This study maps the system-level approaches to higher education and vocational education and training graduate tracking across the European Union and the European Economic Area, and their progress towards achieving the requirements of the Council Recommendation on tracking graduates.

Throughout their life, people develop skills through work, volunteering activities, leisure, life experience, self-learning, online learning, non-institutional courses and more. Validating this non-formal and informal learning helps them to better integrate into the labour market and the society.

The latest issue of Cedefop’s “Skillset and Match” magazine (May 2020) features an article on Cedefop’s (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) work in this area, based on two 3s-led studies.

The prize goes to 22 secondary schools from across the EU that teach about the European Union in a creative way and helps to spread these practices. 3s coordinated the evaluation of the applications for the prize by independent experts.

This study takes a closer look at initial VET qualifications assigned to EQF levels 3 and 4 via national classifications and explores what they have in common and in what way they differ. It looks at their purpose and value on the labour market or for further learning, and how they are assigned to the national qualifications frameworks (NQFs) and EQF levels.

This synthesis report summarises the findings of the 3s-coordinated Cedefop project “The changing nature and role of vocational education and training (VET) in Europe (2016-18)”.

A Cedefop online database provides information on how apprenticeships are financed in the EU Member States. The project was coordinated by 3s (Mariya Dzhengozova, Jörg Markowitsch).

The just published 2018 update of the inventory on validation of non-formal and informal learning 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 36 countries illustrated by good practice examples.

The kick-off meeting for the Erasmus+ project “VetUp” (Transnational Networks of VET Providers for the excellence of VET in Europe) took place from 8 to 11 January 2020 in the eastern Spanish city of Alzira.

Validation and guidance help individuals, organisations and Member States adapt to career challenges and create successful lifelong learning systems. However, little is known about how they are linked in practice and how this connection can be made more efficient.