the ruling.
Well they would wouldn't they. They part of are government and the government never gets anything wrong does it?
Oh wait it has just today backtracked on not training the Territorial Army to save £54,000,000 so yes it does get things wrong.
The
Children's Secretary Ed Balls has said he hopes the Diploma, which
combines theoretical and practical learning, will become the
qualification of choice.
Peeing in the wind Mr Balls if the take up rate is any measure of success.
The government began a national media campaign to raise the profile
of the qualification, which has to compete alongside the long-trusted
A-levels.
The radio advert stated: "When you're thinking about
what qualifications to take, have a look at the Diploma ... a
qualification for 14-19-year-olds that's accepted by all
universities.... The Diploma, opening the doors to university and
work."
'Accepted by all?'
The press advert showed
open doors with a scarf, pen, laptop, microphone, paintbrushes,
satellite and microscope bursting through them.
The
accompanying text said: "The Diploma, opening the doors to university
and work... an Advanced Diploma, equivalent to 3.5 A-levels, can get
you into any university."
The radio and national press adverts attracted two complaints.
They
questioned whether the phrases "accepted by all universities" and "can
get you into any university" were misleading because they understood
that Cambridge University only accepted Diplomas in one subject. And
back in August research for the DCSF found that although most
universities would accept candidates with Diplomas, most would need at
least one A-level too. The ASA upheld the complaints, saying the adverts had breached rules on "misleadingness, substantiation and truthfulness".
It
also said the adverts' claims implied all Diplomas represented a level
of qualification that would be accepted by all universities.
Two complaints. Accurate but just two in
number were enough to get the Advertising Standards Agency to act. It
beggars belief how bad this government has become.
The DCSF rejected the ruling saying it had worked with universities to make sure they were happy with the ad campaign.
A
spokesman said: "We worked closely with the Universities and Colleges
Admissions Service (Ucas) to ensure they were content with the accuracy
of the advertising messages.
"The Radio Advertising Clearance Centre (RACC) also agreed that the ad was not misleading."
So why not run it past the only people who matter in advertising the
Advertising Standards Agency before committing to run the campaign and
save the taxpayers a fortune?
Because Labour is the government and it doesn't know how to do anything the right way any more.
Shadow
Children's Secretary Michael Gove said: "Ed Balls boasted that his new
Diploma was on course to overtake the A-level and become the
qualification of choice for young people. But universities aren't impressed, teachers are confused and students have shunned the course."
He
added: "So, in desperation the government spent millions on an
advertising campaign which has now been exposed as dishonest."
No surprise here. The Conservatives stating the bleedin obvious and scoring political points at the governments expense.
Liberal
Democrat children's spokesman David Laws said it was "truly
extraordinary that this government's spin operation has got so out of
control that even the ASA is having to rap them on the knuckles for
blatantly untruthful claims".
He continued: "Ed Balls must apologise for misleading people about the Diplomas."
Hell will freeze over before Ed apologises
for anything. He simply doesn't do anything wrong and as far as he is
concerned there is nothing wrong with his department's advert so what
has he got to apologise for.
Diplomas may suit
some children more than others in the same way GCSE's suit some
children more than others. Further education diplomas are definitely
not held in the same esteem as A levels by employers or universities
and it seems true that the students themselves don't hold them in high
enough regard to spend two years of their lives studying for them. So
why is the DCSF on a crusade to try and get them accepted?
Answers on a postcard to...
Link to the full ASA ruling
ed balls is a plank.