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56
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Introduction
I am Director of Skills Policy, an independent research and consultancy organisation. Formerly I was head of the vocational education and training and adult learning team at the OECD.
Skills and Expertise
Additional affiliations
September 2016 - December 2017
Skills Policy
Position
- Managing Director
Publications
Publications (56)
Report looking at apprenticeship training in England with policy recommendations
A report on higher technical education, at levels 4 and 5 in England. The report looks at the history of qualifications of this type and international comparisons. It shows that there is a 'missing middle' or a surprising absence of training at this level, relative both to the past and to other countries.
Only about one-quarter of the youth cohort enters vocational programmes at the upper secondary level, many of those with weak school attainment. Many students in Estonia attend full-cycle schools, which provide general education throughout the 12 grades, which biases the decision against vocational education and training (VET). While dropout rates...
One of a series of studies on vocational education and training, this review assesses the vocational education and training (VET) in Estonia and provides policy recommendations.
Estonia does very well in terms of student achievement on PISA, and the results from the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) are also excellent. Unemployment levels are low. But...
For initial vocational education and training (VET) graduates in Estonia, many learning pathways are open in principle, but rarely travelled. The optional extra year of education that helps upper secondary VET graduates to qualify for higher education attracted very few students each year. This is a major challenge, since the prospect of progressio...
Estonia’s education system has many impressive achievements: the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results are outstanding and participation in upper secondary education is near-universal. But challenges remain in particular in the country’s vocational education and training (VET) system. This chapter gives an overview of Estoni...
Over the past years, the Estonian vocational education and training (VET) system has undergone extensive reforms and developments. Reforms have aimed to create a clearer and more effective qualifications system to enhance employer engagement, to consolidate the school network and improve school facilities, to increase work-based learning and develo...
In Estonia, career guidance and information services have been extensively reorganised, and the system now has many strengths, but some gaps remain. Some of the elements of career guidance should be made mandatory in basic schools and provision should start early. Mandatory provision helps to ensure that the guidance gets through to some of the stu...
One of a series of studies on vocational education and training, this review focuses on the apprenticeship system in England and concludes with policy recommendations. England has launched a series of reforms that champion the institution of apprenticeship, and address some previous weaknesses. The reforms encourage more substantive apprenticeship...
How can the Netherlands move its school system "from good to great"? This report draws on international experience to look at ways in which the strong Dutch school system might go further still on the path to excellence. Clearly the Dutch school system is one of the best in the OECD, as measured by PISA and PIAAC and is also equitable, with a very...
Les programmes de formation professionnelle supérieure font face à des marchés du travail qui évoluent rapidement et à des défis de plus en plus difficiles à relever. Quel type de formation est nécessaire pour répondre aux besoins d’économies en pleine mutation ? Comment financer les programmes ? Comment les relier aux programmes d’enseignement gén...
Vocational education and training (VET) programmes are facing rapid change and intensifying challenges. How can employers and unions be engaged? How can workbased learning be used? How can teachers and trainers be effectively prepared? How should postsecondary programmes be structured? This country report on South Africa looks at these and other qu...
Higher level vocational education and training (VET) programmes are facing rapid change and intensifying challenges. What type of training is needed to meet the needs of changing economies? How should the programmes be funded? How should they be linked to academic and university programmes? How can employers and unions be engaged? This report synth...
This is a review of post-secondary vocational education and training in Germany.
Higher level vocational education and training (VET) programmes are facing rapid change and intensifying challenges. This report on Israel examines what type of training is needed to meet the needs of a changing economy, how programmes should be funded, how theyshould be linked to academic and university programmes and how employers and unions can...
The ‘basic skills’ of literacy and numeracy are among the most fundamental attributes of human beings and their civilization, lying at the root of our capacity to communicate and live and work together, to develop and share knowledge, science and culture. Their contribution to workforce skills have increasingly been recognized as critical to econom...
This book examines vocational education and training programmes in England, including coverage of how they are changing, how they are funded, how they are linked to academic and university programmes and how employers and unions are involved.
This report examines vocational education and training programmes in Austria, covering how they are changing, how they are funded, how they are linked to academic and university programmes and how employers and unions are engaged.
This is a review of post-secondary vocational education and training in Switzerland.
The OECD is a unique forum where the governments of 30 democracies work together to address the economic, social and environmental challenges of globalisation. The OECD is also at the forefront of efforts to understand and to help governments respond to new developments and concerns, such as corporate governance, the information economy and the cha...
A review of the vocational education and training system of Norway
The OECD is a unique forum where the governments of 30 democracies work together to address the economic, social and environmental challenges of globalisation. The OECD is also at the forefront of efforts to understand and to help governments respond to new developments and concerns, such as corporate governance, the information economy and the cha...
Le présent document porte sur divers aspects de l’équité et de l’efficience qui sont liés à l’acquisition de qualifications par les jeunes et les adultes relativement âgés. L’analyse donne à penser que ce type d’investissement dans le capital humain procure aux personnes d’importants avantages sur le marché du travail, notamment des gains, après im...
This article examines various efficiency and equity aspects related to the skill acquisition of young people and older adults. The analysis suggests that human capital investment is associated with significant labour-market gains for individuals, including higher post-tax earnings and better employment prospects, which exceed the investment costs,...
Cette analyse donne à penser que l'investissement en capital humain procure aux individus d'importants avantages sur le marché du travail, notamment des gains après impôts plus élevés et de meilleures perspectives d'emploi, avantages qui l'emportent largement sur les coûts, principalement le manque à gagner et les frais d'études. Il ressort égaleme...
Over the last two decades there has been a substantial increase in the proportion of lone mothers employed part-time, while the proportion employed full-time was much the same in 2005 as it was in the early 1980s. The experience of couple mothers is quite different, with both full-time and part-time employment increasing at similar rates. The net e...
This paper examines the value of data published by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) on the collision frequency of different automobile models as a potential guide to vehicle safety. It is argued that these data fail to control for factors other than design, including vehicle usage and driving quality. An alternative measure of collision risk,...
The total cost of auto theft to the U.S. in 1985 is estimated at $6 billion at current prices, or about $45 per automobile per year. On the basis of this estimate, it is calculated that it would be cost-effective for society to invest a few hundred dollars per car in built-in security to prevent auto theft. In practice, there is very little incenti...
An analysis of annual, quarterly, and monthly data for recorded crime in England and Wales yielded strong evidence that temperature has a positive effect on most types of property and violent crime. The effect was independent of seasonal variation. No relationship between crime and rainfall or hours of sunshine emerged in the study. The main explan...
The idea that crime has economic causes has been debated since time immemorial. Quantitative studies on the issue stretch back to von Mayr’s (1867) finding that there was more property crime in Bavaria at times when the price of rye was high, and lower at times when it was low.