Inventory of lifelong guidance systems and practices

The online Inventory of lifelong guidance systems and practices  aims to provide insights on current policy developments and structures pertaining to career guidance, career education and career development in the EU member states, the EEA, EFTA and the EU enlargement/accession countries.

The country records available are based on information collected and analysed by CareersNet experts during their respective mandate period, while Cedefop reviews, lightly edits, and maintains the Inventory for public use and as a basis for network activities such as capacity building, cooperation, drafting publications and for cross-country comparisons. CareersNet is Cedefop’s network of independent voluntary experts in career guidance and career development, managed within the Lifelong guidance project strand  of the Department for VET and Skills. Network members cooperate with national reference groups and stakeholders.

Each country record aims to monitor and document relevant policy developments towards achieving the objectives laid down by the Council Resolution on better integrating lifelong guidance into lifelong learning strategies and the European Guidelines for Policies and Systems Development for Lifelong Guidance. The current structure and contents of the records closely reflect these documents; however, incremental changes are planned following the publication of the new EU Reference Framework for Lifelong Guidance in 2026, which builds on the previous set of guidelines and country experiences.

The shared structure of the records allows for a (subjective) comparative perspective of policy progress in the field, across the monitored countries:

- The Inventory is currently organised into 23 sections, and users can compare this information across countries. 
- Not all countries complete all available sections, and the updating cycle varies across countries, for full and mid-cycle updates. Reference and online publication (uploaded) years are indicated in the information per record, along with previous versions, the contributing network expert(s) and any additional acknowledgements.

Cedefop is making efforts to gradually develop the Inventory and consolidate how records are displayed and accessed, building on previous work and feedback received, and in view of the newly published EU Reference Framework for Lifelong Guidance.

Disclaimer:
Translations of titles/names for entities, country policies and practices are not to be considered as official translations unless otherwise indicated. The facts and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily coincide with the official position of Cedefop. Information supplied by the CareersNet core experts is updated to the best of their knowledge according to the relevant reference period and available information provided by national stakeholders and sources consulted. The records have not been edited by a professional English language service.

Feel free to submit your feedback and suggestions for improvement to [email protected].