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National Vocational Qualifications are "part of the higher education landscape" and will continue to be integrated into degree curricula, a new NVQ validating body has proclaimed.

Launched this week by 30 universities, the Universities Vocational Awards Council will help universities develop NVQs and validate and accredit them.

Simon Roodhouse, UVAC dev-elopment director, said: "There is no question in my mind that students will increasingly pick up NVQs while doing degrees, especially where there is already a strong work-based ethic."

The growth at higher education level of NVQs, which are ultimately regulated by the qualifications quango, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, is being resisted by traditionalists who fear an erosion of institutional autonomy.