A striking number of young people in Germany with the Abitur--the qualification required for entry to higher education--do not, in fact, go on to university immediately after leaving school but opt first to do an apprenticeship. This phenomenon, where general and vocational curricula are taught independently and separately, is known as the…

In Germany, the group of young people with the most extended transition from school to work are those achieving higher education entrance qualifications ("Abitur"), then serving an apprenticeship in the German "dual system" and later pursuing higher education. On the basis of three Anglo-German comparative studies, this article…