Why do so few UK jobs require a license to practice?

Police Officers in England and Wales will be required to hold a license to work under proposed new legislation. Amongst push-back from police associations, citing concerns of incomplete mandatory training and unsafe workloads, the notion of holding a license to work remains a mystery to many Brits.

Why is a licensure programme necessary? When regulation fails and vocational responsibilities have not been discharged, habitual problems emerge. Government brings the vocation to account, rebuilding public confidence, and renewing the ‘social contract’. Some academics argue that licensure programmes are unsung because the UK places little value on skills, preferring knowledge recall and demonstrating understanding. A 2017 paper by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) claimed around one in five UK employees required an occupational licence. A proportion they claim ‘probably doubled’ since the millennium.

Licensure is common in North America. Almost every job domain in every state has a licensure programme, typically underpinned by a high-stakes exam, with a license subject to periodical renewal.

What does licensure consist of? For the UK, there’s no hard-and-fast rule of what licensure is. Not evey license means an high-stakes exam. Typically, it can be ‘normal’ qualifications, work experience, and assessments of various kinds. In certain instances, it can include non-cognitive tests, such as health and financial/ criminal background checks.

The table below shows the difference between licensure and holding a vocational/ trade registration or certification.

Codifying Licensure, Registration, and Certification for the UK

Isn’t licensure just about making people take more exams? No. For example, following the pandemic, Canada’s medical sector grappled with the effectiveness of such assessment to provide licensure. Research papers have indicated that a graduated licensure programme can effectively maintain competence, compared to a singular exam. Similar to the graduated driver license, proposed in Northern Ireland to reflect a similar scheme in the Republic of Ireland.

Is licensure just a money-making exercise? Properly supervised assessment should uphold the social contract across an occupation, guarding and benefiting society. Licensure can be thought of as a wrapper around which a number of regulator-approved assessment instruments can function. However, the IEA document argues that licensure can reduce competition, raise prices and excludes many competent people from entering occupations, without significantly improving delivery quality. It also cliams licensure can be self-serving, hiking pay to excessive levels not attracted to similar non-licensed jobs.

Does licensure improve standards, or exclude competent people without enhancing service delivery?

Is licensure globally standardised? Absolutely not! Despite the game efforts of bodies such as ENIC-NARIC to gain cross-border qualification recognition, it is a fluid, complex area. For example, dental hygienists are currently licensed in 20 European countries, tour guides are licensed in 12, while farriers (who shoe horses) are licensed only in Czechia and the UK (via the Farriers Registration Council and the 1975 Farriers Act).

For example, the number of regulated professions across Europe varies widely: Czechia has 365, France 254, Germany 169, and even Liechenstein has 174. Each typically requires a post-secondary school diploma lasting four or more years.

Why doesn’t the UK license other trades and occupations? It does! The UK’s Regulated Professions Register recognises 281 professions, with just over half of the professions subject to license. Doctors in England have been regulated in one form or another since the 16th century. CITB’s Health, Safety and Environment tests act as a proxy ‘site license’, as part of a requirement to obtain a quinquennially renewable scheme card. The Gambling Commission’s Personal Functional Licence is a pre-requisite for UK casino workers.

Should we expect more licensure in the UK? The Office of National Statistics claims there are 5.6M people (a quarter of UK workers) employed in professional occupations. The UK’s awarding sector is turbulent – pivoting delivery through the pandemic, grappling with apprenticeship changes, and navigating Government-owned qualifications. Exploring licensure opportunities can be a new growth driver, firming up CPD propositions, and providing the best organisations (membership/ awarding/ trade bodies) a new opportunity to become the voice of their sector. Rather than just requiring a ‘lie-sonss’ for officialdom!