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While many countries are well on their way to implementing the European credit system for vocational education and training (ECVET), credit transfer is still not an integral part of vocational education and training systems. Moreover, there is still work to be done on making all common European tools - the European Qualifications Framework, quality assurance mechanisms and lifelong guidance, as well as ECVET - work as a seamless whole. This is Cedefop’s third analysis of developments in ECVET from June 2011 to September 2012 in 32 countries. The Council recommendation on ECVET (DATE) calls on Member States to ‘create the necessary conditions and adopt measures so that as from 2012 it is possible for ECVET to be gradually applied’ to vocational education and training (VET) qualifications at all levels of the European Qualifications Framework.

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This report details Cedefop's first cross-nation study of apprenticeships in the European Union. The point of departure for the study is what countries define and offer as apprenticeship training. It then applies a purposive approach to identifying the changes that apprenticeships are undergoing in practice, based on their design characteristics. Largely based on data collected in 2016, the study includes mapping of apprenticeship schemes with a stable/valid legal basis at system level, or mainstream schemes, in the EU Member States, Iceland and Norway; it identifies and analyses the different purposes and functions associated with the schemes, and investigates whether and how they differ in terms of organisation. This report indicates the fundamental differences among apprenticeships in Europe that account for the absence of a shared understanding of the concept of apprenticeship. The design of apprenticeship schemes seems to respond to two different and evolving purposes and functions of apprenticeship, plus a hybrid one, existing side by side - the analysis of which may bring new insights into EU- and national-level policy debates. The first function group is apprenticeship as an education and training system; the second is apprenticeship as a type of VET delivery within the formal VET system; and the third, apprenticeship as a hybrid system, aims to offer young people a way of reaching a qualification by bringing them onto the labour market (strong link with social inclusion and employment) and combines elements of the other two groups but does not fully fall under either of the two.

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This publication presents a concise picture of essential features of vocational education and training (VET) in Europe. It provides a brief description of the VET system for each country, outlining the structure of its courses and programs. The countries covered are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, and United Kingdom. Show less

This 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. The 39 countries monitored (28 EU Member States, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Kosovo, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey) are developing and implementing 43 national qualifications frameworks. Most NQFs are comprehensive - covering all levels and types of formal education and training qualifications and promoting learning outcomes perspectives and triggering reform. They have contributed to reinforced and more consistent use of learning outcomes in qualifications, made higher VET (EQF levels 5 to 8) more visible, and supported more systematic implementation of validation of non-formal and informal learning. However, their visibility and use by the labour market is still limited. Sustainability, visibility to end-users, stakeholder involvement, ownership of the process, and consensus-building are among the conditions critical to successful NQF use and impact.

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This paper describes the VET system which exists in Finland, outlining the structure of its courses and programs. Using graphs and charts, it indicates the level of participation in post-secondary courses at all levels in Finland, and compares VET outcomes with other European countries. Show less

Validation of non-formal and informal learning is defined as 'a process of confirmation by an authorised body that an individual has acquired learning outcomes measured against a relevant standard'. It aims to make non-formal and informal learning visible socially, in the labour market and in the education and training system, based on the identification, documentation, assessment and certification of such learning. Validation has the potential to contribute to achieving the goals set by the Europe 2020 strategy, as it can contribute to matching skills supply and demand, supporting mobility across sectors and countries and fighting social exclusion. The European inventory on validation of non-formal and informal learning is a regularly updated overview of validation practices and arrangements across Europe. It is compiled in cooperation with the European Commission and ETF. The inventory was endorsed by the Council recommendation of 2012 on validation and works together with the European guidelines as a tool to support countries in developing and implementing validation arrangements.

The inventory informs dialogue and learning between countries and stakeholders developing and implementing validation in Europe. Our key objective is to support Member States so that more learners and workers can acquire and make visible new skills, which will support their career and further learning and improve their quality of life. The 2018 update of the inventory is a unique record of how validation is being used nationally, regionally and locally across Europe. It contains the state of play and an overview of developments for 39 countries, illustrated by good practice examples. You will also find thematic reports on key issues in designing and implementing validation initiatives, plus three international case studies. The inventory is the result of a three-year process based on the work of a large network of national experts, extensive review of documents, and interviews with key stakeholders.

Edited excerpt from publisher's website.

The 39 country reports are: Austria / Karin Luomi-Messerer; Belgium-Flanders / Katleen De Rick; Belgium-French / Milica Popovic; Bulgaria / Mariya Dzhengozova; Croatia / Marija Pavkov; Cyprus / Anna Manoudi; Czech Republic / Milada Stalker; Denmark / Bokil Husted; Estonia / Marin Johnson; Finland / Anni Karttunen; France / Cecile Mathou; Germany / Claudia Ball; Greece / Anna Manoudi; Hungary / Eva Tot; Iceland / Fjola Maria Larusdottir; Ireland / Ilona Murphy; Italy / Elisabetta Perulli; Kosovo / Teuta Danuza; Latvia / Diana Ieleja; Liechtenstein /Jaana Puukka; Lithuania / Giedre Beleckiene; Luxembourg / Claire Duchemin; Malta / Suzanne Gatt; Montenegro / Slavica Dimovska; Netherlands / Ruud Duvekot; North Macedonia / Ognen Spasovski; Norway / Odd Bjorn Ure; Poland / Aleksandra Duda; Portugal / Paula Guimaraes; Romania / Magdalena Balica; Slovakia / Juraj Vantuch; Slovenia / Marija Pavkov; Spain / Patricia Vale; Sweden / Soren Kristensen; Switzerland / Deli Salini, Saskia Weber Guisan and Evelyn Tsandev; Turkey / Fusun Akkok; UK - England and Northern Ireland / Michael Richardson; UK - Scotland / David Scott; UK - Wales / David Scott.

The five thematic reports are: Bridging the gap: validation creation routes and links between sectors / Jo Hawley-Woodall; How digital forms of assessment and self-assessment might place a new challenge and opportunity for assessment methodologies / Karin Luomi-Messerer; How social partners and other labour marketrelated stakeholders are involved in validation arrangements / Mariya Dzhengova; Validation of non-formal and informal learning for migrants and refugees / Ilona Murphy; The role of validation in an upskilling pathway for young people not in education and training (NEETS), adults with low skills and long-term unemployed people / Gabor Endrodi.

The three case studies are: Canada-Nova Scotia / Cecile Mathou; Chile-Chilevalora / Gabor Endrodi; Hong Kong / Ruud Devekot. Show less

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) employ two thirds of the European workforce; one out of three creates new products and processes. They need to secure qualified workers to be competitive. But an unfavourable business environment, burdensome legislation and internal shortfalls make many of them reluctant to engage in training apprentices. Work-based learning, especially apprenticeships, has sparked interest in most [European Union] EU Member States. They arguably prepare young people for labour market requirements and ease their transition from education to work, as suggested by data from countries where such schemes are well developed. As SMEs account for 99 per cent of all European companies and 67 per cent of employment in the European Union, public authorities have naturally been looking to them for ways to increase their commitment to apprenticeships.

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This booklet focuses on some of the main aspects of vocational education and training (VET) in Finland. It provides an outline of the structure and characteristics of the training system and the challenges it faces. The booklet includes a chart of the education system in Finland and some education and training statistics. Show less

Small enterprises are predominant in all European economies and are also important providers of jobs. However, despite the fact that [small and medium enterprises] SMEs are seen as an important source of dynamic development and innovation, they tend to carry out little training. The wide variety of training provision and the generally limited extent of training itself, make the issue of quality in small enterprise training more important. Hence, the questions that the present study is addressing of whether small enterprises have a quality approach to training and of how, and under what conditions, such approaches are or could be introduced and maintained. The study sets out to investigate small enterprises in specific sectors in which SME presence is particularly pronounced, in three Member States (Germany, Ireland and Greece) and to draw comparisons between them. Particular emphasis is placed on ‘sector logic’, the sectors’ special characteristics and the national cultural and institutional environment.

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European goals related to 'lifelong learning' and the development of a 'knowledge-based society' can only be attained if the organisations in which people work are also organisations in which they learn. This means that work organisations must also become learning organisations. Thus, people are learning from their work - they are learning as they work. The aim is to build organisations that are continuously learning how to be more productive, while at the same time, individual members of these organisations are developing themselves through their work. This book, the second of a two-volume publication [volume I is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 74.115], is a reader comprising 15 papers, written by different experts, that present the work of a number of individual European projects. As well as exploring the meaning of the learning organisation, these papers present case studies and examine the role of human resource development and education and training actors in supporting learning organisations. Part one, 'The meaning of the learning organisation', contains: Developmental learning - a condition for organisational learning / Per-Erik Ellstrom; Challenges and open questions raised by the concept of the learning organisation / Martin Fisher; How organisations learn - a theory of learning and organisational development / Hans-Werner Franz; Competing perspectives on workplace learning and the learning organisation / Alan Brown, Ewart Keep; The conundrum of the learning organisation - instrumental and emancipatory theories of learning / Peter Cressey, Michael Kelleher. Part two, 'Organisational learning realities in different contexts', contains: Social dialogue and organisational learning / Michael Kelleher, Peter Cressey; Implementing organisational change in British Telecom / Peter Cressey; Banking on learning - the Deutsche Bank Corporate University / Daniela Reimann; Stimulating a thirst for learning - the case of the Guinness Dublin brewery / John Findlater; Learning to network - the transformation of a social research institute / Hans-Werner Franz; The relationship between critical reflection and learning - experiences within Dutch companies / Marianne van Woerkom, Wim J. Nijhof, Loek Nieuwenhuis. Part three, 'Human resource development in support of organisational learning', contains: The learning organisation and HRD in the knowledge economy / Massimo Tomassini; The changing role of HRD practitioners in learning-oriented organisations / Sally Sambrook, Jim Stewart, Saskia Tjepkema; Experiences of HRD consultants in supporting organisational learning / Rob Poell, Geoff Chivers; Human resource development in Europe - at the crossroads / Barry Nyhan.

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