Quality assurance in formal CVET

The European Commission’s 2024–2029 political gui­de­lines call for a ‘radical step change’ to skills deve­lo­p­ment across all types of training and education. With a shrinking workforce, aging popu­la­ti­on, and rapid tech­no­lo­gi­cal advance­ments, con­ti­nuing voca­tio­nal education and training (CVET) plays a key role in equipping millions of adults with the skills and knowledge essential for boosting the com­pe­ti­ti­ve­ness of Europe’s social market economy. As a key component of lifelong learning, it supports both pro­fes­sio­nal and personal deve­lo­p­ment while enhancing employa­bi­li­ty and meeting economic and societal needs.

Within this policy context, this study conducted by 3s, Ockham, and ICF on behalf of Cedefop explores quality assurance in formal as well as certified CVET, providing insights into the chal­lenges as well as oppor­tu­ni­ties involved in deve­lo­ping com­pre­hen­si­ve and high-quality assurance arran­ge­ments to improve quality in formal CVET. The field of certified CVET — similar in many respects to formal CVET, but not yet inte­gra­ted into a country’s estab­lished education system — provides a par­ti­cu­lar­ly inte­re­st­ing case for testing the reach of QA arran­ge­ments. To deepen our under­stan­ding of quality assurance approa­ches and mecha­nisms in formal CVET, the study will implement 12 in-depth country case studies on sectoral approa­ches in three economic sectors important for Europe’s com­pe­ti­ti­ve­ness (cons­truc­tion, elderly care, and IT, with special attention to Artificial Intelligence as an emerging trans­ver­sal field). The case studies will examine key changes affecting quality assurance during the last decade, quality assurance mecha­nisms in formal CVET, along with sectoral per­spec­ti­ves on quality assurance practice. Conclusions from the com­pa­ra­ti­ve analysis will be sum­ma­ri­sed as recom­men­da­ti­ons sup­port­ing poli­cy­ma­kers and stake­hol­ders in formal con­ti­nuing voca­tio­nal education and training across the EU.