This work is an examination of the changing nature of state intervention in the area of industrial training between 1964 and the present. It seeks to identify those factors that have been significant in influencing the form that industrial training policy took and the reasons for subsequent changes that have occurred. It further identifies those factors that have remained constant, A central proposition of the work is that changes to policy cannot be fully understood simply by reference to an examination of the interests and processess involved at the formal (re)formulation stage of the policy process. Rather, that an analysis of the process of change needs to incorporate past experience of implementing policy programmes as well as an examination of the relationship of the role of values and ideas in informing policy choices. This is accomplished by charting the progress of the intervention at various levels throughout the period, employing a conceptual framework developed for the purpose. Included in the analysis is a detailed case study of the impact of industrial training policy in two industries: chemicals and pottery. The study concludes with an examination of the prospects for the current New Training Initiative.