Challenges in the transition from apprenticeships to higher education in England, Germany, and Norway

The transition from technical and vocational education and training to higher education is particularly challenging for apprenticeship graduates. These challenges are not only bureaucratic or logistical but also reflect deeper systemic inequalities. In many countries, apprenticeship routes at the upper secondary level are disproportionately chosen by disadvantaged groups in relation to class, gender, and/or race. As a result, the limited, time‐consuming, and inconsistently regulated progression pathways in place contribute to the reproduction of social inequality. This article examines how such structural barriers are embedded in three national apprenticeship models in England, Germany, and Norway, where access to apprenticeship qualifications is primarily mediated by the labour market. In England, higher‐level apprenticeship routes combine company‐based learning with part‐time participation in institutional education. In Germany, the parallel or “dual” model integrates school‐based and company‐based training, while Norway’s sequential model structures apprenticeships as successive phases in schools and workplaces. In comparing these models, we conclude that despite differences across transition routes and claims to improve permeability, the divide between vocational and academic education persists across all three systems, thereby reinforcing rather than reducing systemic inequality.