The news that burger chain McDonald's, along with Network Rail and air travel operator Flybe, will be running training courses that will be the equivalent of A-Levels will have the traditional educationalists no doubt choking on their two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickled onion in a sesame seed bun.

The thinking behind this is that the level of training offered by such organisations should be formally recognised so that those partaking of it can then use their qualification to further themselves in the world at large.

Whether attaining the heady heights of a five-star crewmember will enable you to gain access to the hallowed portals of Oxbridge remains to be seen, but it does seem fair that if you can flip twenty burgers in half a minute then your achievements should be of some use should you decide to better yourself. And, say, go for a job at Burger King.

I might be sounding unnecessarily snotty, but I'm not. I speak from experience, having spent a good portion of my teens working in McDonald's to pay my way through Hack School.

A cynic might try to envisage, for comedy value, what an actual A-Level style exam in the business of burgers might actually look like. Someone out for a cheap laugh might, for example, try to create a couple of possible exam questions. Those questions might, conceivably, look like this: Question 1: You are serving at a drive through. You receive a complicated order from a customer. All the items are, to your amazement, ready. Do you: a) Assemble the order and present it to them in record time.

b) Tell them that the apple pies have just come out of an underground volcano and that health and safety guidelines restrict you from handing the goods over until they have cooled down sufficiently.

c) Direct them to one of the customer parking bays and leave their order by the window for exactly eight minutes, so that the fries are cold and cardboardy by the time they get them home.

Question 2: Why are our milkshakes so cold and thick?

a) There are little crystals in them that get colder and colder every second, in direct contravention of the third law of thermodynamics.

b) Because the White Witch from Narnia put a spell on them.

c) They're made from penguins.

Question 3: Isn't it true that McDonald's, as a company, is astoundingly litigious?

a) Well, there was the so-called McLibel case in the Nineties, against two eco-activists handing out leaflets outside their stores, which McD's won.

b) Yes, but they wouldn't find this sort of thing, which is only a bit of fun, actionable.

c) Would they?

So, now that bit of nonsense is out of the way, it's time for the serious bit. I can see why this has been done - not every young person is of an academic bent and if they can get a qualification in something they can do well, then surely that's a good thing.

Let's not beat about the bush here; this sort of thing is being aimed at those who are unlikely to skip out of sixth form college with half a dozen A-starred grades under their belt. The whole exercise smacks of a patronising pat on the head to the under-educated.

Perhaps if as much effort was put into making sure the marginalised and under-achieving are targeted and brought on at an early age rather than kids' achievements merely being seen as the tools towards a good league table placement or Ofsted report, qualifications like this might not need to be talked about.

And you can stick that in your sesame seed bun and eat it.