This article explores the efficacy and cost effectiveness of New Labour's skills-based policies to help low paid workers adjust to the pressures generated by globalisation, of which the leading example was Train to Gain (T2G). It also analyses the more general issue of how, why and under what circumstances education, training and skills can help…

In Britain, a "third way" to labor-force development (between U.S. deregulation and the German dual system) includes flexible labor markets and supply-side interventions. However, National Vocational Qualifications and other elements of the British system rely on outmoded concepts of work organization and skills. The third way is likely…

Compares two models of vocational education policy in England: the traditional Learning and Skills Council approach relying on institutional change and increased skills supply and the Performance and Innovation Unit's focus on skill demand. Outlines weaknesses in the supply-side approach but suggests that demand-side policy must overcome…