This article uses a multi-level ecological model to explore the dynamics of localities in England and their effects on the 14+ participation, progression and transition (14+ PPT) of young people at a time when nationally and internationally there is a recognition that transitions from education to employment are both more complex and take longer.…

Ensuring effective progression from vocational qualifications to higher education has become an important issue internationally as a part of government strategies to raise skill levels and to provide more equitable access to tertiary level study. From September 2008, the Government in England has begun to introduce a new set of qualifications for…

Using data from a three-year project funded under the ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme, this article examines two major questions: (1) How has the organisation of the learning and skills sector (LSS) in England changed as a result of recent policy? (2) What are the implications of these reforms? We draw on the theoretical work of…

As a result of reforms over the past two decades, institutional arrangements for upper secondary education in England are both marketised and competitive compared with other European systems. Since 1997, the Labour Government has broadly sustained this position. However, recent policy documents recognise that 14-19 education and training will…

In this article, we compare Curriculum 2000 and Higher Still, recent reforms of post-16 education in England and Scotland respectively. Current and earlier research on the unification of academic and vocational learning in England, Scotland and other European countries is drawn on in order to suggest areas for mutual learning to inform future…

Three studies of British full-time students aged 16-19 found 70-80% also worked part time. A typology of their school-work attitudes was developed: balancers, risk-takers, deliberate nonworkers, outsiders, and connectors. Reforms in advanced-level curriculum may affect the relationship between school and part-time work in several ways:…

Analyzes the recommendations of the Dearing "Review of Qualifications for 16-19 Year Olds" in Britain. Makes suggestions for a unified qualifications system and places reform within a wider context, including a possible change in government. (SK)