ABSTRACT
In 1976 the government announced the intention to test out approaches to what it called Unified Vocational Preparation (UVP)-'unified' because the schemes were to be jointly planned and provided by education and training services. The rationale for the programme was that about half of those entering the labour market at 16 received no structured education or training. UVP was never a large-scale scheme, many of the lessons learned were applied to programmes for the young unemployed. Technical and Vocational Education Initiative (TVEI) of 1983 was aimed at providing a new element to the curriculum of all 14-18-year-olds, which in our case meant working with our 11-16 secondary schools. In the case of general studies, the curriculum had to be designed by the teachers, and varied with the needs of the learners, which were in turn influenced by their age, previous attainment and the occupational areas they were preparing to enter.
