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The purpose of this paper is to show how research that is approached from multiple perspectives, using multiple methods, can help to illuminate the complex and contested nature of the purpose and practice of apprenticeship schemes in England. The author contends that understanding the various participants involved in the schemes helps to reveal how policy at the macro level is adapted at the micro level to suit different groups. The author argues that the usefulness in such an approach provides a greater understanding of the plurality of interests and needs at play within the scheme, opening up the apprenticeship scheme agenda to allow divergent voices to be heard.

This is a qualitative empirical paper which adopts a multi‐perspective, multi‐method approach.

The paper highlights a number of areas of contention between different stakeholders involved in the apprenticeship scheme that could affect the success of these schemes.

The author's aim is to demonstrate the use of a multi‐perspective, multi‐method approach as a way to generate research which takes into account the different experiences and agenda of stakeholders participating in apprenticeship schemes. It is envisaged that the paper will be of interest to readers interested in research methods and for those conducting research on young workers.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate an innovative way to train adult apprentices for the construction industry.

The paper emphasizes that, in order to address skills shortages for international construction, training methods must be improved. It looks at the example of an adult apprenticeship scheme in Australia from the perspectives of the apprentice, the training provider and the employer.

The paper suggests that trained adult apprentices with previous experience can be more productive and loyal, and that this scheme has implications for the training of apprentices generally.

To date, the scheme has enjoyed success in Australia and for the provision of tradespeople in the international construction industry.

The paper illustrates how a training partnership has sought to provide necessary and increasingly scarce skills for an international construction organization through an original apprenticeship scheme.

In the 1970s there was a growing realisation of a need to prepare young people for work. It was hoped by many that public policy initiatives in vocational preparation would enable Britain to catch up with the more systematic youth training practices of its European neighbours. Ironically, the development of vocational preparation has really been fostered by the employment crisis of the 1980s. As unemployment began to climb in the late 1970s and surged in the early 1980s, the scale of training measures, paid out of public funds, likewise expanded. The YTS programme is a product of these trends.

Following a competitive bid, Sheffield Hallam University were successful in developing and delivering a Corporate Business and Management Degree, for Nestlé UK and Ireland. The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of how the degree programme has evolved and been developed into an apprenticeship, the challenges faced and the partnership approach taken to overcome them. It will also explore the impact on the apprentices, Nestlé and Sheffield Hallam University.

Information presented in the paper is drawn from the organisations own work in developing a degree apprenticeship programme. It builds on information from the original project brief and the bid, as well as on-going evaluation of how the programme is progressing.

Responding to talent gaps in the general management population the development of a level 6 Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship provides progression for future managers of Nestlé, offering a fast-track route into a career in business and management. The evolution of this higher degree apprenticeship scheme and potential benefits are brought to life in this case study.

The paper is based on the authors own experience and employer consultation.

The purpose of this paper is to review apprenticeship policy in the UK and to present examples of good practice.

The approach takes the form of a review of three cases.

Apprenticeships are not an easy option. An apprenticeship scheme, and indeed any training initiative, will not command support within an organisation unless it can be seen to assist the business in economic terms. Context is critical.

The paper argues for a more realistic assessment of the role of apprenticeship at the level of government policy and in the organisation.

The paper offers a different and more measured perspective on apprenticeships, which contrast with current uncritical hype and over-selling.

This paper aims to chart the origins and workings of two award‐winning schemes at HSBC – its work‐experience scheme and its apprenticeship program.

It details the reasons for the schemes, the form they take and the successes they have achieved.

This study explains that the work‐experience program takes the form of structured one‐week work experience for each of the bank's major business areas – retail, commercial, operational or head office. It is designed to offer an early opportunity for young people to find out more about the type of work the bank does and the career opportunities available. The HSBC apprenticeship program, meanwhile, offers the chance for people aged 16 upwards to get on to the career ladder, and gain new skills and professional qualifications while earning a salary.

The paper demonstrates to school pupils that they may not have to go to university in order to have a good career in a bank, and that they can still gain a professional qualification, following an apprenticeship.

It highlights two programs that are helping to make HSBC's workforce more diverse.

The paper discusses two programs that are seeking to open up banking careers to a wider section of the community.

Commonwealth Technical Training Week will soon be upon us; it will provide a much‐needed occasion for a wide variety of organisations and people to come together solely for the purpose of considering the training of the young worker. It will focus attention on what is rapidly becoming a serious national issue: apprentice training and its possible reorganisation. Apprentice training is not about little boys in short trousers: it is about the way an industrial society restores and builds up its stock of craft workers. This article has been prepared to serve two functions: it sets out a review of apprentice procedures in several countries in the hope that the information may be used as background material for the public discussions, and it offers some views on the nature of the changes which are urgently required

John Wellens describes the Sugar House Apprenticeship Scheme inaugurated recently by Tate and Lyle Ltd (Thames Refinery). The movment towards ‘semi‐skilled apprenticeships’, of which this is a notable example, is, without doubt, one of the most significant and interesting feature of industrial training at the moment. It is a movement which is silently gaining strength. Information and comment from other firms engaging, or thinkig of engaging in this field would be welcome.

One of the traits which distinguish the German dual system of vocational education and training (VET) from most training systems in the world is the voluntary contribution of companies towards it, in both practical and financial terms. Obviously, the craft sector is a training segment within the dual system where the importance of practical experience is more strongly emphasised than the systematic approach underlying all modern training schemes. However, the overall supply of training placements in the German system decreased during the 1990s. Although the crafts have fared comparatively well, this tendency is now starting to also affect the sector. Being a sector with seemingly less attractive job prospects in small businesses and a comparatively low net cost per apprenticeship, the crafts face problems in terms of social selection as well as challenges with respect to the modernisation of training contents and instruction methods. The crafts are a sector with predominantly male participation and mainly absorb school leavers with lower secondary school qualifications. In this context, one of the questions for the Dual System and its uniform training practices might be whether the rapidly expanding services sector, with similar “small‐business” features, will be able or willing to follow the “training philosophy” that originated in the craft sector – and which is still seen as the “backbone” of the German Dual System of training.

This monograph is on developments and trends in vocational education and training in Europe. An overview is given of what is being planned in Western Europe. This is illustrated by a detailed description of the educational systems of a selection of EC and non‐EC countries (Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Sweden and Switzerland), followed by discussion of the current provision for vocational education and training within those systems and also in commerce and industry. Also provided are additional information on the work of CEDEFOP and of the European Commission, further reading, useful addresses and a glossary of some European language vocational education terms.