Very damaging effects are attributed to the deep divide between academic and vocational post-compulsory education which has marked the English education system. It has been blamed for keeping one side too narrowly academic and the other too narrowly practical. Even worse, a persistent belief that real education post-16 is properly reserved for an academically-minded minority has kept participation rates well below those of most comparable countries, thereby producing an under-educated and under-skilled workforce. This text looks in detail at the contrasts in the provision traditionally made for academically and vocationally minded students, and looks at differences and similarities in practice. The chapters report evidence of how students on both sides think they have been taught. They also report on how those students prefer to learn, how their teachers define the kinds of learning appropriate for particular qualifications, and how the organization of learning for different but equal qualifications was observed in 40 schools and colleges.

Very damaging effects are attributed to the deep divide between academic and vocational post-compulsory education which has marked the English education system. It has been blamed for keeping one side too narrowly academic and the other too narrowly practical. Even worse, a persistent belief that real education post-16 is properly reserved for an academically-minded minority has kept participation rates well below those of most comparable countries, thereby producing an under-educated and under-skilled workforce. This text looks in detail at the contrasts in the provision traditionally made for academically and vocationally minded students, and looks at differences and similarities in practice. The chapters report evidence of how students on both sides think they have been taught. They also report on how those students prefer to learn, how their teachers define the kinds of learning appropriate for particular qualifications, and how the organization of learning for different but equal qualifications was observed in 40 schools and colleges.