The UK entered the deepest recession in history in 2020, following a decade of sluggish growth. Coronavirus restrictions led to a sharp rise in unemployment, vacancies plummeted, and millions were furloughed. The pandemic has also accelerated technological change, with increased digitalisation and firms discovering new ways to harness emerging…

This report looks at the impact of the business cycle on participation in adult learning in the EU-27 using aggregate quarterly country level data for the period 2005Q1-2019Q4. Data come from the EU Labour Force Survey. Although downturns may give individuals more incentives and more time to update their skills and knowledge, their ability to pay…

Developments in five priority areas for VET, agreed in 2015 by the EU-28, Iceland, Norway, candidate countries, the European Commission and EU social partners, are at the centre of this report. Work in 2015-19 shows continuity with earlier national strategies and initiatives. It confirms the recent focus on apprenticeships and other forms of…

Concise, clear and comprehensive snapshots of vocational education and training systems in EU, Iceland and Norway: this is what the Cedefop Spotlight on VET series offers. Building on individual country Spotlights, this publication provides an overview of VET systems with their distinctive qualities, such as main accession and progression routes…

This article shows the result of an international project from the European Commission, and it aimed to analyse 30 cases of effective European entities in the field of adult education, from Poland, Spain, Finland and Italy. The objective was to collect the best strategies that generate good employment and social inclusion results. The research…

Impressions are influential. Through more than 40,000 interviews of people aged 25 and over in the European Union (EU), Norway and Iceland, this survey explores people's impressions about adult learning and continuing vocational education and training (CVET), which are central to enabling adults acquire the knowledge, skills and competences they…

Impressions are influential. Through more than 40,000 interviews of people aged 25 and over in the European Union, Norway and Iceland, Cedefop's second opinion survey explores people's impressions about adult learning and continuing vocational education and training (CVET), which are central to enabling adults acquire the knowledge, skills and…

This study is the first volume of Cedefop research on empowering adults through upskilling and reskilling pathways. It estimates the magnitude of the low-skilled adult population according to a broader conceptualisation which goes beyond educational attainment levels, and considers digital skills, literacy and numeracy, as well as skill loss and…

These Key Indicators on Education, Skills and Employment (KIESE) are a collection of statistics that are part of a broader set of indicators proposed by the ETF to enable an assessment of developments in the field of human capital in the partner countries. They include data on education, initial vocational education and training, lifelong…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the distribution of learning and training opportunities in the Finnish workforce. It will concentrate on the sectors of the workforce that lack these opportunities. Design/Methodology/Approach: The Working Conditions Barometer (WCB) data from 2008, 2009 and 2010 are used (N = 3,326) in this…

This report is the second volume of Cedefop research on empowering adults through upskilling and reskilling pathways. It presents the Cedefop analytical framework for developing upskilling pathways for low-skilled adults and illustrates its conceptual development. The analytical framework is aimed at supporting policymakers and stakeholders in…

This research paper is one in a series produced as part of the Cedefop project The changing nature and role of VET (2016-18). The aim of the paper is to provide an overview of how CVET is conceptualised in various international level policy documents and how it is referred to across countries. It discusses national conceptions of CVET, the…

Education and training issues are similar across Europe, but how can we ensure we mean the same things with the same terms? The new format of the European training thesaurus (ETT) is a multilingual synopsis. It is an online tool enabling those working in education, training and employment to have a common understanding of terms. It helps…

This report provides an update of Cedefop's statistical overview of vocational education and training (VET) and lifelong learning in European countries. It illustrates progress on 33 indicators selected for their policy relevance and contribution to Europe 2020 objectives. These also provide a review of progress in key areas of education and…

This report provides a statistical overview of vocational education and training (VET) and lifelong learning in European countries. Data are presented in the form of statistical snapshots--one for each country--for the 27 European Union (EU) Member States and, where data are available, for Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,…