It’s been a week of education in the spotlight.

Against a backdrop of 44% of Graduates in the dole queue, the Degree has found its way into the news.

From 2013 all would-be nurses will have to complete a three-year nursing degree, the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Government have announced. I am not sure that this is entirely a good thing. I had thought Nursing was about ‘caring’ first and foremost. I wonder if we are slowly turning Nurses into Doctors – if so I am guessing they won’t be paid quite so much. Not that I have an issue with Doctors pay – just with pushing more responsibility onto Nurses – who, in my view, are not paid enough.

I am a Licenced Assessor for the RICS which means that I (with two other Assessors) stand between a candidate being able to call themselves a Chartered Surveyor and a dreaded ‘referral’ – in old money a ‘fail’. The basic entry point is a Degree, but the real test on the assessment day is not just a test of knowledge – but how to apply that knowledge. It never ceases to amaze me that some of the best paper candidates turn out to be quite average on the day. The mix of knowledge and application is critical.

I also heard Desert Island Discs in the week with Anthony Julius – the lawyer who famously represented Princess Diana in her divorce from Prince Charles. When asked about what made a good lawyer, I though his answer rang true. He said that the ‘intelligence’ part (measured by Degree?) was a given. But what shone? Good judgement was the answer. An ability to look beyond the current problem and think through the clients short, medium and long term positions.

I spend most of my day making judgements – and so often have to weigh up ‘commercial realities’. Sometimes they may go against the technical legal position, or even against ‘fairness’. So often we can get bogged down in the detail – so stop seeing the bigger picture.

My point is that a Degree in certain business or other work scenarios may be the starting point – but actually what counts is what Anthony Julius said – it’s good judgement. And that is difficult to teach. But in nursing, the judgement call might be when someone needs some care. I hope that the nurses who are good at caring are not put off by the apparent need to get an education to this level! That would be a shame. I am not knocking those who do get a degree!

We have become a society obsessed with teaching to test. Sometimes we should appreciate that vocational work has as much to offer – even if it is different to the academic approach. And nursing, I think, is first and foremost a vocation.