He graduated in law from Lisbon University and later obtained numerous other academic qualifications.
During the past year Mr Teare has raised the academic qualifications needed for applications for degree funding.
Even media studies, long the butt of every joke about useless academic qualifications, has smartened up its act.
The CSCSE is the sole national authority to evaluate foreign academic qualifications of higher education for official recognition in China.
Mr Miliband says the government must ensure that vocational qualifications are not seen as the "poorer cousins" of academic qualifications.
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Unicef suggests this "may be the result of an emphasis on academic qualifications combined with a diverse system of vocational qualifications".
Manufacturing used to provide a good living for people without academic qualifications, and still does if you can get a job.
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But he sees himself as a role model and inspiration to young members of staff who might have more life experience than academic qualifications.
Sir Richard Sykes, a former rector of Imperial College London, recently headed a review of academic qualifications and assessment and is similarly critical.
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Speaking from the plumbing classroom, Rotherham goalkeeper Andy Warrington, who went into football without getting any academic qualifications, said he was enjoying the course.
It reflects the contemporary intellectual preference in higher education for integrating the theory and practice of a discipline, and for reducing the divisions between vocational and academic qualifications.
Children involved in the virtual school - known as Notschool - have gone on to get much higher academic qualifications than they had been expected to, said Professor Heppell.
In particular the engineering community reacted angrily to the downgrading of the Engineering Diploma which was developed by leading academics and industrialists to provide a robust alternative to traditional academic qualifications.
But no matter what question I asked them about their way of thinking they always seemed to give an answer in terms of the intelligence, resume, or academic qualifications of their analysts.
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In January the 14-16 section of the diploma was downgraded from the equivalent of five GCSEs to being worth just one GCSE, despite having been developed by academics and industrialists to provide a robust alternative to traditional academic qualifications.
GCSEs, and introducing instead an overarching diploma covering both academic and vocational qualifications.
Liberal Democrat education spokesman Phil Willis said ministers had "abandoned the fundamental principle" of making academic and vocational qualifications of equal value.
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The school's intake comes from a "relatively socially deprived community", he says, and students are offered a mixture of academic and vocational qualifications - as well as the opportunity to study on an on-site farm.
The organisations under consideration include others that provide academic or vocational qualifications recognised by Ofqual, such as exam boards like Edexcel, sporting groups like the Amateur Swimming Association and professional associations like the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
"Young people should be taking only the best qualifications in academic and vocational subjects that allow them to progress, " he said.
The guide's league table is compiled using a number of criteria including student satisfaction, research quality, academic peer review, entrance qualifications held by new students, degree results achieved, drop-out rates and graduate employment levels.
Education director at Civitas, Anastasia de Waal, who has campaigned for the information to be made public told the TES that academic subjects were being replaced with qualifications of "extremely questionable value".
Because there is a minister in Michael Gove who must equally persuade all of the above that he has made the right call, that his English Bacc knocks the Welsh Bacc into a cocked hat, that his emphasis on more challenging exams and academic rigour will deliver gold standard qualifications.
In modern-day South Korea, the academic environment is ultra-competitive because obtaining qualifications from the best institutions has long been critical to winning the most-desired jobs.
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General secretary of the Association of School and College leaders, Brian Lightman, said he welcomed any move to give vocational qualifications the same status as other academic subjects.
The new foundation degrees are designed to offer credible qualifications for students starting from a lower academic base.
He is passionate about getting across a message to youngsters and their parents that vocational qualifications are not for those who cannot do anything academic.
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"As the Government goes down the route of championing vocational education they need to make their mind up as to whether all qualifications are of value, or if it is simply particular academic subjects which carry weight when judging a school, " said general secretary Christine Blower.
Parents in Wales, he told me, want qualifications that are "recognisable, " "understandable to employers and academic institutions outside Wales" and "portable".
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