In 2006 a study on theses in two vocational programmes and two separate courses within the Swedish higher education system were conducted. In total 206 theses were evaluated by 14 experts in order to determine the scientific quality of the theses. In this article special attention will be paid to the teacher education programme. The other vocational programme – nursing education – is used as a point of reference to discuss two different approaches to the thesis. These will be addressed in terms of a consumer model and a producer model. Consequences considering students development of link to research in their thesis writing are discussed in relation to the two models. It is argued that an elaborated concept of link to research requires the use of both the consumer and the producer model not only within the thesis writing, but throughout the entire teacher education programme.