Austria: quality assurance in higher VET

Academic tertiary education is perceived as being much more homogeneous, as it has a uniform qualification structure (bachelor, master, PhD) and common quality standards (the Standards and guidelines for quality assurance in the European higher education area, ESG). These ‘common elements’ cannot all be found in higher VET and so no common understanding of higher VET has developed at European level.
An Erasmus+ project consortium has taken action to encourage such a common understanding and achieve more clarity on what distinguishes this sector and what are its joint features. The consortium of six institutions has drawn up European guidelines on quality assurance of higher VET on the initiative of UEAPME, the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises. More...