In OECD countries, many young people enter vocational programmes at upper secondary level. Sometimes these programmes are linked to workplace training, and sometimes they are formal apprenticeships, alternating on-the-job learning with school-based training. Despite its international diversity, some common issues and challenges remain. For example: to balance the needs of students and employers in the provision of training; the skills required by VET teachers and trainers; the extent to which the benefits of workplace training can be fully exploited; the most effective models for engaging employers and unions; how better measures of labour market outcomes can be developed, and compared across countries. Learning for Jobs, the thematic review of initial VET, looks at these issues among others. The work got under way in 2007 and, following 17 country reviews across the globe, was completed with the publication of a final comparative report in 2010.