Social Partnerships in UK Vocational Education – Some Opportunities and Tensions

Social partnerships are a long-standing feature of work done in the education and training sector. However, these partnerships are complex in their variety and form. In vocational education and training contexts, social partners are often representatives of the labour market, most common partners are employers and employer organisations such as trade unions and professional or regulatory bodies. The aim of most social partnerships is to bring together those who benefit from vocational education and training into developing and shaping education and training policy and practice.