From Competence and Competition to the Leitch Review

The utility of comparative analyses of skills and performance

This working paper sets out to do three things.

First, to examine the broader role, contribution and limitations of comparative international skills benchmarking studies.

Second, to identify those elements of the influential Competence and Competition study that represented a lasting contribution to British debates about education and training (E&T).

Third, given the relatively static nature of the English policy debate about E&T policy, to identify where new approaches to old problems may be emerging elsewhere in the developed world.

This paper was commissioned by IES as part of its Visiting Fellows scheme, marking the Institute's 40th anniversary.