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This study is the first of a suite of projects aimed at understanding the value of [vocational education and training] VET delivered to secondary school students for their post-school employment and training destinations. Statistical analysis presents the quantity and type of VET programs undertaken by students in secondary schools, and a content analysis of selected training packages explores non-technical skills. The aim is to understand how VET can equip the students with the technical and non-technical skills to participate in an ever-changing world of work. It identifies the presence or absence of key non-technical skills within the content.

This report takes stock of trends and progress in vocational education governance mechanisms in 23 countries of Central Asia, Eastern Europe, South Eastern Europe and Turkey, and the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, with a view to informing policy development and providing a tool to help modernise vocational education country systems.

A landmark report making the case for building on the success of apprenticeships by refocusing the programme on young people and those new to their occupation, broadening the training, preparing young people better to compete for these opportunities and driving the system on quality not quantity. The Edge Foundation brings together compelling international, historical, education and economic evidence to support the need for broader, higher quality apprenticeships focused on young people.

Attracting women and girls to STEM and providing an environment for them to thrive and progress is a shared responsibility of government, academia, the education system, industry, and the community. The Women in STEM Decadal Plan, developed by the Australian Academy of Science in collaboration with the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, offers a vision and opportunities to 2030 to guide stakeholders as they identify and implement specific actions they must take to build the strongest STEM workforce possible to support Australia’s prosperity. The opportunity to achieve a transformative, systematic and sustained change in Australia’s STEM sector begins with this plan.

Learning and skills contribute to economic growth both directly, by improving the skills base available to employers, and indirectly, by underpinning the five foundations of productivity identified by the government: ideas, people, infrastructure, business environment, and places. This is the case for all levels of learning from basic skills to degree level -- research clearly shows earnings, employment and productivity gains for each level of learning. Skills also contribute to social justice, helping to improve social mobility (the extent to which an individual's life chances do or do not depend on their family background) and reduce inequality (the gap between rich and poor). Gaining basic skills helps people access opportunities, and widening access to higher education also opens up new career opportunities. However, the UK's skills base has long lagged that of comparator countries, holding back economic growth and social justice. Nine million people in England lack functional literacy and/or numeracy, and a higher proportion of people have low skills compared to other countries, leaving the UK mid-table at best in the international rankings. This is the result of cuts in public funding for adult skills, alongside falling employer investment in skills. This report shows that the UK is on track to fall further back in the international league tables by 2030. Its qualification profile is projected to improve, but this would still fail to match other countries' rates of improvement. The status quo is not good enough and will hold back economic growth and social justice. This report analyses the potential impact for the UK of a higher ambition based on: (1) Increasing the proportion of people with functional literacy and numeracy to 90% by 2030; (2) Increasing the proportion of people with medium qualifications with a greater focus on Level 3 qualifications. This would mean by 2030 20% and 30% of people have Level 2 and 3 qualifications respectively; and (3) Maintaining the expected rate of progress in high qualifications, so that by 2030 43% of people have Level 4 qualifications or higher. Achieving this scenario would boost the UK economy by £20 billion per year and support an additional 200,000 people into work, along with significant taxpayer savings. It would also improve social justice by widening opportunity and making sure that more people have the fundamental skills and capabilities increasingly needed for economic and social inclusion, as well as bringing wider benefits to health, wellbeing and civic engagement. Ultimately the UK's future prosperity and fairness relies on high quality learning and skills.

Skills and training are devolved policy areas. This Briefing Paper covers apprenticeships in England. Sources of information on apprenticeships in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are included in Section 3, Useful Sources. This paper covers policy developments from 2015 onwards.

Analysing online job vacancies is a promising approach to identify emerging jobs and skill needs, as it offers rich real-time information about the skills employers seek. Cedefop has developed a pan-European system for collecting this information from job portals and analysing it. While modern technology has made it easier to process huge quantities of information, analysis needs to be based on sound expert judgement.

Postsecondary workforce development is one of the major innovations of the modern community college. In a workforce approach, curriculum is driven by the needs of local industry, course delivery systems are sufficiently flexible to meet the diverse needs of students and industry, and students experience a mixture of work-based and classroom learning. These features combine to help students succeed at the postsecondary level and gain important training with less than a four-year degree. This paper describes how community colleges came to be a major resource for the nation’s workforce development requirements and discusses the ways this role continues to evolve to meet the needs of students, employers, and local communities. The authors conclude by identifying major trends that will inform the future of workforce development in the American community college.

This publication is the sixth in a series produced as part of the Cedefop project The changing nature and role of VET (2016-18). Based on analysis of developments from 1995 to 2015, the report provides important insights into developments and change processes related to vocationally oriented education and training at higher levels (levels 5 to 8 of the European qualifications framework). Building on detailed national case studies, the report demonstrates the expansion and diversification of vocationally oriented education and training offered at higher levels in European countries and the variations in how countries use the higher levels: there is evidence for strengthening vocational principles at higher levels in various ways as well as for strengthening academic principles. It also covers current debates and potential future challenges, including juggling labour market demands and wider societal values, finding the right balance between academic and vocational principles, and achieving parity of esteem between academically oriented and vocationally oriented qualifications at higher levels, by improving awareness and visibility of the latter.