Towards a Competent Workforce

The UK has been engaged in a radical reform of its vocational education and training. As part of that process new methods have been devised to analyze and describe the outcomes which people are expected to achieve at work - which are called occupational standards. This text contains a description of functional analysis, the method developed to define occupational standards and National Vocational Qualifications. It also discusses changes in contemporary work patterns, arguing that a new model of occupational competence is needed - the Job Competence Model. The text is in four parts. The first argues for a more strategic role for vocational education and training - to develop a competent workforce able to meet the challenges of changing economic needs. Part two charts the development of models of occupational competence which reflect these changing needs. Parts three and four together constitute a manual on how to use functional analysis to develop and define the occupational standards which describe the performance characteristics of a competent workforce.