Significant transformation processes in Ukraine, inspired by globalization, require a rethinking of educational goals, objectives, and educational imperatives. Within the educational process in vocational (vocational-technical) education institutions, the training system is forced to take into account the global context of actions and consequences in the preparation of a competitive specialist.The purpose of this article is to analyze the current state of development of vocational (vocational-technical) education in Ukraine and the network of institutions of vocational (vocational-technical) education; identifying factors that affect the quality of training of a competitive specialist and controversies that need to be resolved in the training of professionals. To analyze the current state of preparation, a set of theoretical and empirical methods was used, with the help of which a number of problems that inhibit the process of ensuring the quality of training of a competitive specialist were identified. In order to study the current state of preparation, a set of questionnaires was developed and, within the framework of a pedagogical experiment, questionnaires were conducted among entrants, educators, graduates, pedagogical workers, heads of institutions of vocational (vocational-technical) education in the regions of Ukraine and employers, and the results of the questionnaire were analyzed.The concepts of «quality of education», «effectiveness of vocational (vocational-technical) education», «competitiveness» are considered.