ODL QC today welcomed publication of the report on Individual Learning Accounts by the National Audit Office.

"Individual Learning Accounts were an important initiative.    Using grants to encourage individuals back into learning was, and remains, an excellent idea" says David Morley, Chief Executive of ODL QC.

"The tragedy was that the scheme went wrong.    So it is vital to understand why.   The care with which the NAO have examined the evidence, and demonstrated both the major benefits which accrued, and the mistakes that were made, lays the foundations for the success of any future scheme.

"Where I quibble with the report is in its willingness to single out distance learning as inherently more vulnerable to fraud.

"The problem with the old scheme lay not in the supposed weaknesses of distance learning, but in the unwillingness of those who implemented it to recognise and call upon those quality assurance mechanisms already in place.

"Set up by government, and with over thirty years experience of quality control in distance learning, ODL QC should have been involved from the start.    If participation by distance learning providers have been limited to those accredited by ODL QC, most, if not all, of the problems identified by NAO might well have been avoided."

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Further details from
Elspeth Harrison at ODL QC on 020 7612 7090 or elspeth@odlqc.org.uk