The rhetoric and the reality of apprenticeship: a comparative study of the English, Finnish and French apprenticeship systems for 16-18 year olds

This paper reports findings from a study of the English, Finnish and French systems of apprenticeship for 16-18 year olds to provide a comparative perspective to the discussion of the role of employers in England. Rather than focusing on the German model of apprenticeship, this study examines three different European systems where apprenticeship for 16-18 year olds remains a pathway for the minority.

The paper compares the role or roles employers have been prescribed in the policy rhetoric, and the kind of employer engagement as suggested by the reality, as evidenced by academic research and data on the take-up of apprenticeship. The paper concludes that there is a disjoint between the official government policy rhetoric and the reality of apprenticeship for 16-18 year olds in all of the study countries, although the disjoint appears to be more significant in England and in France. The paper proposes that more streamlined policy aims, arising from a shared understanding of the meaning of apprenticeship for 16-18 year olds, developed with the key institutional stakeholders, including employers, would enable more successful apprenticeship policies to be implemented in England in the medium and long-term.

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