In 2010, the Department for Education in England decided to reform the vocational qualifications offered in secondary education (i.e., for 14-18 year olds) in order to increase their rigour and status. They set out new criteria that vocational qualifications needed to meet, which changed their nature in fundamental ways (e.g., content, assessment…

Purpose: In the wake of a skills shortage in Australia and its impact on the economy, the need for students to complete their vocational education and training (VET) programmes and enter the workforce is critical. This study aims to identify to what degree student programme choice and perceived personal benefits as well as various confounders act…

Cambridge Technicals are vocational qualifications offered by OCR at Levels 2 and 3, for students aged 16 and above. They are designed with the workplace in mind and provide an alternative to A levels. The successful completion of a Cambridge Technical can provide opportunities to progress into employment, onto professional development programmes…

Vocational education and training has received substantial policy attention in recent years that is paired with the ambition for the UK to become a leading country for jobs, productivity and skills. Recommendations from two recent reviews form the basis for substantial policy reforms within the 14-19 curriculum. Discourse of employer engagement…

Since reforms implemented in 1994, vocational education and training (VET) in Norway has been integrated and standardized as part of upper-secondary education. When young people enter upper-secondary education at the age of 15 or 16, they can choose either a vocational programme or a general academic programme. The standard model in vocational…

Career technical education plays an important part in the mission of community colleges--providing educational opportunities needed by members of their communities. Career technical programs prepare students for entry into the workforce. Accountability standards for career technical programs, from local, state, and federal bodies, monitor…

This occasional paper provides the views of 17 "thought leaders" in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector. Their insight and opinions were sought to inform a larger research project focused on the student entitlement reforms that were introduced into the national VET system from 2012. These individuals offered a…

Quality outcomes from vocational education and training (VET) are fundamental to ensuring a skilled workforce and supporting a productive economy. In a competency-based training system, assessment is the gatekeeper for quality. Audits undertaken by the Australian Skills and Quality Authority (ASQA) have identified concerns with compliance against…

Students need learning experiences connected with the world of work to equip them to enter the workforce and secure good jobs. This report provides an overview of funding for career and technical education and a detailed look at Career and Technical Education (CTE) funding models in Arkansas, Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West…

The Career and Technical Education program (CTE) in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) has a mission to equip students with the marketable academic and technical skills needed to compete in the global workforce and/or to continue their education at the post-secondary level after graduation. Consequently, the goals of the CTE program…

The Career and Technical Education program (CTE) in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) prepares students for postsecondary success by facilitating the acquisition of skills, aspirations, and motivation to succeed in the workplace and in college. Postsecondary opportunities allow CTE students to earn college credit by taking Dual Credit…

Certificates, diplomas and titles are commonly known as qualifications. Their purpose is to show employers, training providers, and individuals what the person holding the qualification has learned and can do. Every country issues many different qualifications, but for the European labor market to work as intended--that is for European citizens to…

In an American economy where the advancement of technology and globalization means that a high school diploma alone is no longer able to provide family-sustaining earnings to many, certificates represent one piece of a multi-pronged solution on the road to a workforce with 60 percent postsecondary attainment. Though certificates currently aren't…

Vocational education and training (VET) concerns the cultivation and development of specific skills and competencies, in addition to broad underpinning knowledge relating to paid employment. VET assessment is, therefore, designed to determine the extent to which a trainee has effectively acquired the knowledge, skills, and competencies required by…

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to provide research findings on learning and the structuring of qualifications in the IT-sector in Germany and relate this to the international discussion on the structuring of qualifications for the IT-industry. Design/methodology/approach: The article is based on desk research as regards the international…