Review of Vocational Education - the Wolf Report

This report, by Dr Alison Wolf and published in March 2011, was commissioned to investigate the state of vocational education for young people aged 14 to 19. It was found that many courses offered very little value, offering no route to further education or prospects for meaningful employment.

Many prospective students cannot find a course which offers a chance of progression or a permanent job. There are also many people leaving education at 18 without the equivalent of a GCSE in English and mathematics - another reason why they cannot find meaningful employment or progress to higher education.

The report sets out new targets which aim to ensure that vocational education for young people aged 14-19 years really does serve the purpose of creating and maintaining opportunities. It also looks at how today's vocational education system must respond to key labour market characteristics with an understanding that the majority of students stay in education to the age of 18 and the youth labour market is shrinking. One major recommendation is that there should be greater encouragement of employers to provide workplace training and apprenticeships.