9. How many VET graduates continue in further education and training?

VET needs to provide opportunities for smooth transitions to the labour market or further learning opportunities, or both.  

The indicator below is defined as the share of VET graduates (ISCED 3-4) aged 18 to 24 who participated in further formal or non-formal education and training in the four weeks prior to the survey. A comparison can be made to a similar indicator for graduates of the same age with a medium level general education qualification (ISCED 3-4). 

Young IVET graduates in further education and training (%)

Source: Cedefop calculations based on Eurostat data, EU Labour Force Survey (LFS).

Key points

In 2020, in the EU, 33.9% of VET graduates aged 18 to 24, declared that they had participated in further education and training over the four weeks prior to the survey. This share is much lower than 81.7% general education graduates in the same age range in 2020). These data reflect structural differences between those in general former mainly preparing people for further studies and vocational education, with the and the latter for the labour market. Nevertheless, on average about one third of EU VET graduates continue in further education and training, which shows that VET is not a dead-end pathway.  

Participation rates of VET graduates aged 18 to 24 in further education and training varied significantly across countries. The highest rates in 2020 were in Malta and Slovenia (over 50%), followed by Romania, the Netherlands and Spain (slightly below 50%). Greece (14.9%) and Lithuania (16.3%) reported the lowest share. Between 2015 and 2020, participation rates in the EU overall remained stable, with the largest reliable increases in Cyprus and Spain (respectively by 8.1 and 7.1 percentage points). Participation also increased markedly in Malta and Ireland, but the data are not reliably comparable over time. Participation fell in some countries, particularly France, with a fall of 5.1 percentage points.  A break in time series in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland means that their data for 2020 cannot be reliably compared with those for 2015. Among non-EU countries for which data were available, 2020 participation rates were stable in Switzerland and Serbia. They were close to the EU average in Norway, Montenegro and Turkey, following a fall between 2015 and 2020. 

Table 9. Young VET graduates in further education and training (%) 

Source: Cedefop calculations based on Eurostat data, EU Labour Force Survey (LFS). Notes: b) ‘break in time series; u) data not fully reliable; data are not presented when they are not available and/or do not support sufficiently reliable comparisons across countries or over time.