- Navigacija
s tipkovnico
2025
Evolution of European skills systems performance 2015 to 2022
The European skills index shows how national skills systems responded during the challenging period of 2015 to 2022.
Briefing note - Moving towards common policy goals and aligned progress reporting
Building on years of joint work within the Copenhagen Process, European countries have now committed to common priorities laid down in the 2020 Council Recommendation on Vocational Education and Training (VET) for Sustainable Competitiveness, Social Fairness and Resilience and the Osnabrück Declaration of the same year. The Recommendation marked the beginning of the current VET policy cycle at EU level. Cedefop, together with its European network of expertise in VET (ReferNet) and the European Training Foundation (ETF), has followed countries’ work in progressing towards these priorities.
Microcredentials: striving to combine credibility and agility
Microcredentials hold promise for connecting people’s skillsets with labour market demand in a rapidly changing world of work. They have proliferated in recent years across economic sectors and education levels, reinforcing European and national efforts to understand and develop them better.
Monitoring and evaluating lifelong guidance systems across Europe
Monitoring and evaluating lifelong guidance systems across Europe
2023
Empowering teachers and trainers to manage change
The professional development of vocational education and training (VET) teachers and trainers is crucial to helping them perform their many tasks. It is now more important than ever for them to upgrade and update their own skills to be able, in turn, to instil (self-)confidence in their students, trainees and apprentices, as well as offering them up-to-date knowledge and skills. This briefing note presents new evidence gathered by Cedefop on teacher and trainer initial training and continuous professional development, including many practical examples.
Looking back to look ahead: what is the future for VET in Europe?
In the current, fast-changing education and labour market landscape, there is a need to promote more learner-centred strategies and to build bridges between initial and continuing vocational education and training (VET). Cedefop’s latest briefing note on the future of VET provides insights into how training content and provision are changing to respond to labour markets’ rapidly evolving skill needs.
Ready, steady, go!
Cedefop 2022-23 activities help kickstart the European Year of Skills. In a context of crisis and accelerating megatrends, the Agency continues to focus attention on the vocational education and training (VET), skills and employment dimensions of the twin transitions. In German, Greek, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Polish and Portuguese.
Working together towards attractive, inclusive, innovative, agile and flexible VET
In the framework of European countries’ cooperation on VET and lifelong learning, Cedefop monitors, analyses and reports on countries’ priorities and activities. Cedefop’s role in the process is pivotal: it gathers the necessary national information through its network of expertise spanning all EU Member States, Iceland and Norway, ReferNet, and analyses it in a structured, comparable way to inform the European Commission and other stakeholders.
Big skills for small companies
This briefing note takes stock of policies and instruments EU countries deploy to encourage MSME training provision and to strengthen their training performance.
2022
Championing the skills revolution
Evidence on bridging skills gaps through vocational education and training in the green and digital transition: Cedefop highlights 2021-22
High esteem but low participation
In 2019, Cedefop launched a pan-European opinion survey on adult learning and continuing vocational education and training (CVET). The findings show that adults of all ages and across all occupations and qualifications recognise the need for new skills. This need, however, seems insufficient to motivate adults to participate in learning and CVET at the desired levels. Raising adult participation may require new, more learner-centric, policy approaches.
An ally in the green transition
The transition to a green – and more digital – economy and society will upend the job market and create new skill needs across sectors and occupations. Europe will have to invest in upskilling and reskilling its workforce. In this context, vocational education and training (VET) will play an eminent role. Apprenticeship, being closely tied to the labour market, can swiftly adapt, alleviating short-term bottlenecks and ensuring long-term worker employability.
Vocational education and training as a life jacket
Young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) are absent both from the labour market and the education sector, thus facing a high risk of professional, digital and social exclusion Analyses of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic show that, in spite of EU countries’ bold response to this crisis protecting jobs, businesses and livelihoods, yet again, young people were hardest hit by its effects. This is why young NEETs have continued to be a top policy priority at national and EU levels.
Are microcredentials becoming a big deal?
Microcredentials are not new. They have been in use in various countries and education and training sectors; they have played a role, among others, in the certification of IT courses or health workers’ professional development.
2021
Analiziranje in primerjanje poklicnih kvalifikacij
V podporo izvajanju politik za krepitev preglednosti kvalifikacij je Cedefop pripravil študijo metod za analiziranje in primerjanje poklicnih kvalifikacij, med katerimi so v državah članicah še vedno velike razlike. V povzetku sta podrobneje predstavljena glavna cilja (povečati primerjalnost kvalifikacij in izboljšati povratne informacije med poklicnim izobraževanjem in trgom dela), ukrepi za uresničevanje omenjenih ciljev in sodelovanje raziskovalcev in oblikovalcev politik.
Trends, transitions and transformation
Apprenticeship: a pill for every ill?
The EU’s port of call for VET
Empowering people to cope with change
2020
NQF developments 2019
For years, the European qualifications framework (EQF) and national qualifications frameworks (NQFs) across Europe have helped build bridges across different countries and education and training systems. Many NQFs are now fully operational, firmly anchored in national education and training systems; they are undergoing updates and supporting synergies between European policies and tools such as guidance, validation and Europass.
Online working and learning in the coronavirus era
The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has highlighted the vast opportunities of working and learning digitally. In these exceptional times, where a large part of the workforce has been obliged to work remotely due to home confinement and social distancing measures, gig or crowd-workers have enjoyed a kind of ‘home field’ advantage: working and interacting digitally has always been their prevailing mode of operation. What can we learn from these online workers who mastered the art of working and learning remotely long before the public health crisis?
Apprenticeships for adults
Apprenticeships for adults are one of the policy solutions to the need for supporting adults willing to train, while broadening the skills base of the working population across Europe. According to Cedefop estimates, there are around 128 million adults with potential for upskilling or reskilling in the European Union. EU Member States have decided to open apprenticeships to adults by removing age limits and by making them more flexible.
Towards new horizons
Transition is the key word that marks the 2019 and 2020 policy framework in which Cedefop operates. The new Commission has set a high ambition for the EU: to move to a green and digital economy. Reinforced investment in skills and learning throughout life for all is essential to make this transition successful. As all adults will need to upskill and reskill, vocational education and training (VET) will play a pivotal role in the sustainable growth strategy. Cedefop is ready to help develop and realise the future skills and VET agenda as its remit to work on VET, skills and qualifications, set out in its recast Regulation (in force since 2019). The Regulation ensures Cedefop’s research, analyses and support to countries bridge VET and the labour market.
Not just new jobs: digital innovation supports careers
It is widely accepted that digital innovation is changing work environments and occupational profiles, impacting on people’s learning and work. But how does it affect the way people can manage their careers, train and change jobs? Thanks to innovative tools, greater data availability and artificial intelligence, new approaches to career development support and self-directed learning are transforming lifelong learning. Cedefop has been looking into European countries’ most recent practices in this field and has analysed the promises and challenges they hold. Read more in our latest briefing note.
Artificial or human intelligence?
Cedefop research shows that automation and artificial intelligence do not necessarily destroy, but rather transform jobs. People, businesses and labour markets will have to adapt and acquire new skills, enabling them to cooperate with machines. Education and training provision will have to offer ‘robot-compatible’ skills and competences, blending specific occupational skills with key competences such as entrepreneurship and learning to learn. Political decision makers must determine how to frame this continuing transformation, ensuring that nobody is left behind as new work methods are introduced.
2018
Less brawn, more brain for tomorrow's workers
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.
Reaching out to ‘invisible’ young people and adults
Low qualifications, disengagement from education and training and long-term unemployment are interconnected phenomena and tend to cumulate throughout a person’s life. To prevent and combat the marginalisation of both young people and adults, national authorities across Europe have been developing measures to reach out to people in need. However, the nature and the extent of these services vary considerably from one country to another. Cedefop’s latest briefing note gives an overview of the situation.
Skills anticipation: looking to the future
Looking back to look ahead
People, machines, robots and skills
Qualifications frameworks in Europe
Skill shortage and surplus occupations in Europe
2016
Professional development for VET teachers and trainers
Supporting training and learning abroad: the EU mobility scoreboard for initial VET
Vocational education and training prevents and counteracts early leaving from the education system
Innovation and training: partners in change
Global labour market, global VET
Qualifications frameworks in Europe
Towards new routes
2015
Europe’s uneven return to job growth
Forecasts up to 2025 point to major differences in skills supply and demand across Member States