The future of vocational education and training (VET) was the theme of Cedefop’s 6th Brussels seminar with the rotating EU Presidencies, on 13 December. More...

VET at upper secondary level has been declining in Sweden since the reform of 2011, but now there are indications that this decline has come to a halt. The European public opinion survey on vocational education and training showed that Swedes stand out regarding knowledge of VET and an opinion that VET allows people to find jobs quickly. More...

In light of the rapidly changing labour market and a lack of coordinated governance in data collection on national skill needs and labour forecasting, the National Vocational Education and Training Policy (2015) had recommended setting up a national VET steering group; its aim would be to bring together all main public and private VET stakeholders to coordinate the implementation and subsequent updates of national VET policy. More...

Cross-border apprenticeship is a concrete example of the European principle of free circulation, which opens up new chances and prospects for young people to broaden their professional and educational horizon, while helping to fight skill shortages. Luxembourg, France and Germany have recently been reinforcing cross-border apprenticeship by concluding bilateral agreements. More...

The State budget proposal for 2019, submitted to the Icelandic Parliament on 11 September, included several measures concerning VET-related issues, including a possible budget increase that would improve the potential of the ‘workplace training fund’ (Vinnustaðanámssjóður). More...

In an analysis of further education and training expenditure by Education Training Boards, the Irish Government Economic & Evaluation Service noted that, given the characteristics of the labour market and low basic skills among certain cohorts of unemployed people, it is necessary to equip individuals with the foundations to pursue more specific programmes and meet important education and social objectives. In this capacity, the Galway City Community Training Centre (CTC) (Galway CTC) aims to provide learners with basic skills to progress further in the labour market. More...

This year’s Turin event took place on 14 December and focused on Cedefop’s work on big data analysis from online vacancies and the policy monitoring exercise. It was another opportunity for an active exchange of information and ideas on topics of common interest. More...