This paper seeks to address the issue of balancing the supply and demand side of the skills equation in Britain. The analysis of the supply of intermediate level qualifications reveals an increase in participation, retention and achievement in postcompulsory education, evidence of a fair degree of success of supply-side educational policies. The analysis of the balance between the supply and demand however, reveals some fatigue in the allocation of the increasing number of qualifications supplied by the labour force. Furthermore the increasing incidence of over-qualification in the labour market at intermediate levels of education casts doubt on the suitability of supply-side education policies based on qualifications and brings to mind the possibility that a turning point in the ability of the labour market to absorb an increasing number of qualifications may be approaching.
