First published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Richard Winter is a Professor of Education at Anglia Polytechnic. He helps to co-edit the journal 'Teaching in Higher Education' and is a member of the national advisory panel on vocational education of the Committee of Vice Chancellors nad Principals and the expert panel on assessment of the Higher Education Quality Council. Maire Maisch has worked in the social work field for the past eighteen years. She is Principal Lecturer in Social Work Education and is responsible for the BSc in Social Work at Anglia Polytechnic University.

Introduction - vocational competence and university education; The ASSET programme - an outline; the functional analysis of competence - an empirically-based curriculum?; the other dimension of assessment - a general model of professional learning; practice and knowledge or practice as knowledge?; assessment - the development of an expert community; examples of candidates' work; the organizational/employment context - towards an educative workplace?; evaluation 1995 - the social work ASSET programme after five years; current and future developments.