ABSTRACT
The metaphor 'Groundhog Day' was used in relation to the VET sector by Professors Christopher Winch and Terry Hyland in 2007 in the book A Guide to the Vocational Education and Training Sector, part of a series on further education (FE) edited and commissioned by the first author. This chapter presents the discovery and systematic detailed mapping of new data on longitudinal progression routes taken by vocational students in FE and apprenticeships provision into higher education (HE) in England at both a mass and individual level. It aims to contribute to new forms of sense-making and a reduction in confusion about learner progression routes, enabling also the potential development of an improved ecosystem and more trusted educational environment at the individual learner level in post-compulsory education in the longer term. In 1998, the New Labour government introduced the principle of fees and student loans into the system of HE in England.
