Groundhog Day again: making sense of a complicated mess: HIVE-PED research on FE student and apprentice progression to higher education in England

This chapter is part of a book containing an edited collection of research-based papers on the 'English model' of vocationalism and higher education. The book argues that negative societal and political perceptions have hindered the debate about the significance and relevance of vocational education and training provision to learning, work and the economy. The authors apply a 'Groundhog Day' metaphor to describe how the further education (FE) sector is caught up in a continual time loop of dysfunction caused by top-down policy obscuring the real purpose of higher vocational education and...  [+] Show more

This chapter is part of a book containing an edited collection of research-based papers on the 'English model' of vocationalism and higher education. The book argues that negative societal and political perceptions have hindered the debate about the significance and relevance of vocational education and training provision to learning, work and the economy. The authors apply a 'Groundhog Day' metaphor to describe how the further education (FE) sector is caught up in a continual time loop of dysfunction caused by top-down policy obscuring the real purpose of higher vocational education and obstructing learner progression pathways. The authors provide an overview of the findings of ground-breaking progression data developed by linking learner data from Individual Learner Records (ILR) and Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). This analysis of data on college students and apprentices progressing to HE in FE and to HE identifies trends and patterns. The authors show how this might be used to provide benefit to learners and providers.

Edited excerpts from publication.