Smoothing the transition to skilled employment: How can school‐based vocational guidance be improved?

While in Britain the immediate goal of the majority of school‐leavers remains simply 'getting a job', the predominant route to adult working life in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands involves additional education and training. While the 'vital role' of vocational guidance in smoothing the transition from school to work has been repeatedly acknowledged in official policy documents in the UK, there have been few attempts to ensure that the guidance offered in British secondary schools prepares young people for their life beyond the education system as adequately as on the Continent. The paper asks what can be learnt from the practice in other European countries, particularly from the way they raise the career aspirations and motivation of young people of average and below‐average academic attainments. The study is based on classroom observations and interviews with teachers in some two dozen secondary schools in three countries of Continental Europe, together with a similar number in Britain. Contact NIESR if copy required