Summary This article addresses the historical development of the National College of Technical Vocational Education in terms of its institutional and curriculum development; it examines the linkage strategies it is currently implementing and the experiences and effects of the training it provides to learners. Based on a desk study and 20 interviews, highlights its pioneering role in introducing multiple innovations in intermediate higher education; demonstrates how it is maintained as a training service for work excellence and the tension between academic and technical training; points to the potential of extra-curricular training devices, whose experiences are not taken up in education, and how Conalep directs students towards specific areas of work and lays the foundations for potential work development.