Tag Archives: vocational education

At a time when students face increasing academic pressure, uncertainty about future careers, spiralling debt and challenges related to mental health and wellbeing. Now is a good time to review our post 16 and further education system.

In a recent article by Jon Henley, and Senay Boztas titled What can the Dutch teach the UK about how to tackle the youth jobs crisis? The article argues that the Netherlands has the lowest NEETs (Not in Employment, Education or training) rate in the EU, at around 5%. Researchers and policy experts attribute the low youth unemployment partly to the country’s strong vocational education system, where around 70% of 16–19-year-olds follow vocational pathways that combine classroom learning with substantial workplace experience. This close link between education and employment helps young people transition smoothly into work, reducing the likelihood that they become unemployed or disengaged from education and training. The UK should learn from the Netherlands and adopt a long term-term strategy with vocational education at its core.

According to recent figures, degree apprenticeships remain a relatively small route into higher education. In 2024/25 there were about 60,000 degree apprenticeship starts in England, representing 17% of all apprenticeships and roughly one-tenth of the number entering traditional university courses. Around 36% of UK 18-year-olds enter higher education each year, whereas only around 6% of young people begin an apprenticeship before age 19, making apprenticeships a much smaller but increasingly important post-16 pathway.

The conversion of polytechnics into universities in 1992 brought many benefits, including widening access to higher education. However, some critics argue that it also contributed to the decline of a distinct vocational route between apprenticeships and traditional university education.