Several concurrent trends are increasing the likelihood that short courses, microcredentials, and flexible learning pathways will become a regular and even dominant feature of education and training globally. This policy paper reflects on these trends with special reference to the post-secondary education sector, and explores ways to organize…

England has a 'pre-qualification' system of higher education admissions, where applications and offers are made to young people before exam results are received. While in most cases offers are conditional on achieving a grade target in A Level exams, recent years have seen an exponential growth in 'unconditional offers', where the offer of a place…

This paper explores the identity of teachers in international schools who are embarking on postgraduate studies in education. Based on semi-structured interviews with 20 teachers starting an international qualification, it establishes key aspects of their identity and notes that they feel distinct from teaching professionals in their passport…

Background: Educational qualifications and literacy skills are highly related. This is not surprising as it is one aim of educational systems to equip individuals with competencies necessary to take part in society. Because of this relationship educational qualifications are often used as a proxy for "human capital". However, from a…

Basic education is essential if societies and economies are to thrive and become sustainable in challenging times. However, many people have never had an opportunity to benefit from education and many others leave the initial phase of education without attaining the level of proficiency in literacy and numeracy needed to participate fully in…

This literature review aims to encapsulate existing research on the executive headteacher (EHT) position in England, building on the work of Fellows (2016). It covers three main areas: the history of EHTs in England; the skills, qualities and motivations identified in EHTs by existing literature; and the governance and school structures associated…

This annex to the main report "Promoting the Relevance of Higher Education" includes the international policy literature study and the review of indicators. The objective of the literature study was to provide first insights into the policies that relate to the three dimensions of higher education relevance: personal development,…

Teachers are the most important school resource. In every country, teachers' salaries and training represent the greatest share of expenditure on education; and this investment in teachers can have significant returns. Research shows that being taught by the best teachers can make a real difference in the learning and life outcomes of otherwise…

This paper looks at the importance of mechanisms that give formal recognition to vocational skills acquired through work-based learning and how such mechanisms might be developed. It describes how skill recognition can benefit individuals, employers and society as a whole, and identifies in which contexts skill recognition has the highest…

This book deals with the relevance of recognition, validation and accreditation (RVA) of non-formal and informal learning in education and training, the workplace and society. It examines RVA's strategic policy objectives and best practice features as well as the challenges faced and ways forward as reported by Member States. Special attention is…

Students and scholars leaving their homes in search of education and knowledge is not a new phenomenon. An indispensable resource for understanding the international mobility of students, this book reveals how the global mobility of such students, scholars, programs, and institutions of higher education have evolved over time. Kemal Guruz explores…

To support the review of the National Curriculum, the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) was commissioned by the Department for Education in the spring of 2011 to produce a report detailing curricular arrangements in a number of high-performing educational jurisdictions. The principal source of information for this report has been…

The Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) will establish technical standards and guidelines to ensure that the survey design and implementation processes of PIAAC yield high-quality and internationally comparable data. This document provides a revised version of the technical standards and guidelines originally…

This report reviews the child care arenas in Canadian jurisdictions in particular, and in the jurisdictions of Sweden, United Kingdom and France as well. The report also provides a list of Canadian early childhood education programs that have lasted two years or longer. For each jurisdiction, the related legislation is outlined in order to provide…

Thirteen essays discussing how teachers are trained to teach geography in various countries are presented. The papers are: "Teacher Education in Geography: The Comparative View" (W. E. Marsden); "The Training of Geography Teachers in the People's Republic of Bulgaria" (Paulina Vekilska and Dimitar Kantchev); "Note Sur la…