One of the biggest challenges, according to employers, is how to improve the image of VET and how to ensure it meets the demands of tomorrow’s workplaces. While learning close to practice, leading to skills that can be used directly after graduation, is seen as strength, the lack of motivation among students and the low proportion of work-based learning are seen as weaknesses. More...

As a result of demographic changes, the heterogeneity of apprenticeship beginners, competition from school-based VET programmes, and image problems, apprenticeship training has come under increasing pressure in recent years. More...

A new government plan will increase significantly the number of people registering for apprenticeship and training schemes in response to the growing economy.  The Action plan for education aims to create 100 new apprenticeship schemes and 50 new traineeship programmes by 2020, as well as increasing access to work experience for higher level students. More...

The survey among graduates of the master craftsperson examination, commissioned by the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, was conducted by Institute for Research on Qualifications and Training of the Austrian Economy (ibw) in the autumn of 2015. It aimed to discover whether the objectives of this qualification are fulfilled: having comprehensive specialist competences, enabling holders to work in an executive position carrying out complex tasks, or being able to manage a company and train apprentices. More...

Significant developments in apprenticeship mean that anyone taking this route can aspire to the same level of qualification as someone on an undergraduate course in a higher education institution. The gradual recovery in the economy has seen a return of opportunities in traditional trades, such as construction, including, for the first time, the possibility of progress up the qualifications ladder to an honours degree (NFQ level 8; EQF level 6), and beyond. More...

Over 200 participants in Cedefop’s conference on how to make learning visible, on 28 and 29 November in Thessaloniki, agreed that validation of non-formal and informal learning is important for Europe’s future. More...