ABSTRACT
The advanced level curriculum in England, Wales and Northern Ireland has traditionally been voluntarist, qualifications-focused and market-driven with no common requirements for all learners. There has been a notional idea of matriculation for university entrance-that is two A levels or equivalent-but this has been both implicit and flexibly applied (or ignored) according to market forces. The labour market has, by and large, not been based on ‘licence to practice’ and employers have recognized a range of criteria, only some of which are related to qualifications. In almost every sense, post-16 education has been seen as ‘post-compulsory’.
