Study on higher Vocational Education and Training in the EU Written by Daniela Ulicna, Karin Luomi Messerer, Monika Auzinger February 2016 Social Europe EUROPEAN COMMISSION Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion EMPL, Directorate for Skills Unit E3, VET, Apprenticeships and Adult Learning E-mail: [email protected] European Commission B-1049 Brussels EUROPEAN COMMISSION Study on higher Vocational Education and Training in the EU Final Report Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion February, 2016 Study on higher Vocational Education and Training in the EU Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union. Freephone number (*): 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (*) The information given is free, as are most calls (though some operators, phone boxes or hotels may charge you). LEGAL NOTICE This document has been prepared for the European Commission however it reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://www.europa.eu). Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2016 ISBN 978-92-79-57752-9 DOI 10.2767/421741 © European Union, 2016 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Study on higher Vocational Education and Training in the EU Table of Contents Executive summary ........................................................................................... 1 Résumé analytique ............................................................................................ 6 Zusammenfassung............................................................................................12 1 Introduction ...............................................................................................18 1.1 Objectives of the study .........................................................................20 1.2 Navigating this report ...........................................................................20 2 Approach and methodology ..........................................................................22 2.1 Understanding higher VET – starting point of the study .............................22 2.2 Methodology ........................................................................................24 3 How can higher VET be defined and how is it embedded in the national qualification landscape? .....................................................................................29 3.1 Understanding of higher VET ..................................................................29 3.2 The place of higher VET in national qualification landscapes and its scope ...39 3.3 Scope of higher VET – ‘national perception’ .............................................43 4 Key features and main types of higher VET programmes/qualifications in each of the countries analysed ......................................................................................57 4.1 Main types of programmes/qualifications .................................................57 4.2 Specificities of higher VET .....................................................................70 5 Statistical information on higher VET .............................................................79 5.1 International statistics ..........................................................................79 5.2 National statistics .................................................................................98 6 Main trends, developments and challenges ................................................... 106 6.1 Development of higher VET as part of the education systems................... 108 6.2 Evolutions of the demand and supply of higher VET ................................ 111 6.3 Outcomes of higher VET ...................................................................... 112 6.4 Vocationalisation or academic drift ....................................................... 114 6.5 Sectoral developments and stakeholder cooperation ............................... 116 6.6 Trends and drivers for development of higher VET .................................. 118 6.7 Barriers and challenges for development of higher VET ........................... 136 7 Conclusions and recommendations .............................................................. 138 7.1 Conclusions ....................................................................................... 138 7.2 Recommendations .............................................................................. 142 References..................................................................................................... 145 Analysis of Higher Vocational Education and Training in the EU Executive summary How can Higher Vocational Education and Training be defined and how is it embedded in the national qualification landscape? There is no consensus on the definition of higher Vocational Education and Training (VET) so far. Most countries have some forms of higher VET but the types of programmes and qualifications covered differ greatly. Furthermore, even within countries there is sometimes disagreement over what is actually understood as higher VET. This study proposed two approaches to delimitating higher VET: a broader and a narrow one. In both cases only qualifications that are aligned with national qualifications framework (NQF) levels that are equivalent to the EQF level 5 and above were considered as higher VET. According to the broad definition of higher VET, this field covers all professional qualifications at EQF level 5 and above, including those covered by the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). This means mostly short cycle, Professional Bachelor and Master degrees as well as apprenticeships at these levels. According to the more narrow definition, higher VET covers only those professional qualifications that are fully outside the EHEA. This concerns both qualifications from the formal education and training system but also those that are awarded outside it. There is also no consensus about the extent to which higher education qualifications should be seen as higher VET and whether higher VET should be defined in a broad or narrow manner. One of the challenges faced by this study is that many qualifications from outside the formal education and training system are not yet aligned with NQFs. Subsequently it is not possible to judge whether these qualifications will be located at EQF level 5 or above and therefore whether they are indeed ‘higher’. The analysis of higher VET is likely to differ to this initial scoping work in several years’ time when more such qualifications will be allocated to levels in NQFs. For the moment, the study found that when higher VET qualifications are already aligned with NQF levels, they are found at levels corresponding to EQF level 5 and 6 and to a much lesser extent to levels 7 and 8. Depending on the countries, the relationship between higher VET and the rest of education and training varies greatly: Some post-secondary non-tertiary higher VET programmes and qualifications are delivered by secondary schools and are designed as follow-up programmes or re-qualification programmes; Other higher VET qualifications are actually formally part of higher education (covered by EHEA). They follow the structure of the Bologna cycles but they have a clear professional focus and often they are also called ‘Professional Bachelor’ or ‘Professional Master’. A smaller number of countries also have formal continuous VET qualifications at higher levels designed mostly for re-qualification, up-skilling and re-skilling. It can be expected that many countries have non-formal education and training programmes and related qualifications that could be considered as higher VET but which are not yet aligned to any NQF levels. In a similar way, higher VET is sometimes part of legal frameworks for higher education, adult learning or it has a specific legal framework. February, 2016 1 Analysis of Higher Vocational Education and Training in the EU What are the main features of higher VET programmes/qualifications in the countries analysed? The following main characteristics of higher VET have been identified based on country-level research: In most cases the qualifications identified are awarded by education and training providers. This is mostly the case for those qualifications that are part of the higher education area. Other types of qualifications can be awarded by a ministry (some formal CVET qualifications) or representatives of employers or of sectors (for example Master craftsperson qualifications); Higher VET programmes in nearly all cases analysed receive public funding. However, many are also privately co-funded by individuals or to a lesser extent by companies; Most of the non-higher education higher VET programmes follow an accreditation scheme. A minority of cases analysed follow other quality assurance arrangements. In all programmes analysed some form of quality assurance exists; Many institutions providing higher VET also provide other types of education and training programmes. Therefore, higher VET does not have a shared identity with a certain type of providers; The training programmes/qualifications are in most cases designed by the providers, often in close cooperation with business representatives. The programmes are linked to occupational profiles for those qualifications that are outside higher education;