ABSTRACT
The far-reaching discourse about HE access ‘is the most troublesome item in talk about HE’ (Watson 2006: 93), because the research base in this area is fragmented to such a degree that almost any conclusion can be drawn from it (Gorard et al. 2006). Linked to this debate about HE participation, vocational education and training (VET) policy has as one of its aims increasing access to higher education via this route. However, there is little research that speaks to either the effectiveness or the efciency of this policy, the redistributive potential of which lies not just in whether an individual participates in HE but also in which higher education institutions (HEIs) they access and which subject areas.
