A party of vocational educators from the United Kingdom (UK) traveled to the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) to observe current experiments with the first year of apprenticeship training or, as it is called in Germany, the Berufsgrundbildungsjahr (BGJ). During its study, the visiting party focused its attention on the objectives, design, curriculum, and principal teaching methods used in the BGJ. The observers found that the BGJ, which has been designed as an alternative to the first year of traditional apprenticeship in the dual system for education and apprenticeship and which provides training in 13 basic vocational areas, provides a greater educational opportunity for school leavers in the 16-19 age range than do any currently available programs in the UK. Furthermore, the BGJ enjoys the strong support of employers, unions, the educational community, parents, and students in the FRG. Based on their observations, the investigators developed a series of recommendations calling for the development and implementation of a similar program in the UK. (Appendixes to this report include a discussion of the dual system and more detailed suggestions for the implementation in the UK of the visiting party's proposals.) (MN)