Vocational Education

• Durkheim- teaching of specialist skills

• Schutz- ‘Human capital’

• Education serves the needs of the economy

• Promotion of vocational programmes, such as BTEC

How do schools achieve this?:

• Post-16 education split into Sixth Form and Further Education Colleges

• Some vocational courses (BTEC) run alongside GCSE at level 2 and A level (level 3)

• Career advice and subject choice

• Embedded in the hidden curriculum

New Vocationalism:

• 1979: Youth Training Schemes

• 1986: NVQs and GNVQs

• 2004: Apprenticeships for all

• 2010: Reforms to further education- Wolf Report

• 2012: Apprenticeship levy

Application to contemporary education:

• Range of vocational qualifications: BTEC and T-Level Subjects

• Emphasis on key skills

• Resit criteria for English and Maths

• Work experience programmes

Criticisms:

• Exploitation of cheap labour by some providers on apprenticeships

• The status division between academic and vocational qualifications

• Cuts to funding since 2010 (12%) for general FE colleges

• Vocational aspirations hit by educational triage