In a highly competitive global landscape, occupations are transformed, new jobs are created and the skills needed for the labour market are constantly changing.

To help in shaping future policies, a Cedefop project considers different routes and multiple options for vocational education and training (VET).

This research paper is the fifth in a series produced as part of the Cedefop project The changing nature and role of VET (2016-18).

All you need to know about Cedefop's work in the field of European vocational education and training in a handy new brochure!

The September 2018 issue of Skillset and match, Cedefop’s magazine promoting learning for work, is now available to read and download.

This handbook supports the transfer and adaptation of career development tools used in guidance, early school leaving prevention, employment services, youth centres and other organisations.

Cedefop's concise guide takes a look at one of the most famous vocational education and training (VET) systems in Europe!

Cedefop's programming document for 2018-20 outlines how the agency will support the European Commission, Member States and social partners to improve vocational education and training and raise skill levels.

Work environments in the near future are expected to feature more autonomy, less routine, more use of ICT, reduced physical effort and increased social and intellectual tasks.

Cedefop’s regular skills supply and demand projections provide comprehensive information on labour market trends and skills development across Europe.

A concise guide to Lithuania's vocational education and training (VET) system looks at the latest developments.

Vocational education and training (VET) in Poland has three governance levels: national (ministries), regional (school superintendents, mainly in pedagogical supervision) and county (governing schools).

The Hungarian education system has undergone substantial transformation since the 1990s. Since 2013, governance of schools has been centralised and vocational education and training (VET) was reformed in 2015 to offer quality training in accordance with changing labour market needs.

Vocational education and training (VET) in Greece is strongly State-regulated and, until recently, mostly offered through a school-based approach.

This short brochures give a concise and overview of the state of play of Bulgaria’s education and training system, its distinctive features, the particular challenges the country faces and the policy responses it has been developing. A chart showing the VET system’s structure and figures on student enrolment, early leaving and employment rates of young graduates complete the picture.

In Portugal, the national qualification system reorganised vocational education and training within the remits
of the education and employment authorities into a single system.

Cedefop's concise guide to national qualifications framework developments in 39 European countries (28 EU Member
States as well as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Kosovo, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey) in 2017.

As countries across Europe are pushing ahead with their national qualifications frameworks, Cedefop's briefing note examines the question of the frameworks’ added value and contribution to policies and practices.

The sixth Cedefop national qualifications framework (NQF) monitoring report confirms that NQFs play a key role in the European qualifications framework (EQF) implementation and in improving transparency and comparability of qualifications nationally and internationally.

Skill shortages and skill mismatch are major concerns for policy-makers. The report calls on policy-makers to adopt a different mindset for tackling skill mismatch, focused on sustainable activation, continuous learning, job-task reengineering and promotion of higher-end product market/managerial practices.

This publication is the final report from the thematic country review of apprenticeships (TCR) in Italy.

This two-volume publication gives an update on the national qualification frameworks around the world. It provides information on national and regional developments as well as selected themes. It  is the result of collaborative work between Cedefop, ETF, UNESCO and the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning.

This research paper is the second in a series produced as part of the Cedefop project The changing nature and role of VET (2016-18).

This Cedefop handbook is addressed to individuals and institutions actively involved in defining and writing learning outcomes in education and training. Its ambition is to act as a reference point for cooperation in this area.

Skills anticipation can be a powerful policy tool for decision-making. Individuals would benefit greatly from knowing what type of education and training to follow; enterprises would know the skills they need; and policy-makers could adapt education and training systems to new skill needs.

As the current framework for cooperation in vocational education and training (VET) approaches its 2020 expiry, Cedefop is now looking further ahead to stimulate the debate on European VET cooperation until 2030.

The September 2017 issue of Skillset and match, Cedefop’s magazine promoting learning for work, is now available to read and download.

This flyer provides a concise overview of Germany’s vocational education and training system.

This flyer provides a concise overview of the UK’s vocational education and training system.

This flyer provides a concise overview of Austria’s vocational education and training system.

2016 was a year of new challenges for Cedefop. As the Agency gears up for changes in European vocational education and training (VET) policy it aims to support the European Union’s ambition to transform the New skills agenda and the Council recommendation Upskilling pathways: new opportunities for adults into actions at Member State level.

ReferNet collects information on, and monitors developments in, national VET policies and systems. This information is used for different purposes and products such as the VET in Europe reports and the Thematic perspectives on early leaving, apprenticeship innovation etc.

The May 2017 issue of Skillset and match, Cedefop’s magazine promoting learning for work, is now available to read and download.

The 2012 Council recommendation on validation of non-formal and informal learning encourages Member States to put in place national arrangements for such validation by 2018. These will enable individuals to increase the visibility and value of their knowledge, skills and competences acquired outside formal education and training: at work, at home or in voluntary activities.

Vocational education and training (VET) in Latvia is changing and its attractiveness is increasing. Two-thirds of VET schools have already been transformed into VET competence centres with modernised infrastructure and equipment. Programmes available include lifelong learning and promote access to the labour market. Find out more about Latvia’s VET system in Cedefop's concise guide.

Vocational education and training (VET) in Croatia has two main roles. Alongside preparation for labour market entry, it enables progression to tertiary education, primarily through four-year VET programmes, where learners spend half of their time acquiring general competences. Find out more in Cedefop's concise guide.

European policy-making in vocational education and training (VET) needs to be supported by sound evidence. In this report, Cedefop has selected 36 indicators to quantify key aspects of VET and lifelong learning. The selection is based on their policy relevance and their importance in achieving the Europe 2020 objectives.

The January 2017 issue of Skillset and match, Cedefop’s magazine promoting learning for work, is now available to read and download. In this issue, we look at the, highly successful, first European vocational skills week, of which Cedefop was a partner.

The European labour market is challenged by changes in the demographic composition of the labour force and increasing work complexities and processes.

As national qualifications frameworks (NQFs) are taking shape, their benefits become visible across the European Union.

This Cedefop study focuses on the contribution that vocational education and training (VET) can make to reducing early leaving from education and training (ELET).

In Finland, the government is currently undertaking vocational education and training (VET) system reform, which aims to renew VET legislation and the financing system, and to promote learning at the workplace. This reform is planned to come into force in 2018.

This guide is a part of the ETF, ILO and Cedefop series of guides on skills anticipation and matching. All the guides follow a common structure, although they vary in level of detail, technical content and case studies. The ETF, Cedefop and the ILO worked closely together to develop the guides, usually with one agency/organisation taking the lead and the others providing inputs, case studies, comments and reviews. All guides have undergone extensive validation and peer review; they were also discussed in detail in international expert seminars in which academic representatives, anticipation and matching experts, and potential end-users from across the world provided comments and feedback on content and usability. Experts and staff of the three organisations also peer reviewed the guides before their publication.

This guide is a part of the ETF, ILO and Cedefop series of guides on skills anticipation and matching. All the guides follow a common structure, although they vary in level of detail, technical content and case studies. The ETF, Cedefop and the ILO worked closely together to develop the guides, usually with one agency/organisation taking the lead and the others providing inputs, case studies, comments and reviews. All guides have undergone extensive validation and peer review; they were also discussed in detail in international expert seminars in which academic representatives, anticipation and matching experts, and potential end-users from across the world provided comments and feedback on content and usability. Experts and staff of the three organisations also peer reviewed the guides before their publication.

This guide is a part of the ETF, ILO and Cedefop series of guides on skills anticipation and matching. All the guides follow a common structure, although they vary in level of detail, technical content and case studies. The ETF, Cedefop and the ILO worked closely together to develop the guides, usually with one agency/ organisation taking the lead and the others providing inputs, case studies, comments and reviews. All guides have undergone extensive validation and peer review; they were also discussed in detail in international expert seminars in which academic representatives, anticipation and matching experts, and potential end‑users from across the world provided comments and feedback on content and usability. Experts and staff of the three organisations also peer reviewed the guides before their publication.

Swedish vocational education and training (VET) includes programmes and study pathways within upper secondary education and non-academic and academic tertiary education.

This Cedefop reference publication maps and analyses the shift to learning outcomes in education and training policies and practices across Europe.

The September 2016 issue of Skillset and match, Cedefop’s magazine promoting learning for work, is now available to read and download. In this issue, we look at the New skills agenda for Europe and how it can boost employability, competitiveness and growth.

Traditionally, vocational education and training (VET) has been a strong pillar of the Slovak education system. Despite growing interest in general education, participation in secondary VET is still among the highest in the EU.

This thematic report focuses on validation of learning acquired through open educational resources (OER), such as participation in massive open online courses.

This thematic report provides insights into how validation arrangements are linked to the labour market.

Committed and competent teachers and trainers are crucial to ensuring the quality and labour market relevance of learning, both in VET schools/centres and in companies, and whether in classrooms, in workshops, in labs and simulated learning environments, or at the workplace.

The year under review has been marked by a number of events that will inevitably have an impact on the immediate future of Cedefop and European vocational education and training (VET).

The May 2016 issue of Skillset and match, Cedefop’s magazine promoting learning for work, is now available to read and download.

All the guides follow a common structure, although they vary in level of detail, technical content and case studies. The ETF, Cedefop and the ILO worked closely together to develop the guides, usually with one agency/organisation taking the lead and the others providing inputs, case studies, comments and reviews. All guides have undergone extensive validation and peer review; they were also discussed in detail in international expert seminars in which academic representatives, anticipation and matching experts, and potential end-users from across the world provided comments and feedback on content and usability. Experts and staff of the three organisations also peer reviewed the guides before their publication.

Croatia's vocational education and training system in a six-page guide.

The European guidelines for validating non-formal and informal learning are written for individuals and institutions responsible for the initiation, development, implementation and operation of validation arrangements.

This publication is the final report on Cedefop’s study on in-company trainers in small and medium-sized enterprises.

This study investigates the role of modules and units in vocational education and training (VET) in 15 EU countries and aims to determine how these structures fit in the wider VET systems.

How far is the world progressing towards comprehensive qualifications frameworks?
The 2015 global inventory of regional and national qualifications frameworks, compiled by Cedefop, Unesco-HQ, the European Training Foundation and the Unesco Institute for Lifelong Learning, was launched on 25 April in Riga, Latvia.

This study reviews recent policies and practices aiming to tackle unemployment through addressing skill mismatch in the EU-28 Member States. It examines skill mismatch policy instruments aimed at reducing unemployment as well as measures to prevent it.

Many of the skills Europe needs for sustainable economic recovery will be learned at work. According to Cedefop’s new European skills and jobs survey, to overcome skill mismatches, more and better jobs that invest in people’s skills are needed.

This publication takes stock of recent Cedefop research on CVET. It analyses how CVET contributes to reaching economic and social policy objectives of the European Union regarding inclusion, employment, innovation, productivity, competitiveness and growth.

This Cedefop research paper examines the role played by learning outcomes approaches in pedagogical change in initial vocational education and training (VET) in 15 EU Member States.

This is the final report of the thematic country review (TCR) on apprenticeships in Malta. It is largely based on information collected from stakeholders and includes areas for future reforms and suggestions for action. Malta will decide whether and how these would be taken forward.

All you need to know about Cedefop's work in an illustrated guide. Get acquainted with the agency's structure, current activities, networks and 40-year history.

How far is the world progressing towards comprehensive qualifications frameworks? The 2015 global inventory of regional and national qualifications frameworks, compiled by Cedefop, Unesco-HQ, the European Training Foundation and the Unesco Institute for Lifelong Learning, was launched on 25 April in Riga, Latvia.

This anniversary publication presents a concise picture of essential features of VET in Europe. Reporting on and analysing vocational education and training (VET) has been a Cedefop core activity throughout its 40-year history.

A special edition of Skillset and match magazine celebrating Cedefop’s 40^th anniversary is now available to read and download. This special edition features messages from leading European figures, including European Parliament President Martin Schulz, Cedefop’s stakeholders, its own people past and present, and articles on the agency’s work to improve vocational education and training in Europe and its prospects.

This short description contributes to a better understanding of vocational education and training (VET) in Latvia by providing an insight into its main features and by highlighting VET policy developments and current challenges.

Recent VET initiatives and reforms focus on strengthening cooperation between stakeholders, developing sectoral qualifications, and raising efficiency and quality of vocational education. The VET provider network is being optimised to respond to demographic trends and shrinking financial resources. At the same time, several policy measures aim to make VET more attractive, for instance by increasing support for learners and labour market relevance through stronger focus on new forms of work-based learning.

Quality assurance is important for accreditation and certification of studies and diplomas. But for continuous improvement, institutions must also set up effective internal quality management. This handbook focuses on the importance of internal quality management specifically for institutions involved in vocational education and training (VET).

The handbook is meant to guide VET providers through a quality journey, based on the PDCA (plan-do-check-act/review) cycle, which underlies any quality management system (QMS). The handbook’s guidelines, advice and practical examples are taken from 20 providers of initial, continuing or sector-based vocational training, all of which have successful and mature quality management in place.

The January issue of Cedefop’s magazine Skillset and Match, the first of our 40th anniversary year, is available to read and download. It is packed with exclusive messages and interviews, features, news from EU Member States and information on new publications.

In times of economic downturn and high youth unemployment, Italy has set itself a strategic objective to strengthen VET and to expand apprenticeship-type schemes. A recent policy package, with a focus on the youth guarantee scheme and measures to reduce red tape for enterprises and promote inter-firm cooperation, reflects the need to link education and training better with the labour market, extend work-based learning schemes, ensure teachers’ and trainers’ professional development, and strengthen vocational guidance. This report provides an insight into Italian VET and recent developments.

Previous studies on how attractive people find vocational education and training (VET) as learning path have focused on the influence of specific characteristics of the initial VET system. These include the provision of guidance and counselling, the chances to move on to higher education, the qualifications system, or quality assurance for thee raining provided. But even though an IVET system produces good outcomes it is not necessarily seen as an attractive learning option. This study reveals other wider issues that be crucial to understanding what makes initial VET and attractive option to potential students. It shows that the composition and respective strengths of the labour market, expenditure on vocational education, as well as wider factors such as views of family members, perceptions about the quality of VET and the wider educational context all play a role. The study concludes with several insights on how to influence perceptions of VET.