Very damaging effects are attributed to the deep divide between academic and vocational post-compulsory education which has marked the English education system. It has been blamed for keeping one side too narrowly academic and the other too narrowly practical. Even worse, a persistent belief that real education post-16 is properly reserved for an academically-minded minority has kept participation rates well below those of most comparable countries, thereby producing an under-educated and under-skilled workforce. This text looks in detail at the contrasts in the provision traditionally made...