"Workforce-Ready: Challenges and Opportunities for VET" is the theme for the 29th National Vocational Education and Training Research Conference 'No Frills' from July 7-10, 2020. The phrase 'workforce-ready' might bring several different scenarios to mind. It may conjure an image of graduates making their first foray into the world of…

Young people have an array of skills, and the prospect of a 50 year career and a world filled with opportunity. However, inequalities before the current crisis meant that, while talent was equally distributed around the country, opportunity was not. The pandemic has now had a profound effect on education and employment, risking worsening…

Developments in five priority areas for VET, agreed in 2015 by the EU-28, Iceland, Norway, candidate countries, the European Commission and EU social partners, are at the centre of this report. Work in 2015-19 shows continuity with earlier national strategies and initiatives. It confirms the recent focus on apprenticeships and other forms of…

This study examined the impact of literacy on vocational skill acquisition with the aim of making the young people self- reliant, thereby helping them to be more involved in community participation and participate more in community issues. In this study, vocational skill acquisition is used synonymously with apprenticeship scheme. Two local…

The level of youth unemployment in Nigeria has always been an issue of concern for Focus Learning Support team, particularly in our interactions with foreign students studying in the UK; and also with our dedication in "Making Education Count for the Youths". This paper examines some of the difficulties experienced by young people in…

The transmission of knowledge and skills within the working-class household greatly troubled social commentators and social policy experts during the first half of the nineteenth century. To prove theories which related criminality to failures in working-class up-bringing, experts and officials embarked upon an ambitious collection of data on…

This report looks at whether employers think schools are equipping young people with the literacy skills required for the workplace. It is primarily based on secondary literature sources and introductory conversations with a small sample of key employers and agencies. A complementary report presents evidence on young people's views on literacy and…

Attrition in apprenticeships and traineeships is an ongoing concern for employers and government alike, with completion standing at around 50% on average. One possible explanation for this high attrition rate is that there is a mismatch between the respective expectations of apprentices/trainees and employers. This research uses the concept of the…

The "Programme for Government" is the Welsh Government's plan of action for this term of the Assembly. At the forefront of the programme is growth and sustainable jobs. As a small economy, still recovering from the decline of manufacturing and the coal industry, Wales' economic and social outcomes are inextricably linked. Certainly, the…

"Research Messages 2008" is a collection of summaries of research projects published by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research in 2008, including conference papers and occasional papers. It also has an overview of the research highlights for the year. The summaries are clustered under five broad themes used by NCVER to…

This volume on apprenticeships in Australia summarizes 11 research studies. After an "Introduction" (Nigel Smart), the reports are: "Apprenticeship in Australia: A Concise History" (John Ray); "Issues and Directions from the Australian Apprenticeship and Traineeship Literature" (Stephen Saunders); "Determinants…