Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to address a gap in the comparative research literature on vocational education and training (VET) and skill formation systems. It examines the impact of international technical standardisation and regulation on the design, organisation and delivery of apprenticeships in the aeronautical and aerospace sectors…

Is there an optimum age to be an apprentice? For most people, their image of an apprentice would be a teenage school leaver. Yet, in England, the majority of apprentices are over the age of 19 when they start their apprenticeship, and 40 per cent are 25 or over. This would be very unusual in other European countries. In this article, the authors…

The skills debate in many European countries has for many years been preoccupied with the supply of qualified individuals and participation in training events. However, recent case-study work suggests that qualifications and training are partial measures of skill development as most learning arises naturally out of the demands and challenges of…