^{note 1 in page 46} See National Institute Economic Review, November 1981. The present paper is in the nature of a sequel, but can be read independently.

^{note 2 in page 46} See H. Hollenstein, ‘Economic Performance and the Vocational Qualifications of the Swiss Labour Force compared with Britain and Germany’ (National Institute Discussion Paper No. 54, September, 1982).

^{note 1 in page 47} Car mechanic, electrician, machine fitter, carpenter, bricklayer, decorator, plumber, wholesale and foreign trade clerk, baker, toolmaker, butcher, general mechanic, industrial clerk, fac tory mechanic, bank clerk. Some of these occupations represent specialisations with overlapping cores; the various types of mechanics (italicised in the foregoing list) accounted for 17 per cent of all male trainees.

^{note 2 in page 47} Shop assistant (junior, 2-year course), hairdresser, grocery shop assistant, commercial office clerk, industrial office clerk, medical assistant, retail assistant (3-year course).

^{note 3 in page 47} While comparisons of the present kind have no doubt pre viously been undertaken informally, there are regrettably few published results. The EEC Centre for the Development of Vocational Training in Berlin (CEDEFOP) is engaged on a small number of very detailed comparisons of the occupational activities of craftsmen as part of plans for the harmonisation and mutual recognition of vocational qualifications within Europe (a start has been made on comparing the typical activities of, and the certified qualifications of, electricians, vehicle mechanics and construction workers). A further paper in preparation by the present writers deals with standards of general schooling in the two countries, with a view to elucidating their bearing on subsequent performance in vocational training.

^{note 1 in page 48} This applies to the first three occupations considered here.

^{note 2 in page 48} As will be seen below, the German examinations for electri cians nevertheless continue to be of the multiple-choice type.

^{note 1 in page 49} A more detailed discussion of the adjustment of multiple- choice tests is given below in connection with electrical craftmen.

^{note 2 in page 49} Discussed by S. M. Kaneti Barry, Engineering Craft Studies—Monitoring a New Syllabus (National Foundation for Educational Research, 1974).

^{note 3 in page 49} M. Venning, O. Frith, C. Grimbley, The Craftsman in Engineering (EITB), 1980), p. 44, table 5.7, see the columns relating to those aged under 25. The response rate of only 46 per cent, and the method of selecting the sample of craftsmen (the choice was made by the company within certain guidelines; see pp. 87-8), raise the possibility of an upward bias in the results.

^{note 4 in page 49} In the previous article (Prais,1981, p. 53, n. 3) it was suggested that about a third who passed their City and Guilds Part II com pleted two EITB modules. This estimate was based on those passing C & G mechanical craft examinations (see table 1 above) plus an approximately equal number in electrical and electronic craft and installation work. If those passing in C & G vehicle craft studies were also relevant, the portion covered by EITB would fall to about a quarter. Electricians may receive their practical training under EITB schemes, or under the Construction Industry Training Board (see the ensuing sections); there is no co-ordination in the relevant statistics.

^{note 1 in page 50} In the course of a report (ed. R. Russel and M. Neale) onExperiments in the first year apprenticeship in the Federal Republic of Germany: the report of a visiting party (duplicated, Further Education Staff College, Blagdon, Bristol, 1982) p. 26.

^{note 2 in page 50} This restriction applies only to the electrical contracting indus try. Anyone in Britain can still call himself an ‘electrician’ and work on his own account, or on electrical work in other branches of industry, without formal qualifications.

^{note 3 in page 50} National Working Rules, Joint Industry Board for the Electri cal Contracting Industry (Sidcup, Kent), section V, Grading Definitions for Electrician (grade 3: minimum age, usually 20) or Approved Electrician (grade 2: minimum age, usually 22). An electrical Technician (grade 1) is required to have passed the more advanced City and Guilds examination (Course C), and to have had five years' work with responsibility. A German electrical craftsman may be fully qualified by the age of 19; the later age normal in Britain reflects the older notion that the normal age of completing an apprenticeship should be 21——previously the age of legal adulthood.

^{note 1 in page 51} At the time of writing, electrical apprentices in the contracting industry are being subjected to a trial series of practical tests; this development is discussed further in relation to construction workers in the next section. The number of electrician appren tices registered with the Joint Industry Board for the Electrical Contracting Industry is however under half of those taking C & G electrical craft-examinations (e.g. 3,300 apprentices started a registered apprenticeship in 1977, of whom 2,200 reached Graded Electrician status in 1982—while the number passing C & G electri cal installation examinations, as shown in table 2, is some 6,000).

^{note 1 in page 52} The point is explained in the C & G Manual on objective testing, 1977, p. 8. Assuming a candidate on the basis of his knowledge is able to answer correctly a fraction p of the questions, and for the remaining fraction (1—p) he guesses blindly, then his expected observed score would be P=p+(1-p)/n, where n is the number of choices. By inversion, a ‘corrected’ score can be calcu lated as p=(nP-1)/(n-1); equivalently, we can deduct from the observed score (1-P)/(n-1) to obtain the ‘corrected’ score. Since the relationship is linear, examiners often do not find it necessary to make such an adjustment; but in the present application it provides a necesssary adjustment for the different number of choices in each country.

^{note 2 in page 52} Some 60 per cent of trainees for the 2-year electrician course came from Hauptschulen, and 56 per cent of those for the 3½-year course (Bericht, Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung, 1976; V. Göbei and W. Schlaffke, Berichte zur Bildungspolitik 1980/81 des Instituts der Deutschen Wirtschaft, DI Verlag 1980, p. 366). The school marks of trainees came from a longitudinal sample study carried out by the German Federal Institute für Arbeitsmarkt und Berufsforschung (H. Stegmann, Schulnoten und betriebliche Ausbildung, Materiolen aus der Arbeitsmarkt und Berufsforschung, 1982, No. 1, IAB, Nürnberg).

^{note 3 in page 52} Venning, Frith and Grimbley, op. cit., p. 43, reported on a survey by the Engineering Industry Training Board of 5,000 naodule-txained (that is, recently trained) craftsmen in 1978. Mr. Frith has kindly supplied me with additional information on school qualifications on which the above is based. Note that the sample included all types of engineering craftsmen, not just electricians; possibly the electricians had higher than average grades, but this information was not tabulated.

^{note 1 in page 53} A. D. Smith, D. M. N. W. Hitchens and S. W. Davies, ‘Inter national industrial productivity: a comparison of Britain, America and Germany’, National Institute Econornic Review, p. 110, no. 101, August 1982. I. B. Kravis, Z. Kennessy, A. Heston and R. Summers, A System of International Comparison of Grosss Product and Purchasing Power (Johns Hopkins, 1975); see chapter 11 on difficulties in measuring productivity in this sector, and especially p. 159 on the UK and Germany.

^{note 2 in page 53} A NEDO comparison of construction costs for a small sample of large-scale engineering sites pointed to the higher proportion of unskilled workers in Britain as compared with Europe, and suggested that this ‘reduces the average productivity and aggra vates the man-management problems’. The number of planned man-hours for the tasks compared was greater in Britain, and so was the percentage over-run in man-hours (60 per cent in two of the comparisons!); there were more tea breaks, more ‘walking time’, etc. (see Engineering Construction Performance, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Construction EDC, Nedo, 1976, pp. 4, 6, 18, 78, 81).

^{note 3 in page 53} See Eurostat (1980), Labour Force Sample Surveys 1973, 1975, 1977, p. 100.

^{note 4 in page 53} It must also be remembered that many construction workers are employed outside the construction industry (for example, many large manufacturing plants employ their own general building handymen); it would be better for the present purposes to compare employment in construction by occupation (rather than by indus try), but the great number of casual workers employed in this trade are probably very inadequately recorded in official statistics, and this mars the rellablilty of any international comparison.

^{note 1 in page 54} The alternation of schooling and work in reality is a little more complex, and varied amongst the Länder, than given in the above broad summary. For example, in Berlin the first forty weeks consist alternately of a period of five weeks full-time off-the-job training in a training centre, followed by a period of five weeks of instruction full-time in a vocational school; the remainder of the first year is on the site. The second year begins with thirteen weeks full-time at the training centre, followed by sitework combined with day-release to vocational school for the rest of the year (e.g. in Berlin), or with block-release and then sitework (e.g. in Ham burg). In addition to variations amongst Länder, there are variations in syllabus between the Industrie (large contractor) and Handwerk (small builder) sectors.

^{note 2 in page 54} See the C & G booklet (1974) on Course 588 Brickwork and Masonry, p. 10, which suggests 300 hours study for Part I, 600 hours for Part II, and 240-300 hours for Part III. The timing parallels that for other courses, such as mechanical fitters as de scribed above. The increase in block-release on the early part of the course has, no doubt, helped faster progress in this course in recent years.

^{note 3 in page 54} The City and Guilds one-year course no. 584 is specifically intended for general building operatives, and the examination paper for it was compared with the German first-year, as mentioned below. However, it is remarkable that no more than 30 candidates took this examination in Britain in 1980-81, of whom 19 passed. Employers see little point in releasing men for this kind of basic course, and youngsters who might benefit in the long run from such broader training are presumably reluctant to give up a day's earnings. These problems do not arise under the German system where the broad first year course in construction is obliga tory for all who wish to attain craft qualifications in construction trades.

^{note 4 in page 54} The number of trainees passing C & G Part III is about half those passing Part II (see footnotes (c) and (e) of table 3); the true British equivalent to the German final examination may well be between these levels, and the implied gap in numbers qualifying in the two countries at equivalent standards would thus be greater than indicated in the text.

^{note 1 in page 55} Varying according to occupation and Länder. The Berlin bricklayer has a five-hour test; the Berlin plaster, eight hours; some construction workers in Hamburg have a sixteen-hour test, spread over two days.

^{note 2 in page 55} The validity of thisdichotomy is of course debatable: we need only note here that it goes very much against the principles of German vocational training as expressed, for example, in the well- known writings of Kerschensteiner (see D. Simons, Georg Kerschensteiner, London, Methuen, 1966; or, briefly, Prais et al., Productivity and Industrial Structure, 1981, ppl.30-31, 294 and 327).

^{note 3 in page 55} CITB Bulletin no. 1, Skills Testing for the Building Industry; and Industrial and Commercial Training, July 1982, p. 231. This followed a proposal in December 1981 by the National Federation of Building Trades Employers to replace time-serving by skill tests as the basis of craft status.

^{note 4 in page 55} In the north of England, supplementary practical tests for building trainees have been carried out by individual technical colleges for a number of years in response to employers' needs (York, for example, has a practical test at the end of each year: for the final examination, the test lasts six hours).

^{note 5 in page 55} Electricians working in the building industry appear at present to be in advance of those in the engineering industry in respect of plans for practical testing; but it may be presumed that agreement at the level of the Joint Industry in respect of plans for practical testing; but it may be presumed that agreement at the level of the Joint Industry Board for the Electrical Contracting Industry—on which unions and employers are represented—will ensure that all electricians will be subject to similar tests.

^{note 6 in page 55} Cf. the remarks of Gertrude Williams in her influential study. Apprenticeship in Europe: The Lesson for Britain (Chapman and Hall, 1963). p. 178.

^{note 1 in page 56} Some 10,100 Apprenticeship Completion Certificates were issued by the National Joint Council for the Building Industry in 1981, compared with the 11,200 shown in table 3 as having C & G Part II in related trades (an analysis of Completion Certificates by trades shows much the same distribution: e.g. carpenters 4,200, bricklayers 2,100, painters 1,200). On the whole, more take C & G qualifications than bother with formal apprenticeship certifi cates. The Department of Education and Science collects num bers of students on day and block-release attending colleges classified by age and industry: for the construction industry the maximum number is at age 18, and totalled some 12,000 in 1976: this is reassuringly comparabte with total C & G passes. The number at all ages registered as attending courses was 49,000, and suggests much re-taking and extension courses (see Statistics of Education, 1976, vol. 3, Further Education, HMSO, 1979, table 13; no table of this kind has been produced for more recent years).

^{note 2 in page 56} All these come under course-heading no. 78 in the German occupational classification (see Berufliche Bildung). in addition some 6,000 a year qualified as assistant accountants, etc. (course No. 7535); these are closer to professional qualifications, such as the British intermediate accounting examinations, than to the general category of office workers that are the main subject of interest in this section.

^{note 3 in page 56} H. Althoff et al., Schulische Vorbildung, Prüfungserfolg von Auszubildenden, Ausbildereignung (Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung, 1979), table 1/1.

^{note 1 in page 57} Booklet 17, EITB, 47 pp. It describes typical tasks and stan dards of achievement for typists, accounting machine operators, telephone switchboard operators, etc.; it followed an earlier set of EITB recommendations on The training of clerks. See also T. Fidgett, A summary of information on the employment and training of clerical staff in the engineering industry (Engineering Industry Training Board, 1981, esp. p. 19) who notes that while many young clerical workers in the engineering industry receive some form of training, much of it is unlikely to be to approved standards.

^{note 2 in page 57} A merger of BEC and the Technician Education Council was announced at the end of 1982; at the time of writing, the practical consequences for the work so far carried out by BEC are not clear. The reasons given publicly for the merger seem to be of the naive ‘bigger must be better’ variety (‘it would produce a single national body with wide-ranging responsibilities’, ‘rationalisation’ etc.), and are hardly convincing. The dominant role of the City and Guilds Institute in promoting standards of vocational training seems to have been curiously ignored. Presumably there are other reasons for this merger than those presented for public consumotion.

^{note 3 in page 57} There are Federal regulations governing examination stan dards for qualified secretaries (Geprüfte Sekretärin) based on two years' practical experience following the final examinations of a two or three-year part-time clerical course, as described above, or its equivalent.

^{note 1 in page 58} The quotations are from the BEC Option Module Specification, Office Typewriting I and II (BEC, Spring 1980), pp. 8-9. The vagueness is not accidental, but expresses an underlying educational philosophy: it is as if the candidates have been so alienated by their previous schooling (and afraid of ‘failing’ again) that it is necessary to avoid any suggestion of examined course- work. A subject is thus called a ‘module’; an exercise is replaced by an ‘assignment’; and an examiner is replaced by a ‘modera tor’. ‘Penalty marking schemes’, we are told, are not recom mended. It is not inconceivable that this is the best approach, given the reputed failings of certain sectors of British schooling; we need not here attempt to go beyond noting the contrast with the more ‘mechanical’ approach of the German tests—as of the RSA and other British examining bodies considered below.

^{note 2 in page 58} In commenting on the present BEC General courses, teachers suggested that the curriculum was too broad ‘to allow proper in-depth study’. (BEC General Awards Review, BEC, 1982, p. 97.)

^{note 3 in page 58} Paper A520, December 1980, question 9 (obligatory) and question 16 (choice of two such questions out of four). Some variation in level of difficulty of questions is of course necessary in any examination; the wide variation noted here makes it difficult to know what standard is expected. A sample survey of pupils car ried out on behalf of BEC showed considerable variations in students' attitudes to this course, and 80 per cent ‘said that there was much repetition of school work’; girls, who are usually poorer than boys in school mathematics, more often found the course ‘useful as it kept them in practice’ (see The Education Needs in the Distributive Industry (sic., BEC, 1982, p. 107).

^{note 4 in page 58} See BEC Annual Report 1980-81, p. 19 for students of distribution; I am indebted to Dr. M. Jones of BEC for the remaining estimates.

^{note 1 in page 59} Statistics of Education, vol. 2, School Leavers CSE and GCE in 1977 (HMSO,1979), p. 46, shows 80,000 attempted this exam ination in 1977, but does not show how many passed ‘because of variations in methods of assessing performance’ amongst the various examination boards. No one at the Department of Education could say how many could be considered as passing this examination, nor have any national figures since 1977 been com piled by the DES even of those attempting this subject! The London Board awarded grades 1-3 to half those passing in this subject (this Board recommends that 25 words a minute should be the minimum attainment for those taking the subject). Certain local education authorities in England discourage schools from teaching ‘narrowly practical’ subjects such as typewriting in the fifth form. A substantial proportion of pupils at German Realschulen and Hauptschulen take commercial subjects such as shorthand-typing; it appears however that no national statistics are compiled of those who pass the final examinations in these sub jects. At German evening schools (Volkshochschulen), courses in basic typewriting account for about a third of all teaching time; over 250,000 were registered at typewriting courses in 1976 (Deutscher Volkshochschulverband, Berufliclie Weiterbildung in Volkshochschulen, Frankfurt am Main, 7.79, pp. 9, 73).

^{note 2 in page 59} Perhaps a half of those who take CSE typewriting go on to take RSA examinations.

^{note 1 in page 59} Thanks are due to the Bromley College of Technology, and the South West London College of Further Education, for assistance here. The justification for not having nationwide BEC examinations seems debatable (one commentator thought the consequen tial duplication of work at each college amounted to a ‘disgraceful waste of public funds’); there is also a BEC Higher National Certificate/Diploma, again without nationwide examinations, which is passed by about a quarter of those taking the National examinations considered above. The standard is only marginally higher.

^{note 1 in page 60} The mathematics of this particular paper seems to have pre sented exceptional difficulties in Britain, and dissuaded many students from taking the B 1 option (the B2 option—finance— was less difficult mathematically).

^{note 2 in page 60} There are a great many other ‘intermediate’ clerical examinations taken by several thousand candidates each year in Britain (e.g. RSA Office Practice II was passed by 1,100 candidates in 1980); perhaps if these were totalled in respect of each candidate over a number of years, it would be found that many had achieved the equivalent of a ‘group award’. On these matters nothing is known in Britain; nor is it anyone‘s responsibility (though one might have thought it lay within BEC's province) to attempt an annual assessment of the amount of commercial and clerical training carried out in Britain.

^{note 3 in page 60} The existence of such a gap seems to be recognised in a report that became available after the above was written. Students who obtain a BEC General-level award can proceed to National-level courses provided they pass ‘with credit’; the report notes that there is a ‘significant minority demand, which is not currently being met for a continuing vocational education in business for some of the BEC General students who do not obtain a pass with credit’. (BEC General Award Review, 1982, p. 4.)

^{note 1 in page 61} See Berufliche Bíldung, 1981, pp. 138, 140. An adjustment for those who take first and second-phase examinations, along the lines mentioned below (p. 41, fn. 4), does not seriously affect this estimate.

^{note 2 in page 61} A study of the training system of three highly-regarded British retail organisations (Marks and Spencer, John Lewis, Sainsbury) by Mr. M. Lewis, Deputy Director of the London College for the Distributive Trades, makes it clear that they rely very little on external courses and examinations: on-the-job and in-house training has proved adequate for these firms. It is not clear whether this entails significantly reduced transferability of employees' skills, with possible losses in social efficiency; but that is a topic deserving deeper comparative investigation (we are grateful to Mr. Lewis for access to his unpublished dissertation on this topic).

^{note 3 in page 61} For a very thorough discussion of the role of training in distributive occupations and the changes required as a result of self- service and related developments, see M. Ehrlhe, Qualifikation und Berufsausbíldung im Warenhandel (WI Verlag, 1980), esp. pp. 136-144. 296, 418-429. For a shorter discussion, bearing especially on the length of training, see J. Häussler, Verkaufen mit Verkäufern, Wirtschaft undausbildung, 12,1981, pp. 380-381; and P. Schenkel, Die Ausbildung zur Kaufmann im Einzelhandel, Wirtschaft und Ausbildung, 6, 1982, pp. 169-177.

^{note 4 in page 61} Among the tasks that a German sales-trainee is expected to master are: receipt of goods, checking of quality and quantity, warehousing and care of goods, preparation of goods for sale, display, advice on quality to customers (see Verkäufer(in), Einzelhandelskaufmann Berufsbild etc. (Bertelsmann, Bielefeld, n.d.) p. 3).

^{note 5 in page 61} Including assistants in chemists' shops also on a two-year course (ref. no. 6851) and deducting an estimate of those who go on to a three-year course (see fn (4) below).

^{note 6 in page 61} Including those who have taken three-year specialised courses (no. 6821) for food shops.

^{note 7 in page 61} The other, less numerous, specialist categories of training included: book-dealer, druggist (three-year course, no. 6841), petrol pump and garage attendant, newspaper stockist. The published total for all categories of distribution (group no. 68) is shown as 116,000 in Berufliche Bildung 1981, p. 138; but there is some double-counting in aggregating passes for first and second- phase courses. On the basis of table 5, op. cit., it appears that about 15,000 need to be deducted to allow for those passing second-phase examinations who have already passed first-phase examinations.

^{note 8 in page 61} Althoff et al., loc. cit.

^{note 1 in page 62} W. H. Cockroft (Chairman), Mathematics Counts (HMSO, 1982),p.15.

^{note 2 in page 62} The question was set in Berlin, Summer 1981 (suggested answers: simultaneous letter of withdrawal; acceptance is not immediate; acceptance subject to different conditions; offer rejected).

^{note 3 in page 62} BEC papers on Elements of Distribution set in October 1980 and October 1981.

^{note 4 in page 62} For someone working in a clothing shop, for example, the oral test would be as follows. The candidate chooses two items of clothing from some two dozen on the table and is asked about; raw materials used as the maincloth and as lining, nature of the weave, name of the cloth, colour and print characteristics, methods of cleaning and care, seaming and finishing. The candidate then treats the examiner as a customer, and ‘sells’ him one of the items; marks are awarded on: customer reception, information on required size, presentation of the goods, advice on current fashion (e.g. colour) and practical aspects of the material (e.g. durability, washability), answers to queries, arranging alterations, possible complementary purchases, payment.

^{note 5 in page 62} The numbers of passes given in this are approximate, being derived by applying the percentage of students in each industrial sector (as shown in the BEC Annual Reports) to the total number of passes.

^{note 6 in page 62} On this distinction, see Outlook on training: review of the Employment and Training Act 1973 (MSC, 1980), p. 14.

^{note 7 in page 62} The 1981 Report shows, for example, 730 trainees on a pilot scheme of Universal Vocational Preparation and 481 grants for skill shortages. Rather more grants were awarded for instructors and management, but many of these were for very short courses (for example, 13,000 ‘day modules’ for management development in 1981-82). The UVP courses had a remarkably wide curriculum, with weekends at residential centres: activities there included rifle shooting, assault courses, pot-holing, horse riding, etc. The logic behind all this will be apparent to anyone familiar with UVP as ‘An Integrated Interactive Development… which can Profiled and may be given a Bolt-on’ (sic., see Distributive Industry Training Board, Unified vocational preparation, June 1982, pp. 2. 45 et seq). With their blinkered outlook, the present writers regretfully have to admit incomprehension.

^{note 1 in page 63} The Road Transport Industrial Training Board has also in troduced standard national tests at the end of training (but these have not formed part of the comparisons in the present paper).

^{note 2 in page 63} See MSC, Outlook on Training, p. 39. The White Paper on A New Training Initiative (Cmnd. 8455, December 1981, para. 46) endorsed the adoption of ‘relevant standards of competence … by 1985 at the latest’, but without explicitly stating whether these were to rely on external examination or on the less uniform and less guaranteed processes of in-course assessinent. The words ‘monitoring’ and ‘assessment’ are the key (‘weasel’) words which should put the reader on his guard as to the objectivity of the proposed tests.

^{note 1 in page 64} Outlook on Training, p. 31. It was also argued that firms can more readily be influenced by an organisation that represents their industry than by bodies representing the large number of occupations that a firm inevitably employs; and that an occupationally based scheme would be over-centralised. These arguments are not convincing in the light of the overlaps of the present system, and the costs arising from duplication. They might be more convincing if the British system were more obviously successful. On the other hand, it must be said that certain German industries also impose a voluntary levy to finance industry-wide training establishments (such as the Lehrbauhof in the construction industry). A more fundamental criticism may be ventured here of the framework within which that Review of the training system was conducted— namely, that it was not conducted by an independent body: the Manpower Services Commission appointed a Review Body which was headed by its own Chairman. Such a creature might lack that degree of distance which is necessary for a full consideration of alternatives.

^{note 2 in page 64} Ibid., p. 53.

^{note 3 in page 64} Ibid., p.40.

^{note 4 in page 64} The Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers continues to oppose this reform (Financial Times, 25 April, 1983).

^{note 5 in page 64} The Prime Minister announced on 12 November 1982 that vocational and technical courses are to be introduced from Septem ber 1983 for up to 10,000 pupils aged 14-18. After earlier extensive experience in Britain of technical and commercial schools for those aged 12 and over, it is surprising—but characteristic—that at this late date no more than experiment is to be attempted (see Employ ment Gazette, December 1982, p. 501). In the BEC survey mentioned above (p. 39, n. 1), many employers ‘said they thought the BEC General Course ought to be taught in schools—by implication, to 15 year olds’ (BEC Education Needs, op. cit., p. 313), whereas so far such courses have generally been delayed to later ages.

^{note 6 in page 64} Of all first-year trainees in Germany in 1979-80, only 13 pei cent were on full-time basic vocational training. Only a limited number of trades have so far accepted the full-time basic year as providing exemption from the first year of a normal two or three- year traineeship (see H. Benner, Demarcation of Occupational GroupslOccupational Fields with regard to Vocational Training at the Skilled Level in the European Community, CEDEFOP, Lux embourg, 1982; esp. pp. 35, 114).