- 2017Design
- 2018Pilot
- 2019Pilot
- 2020Pilot
- 2021Pilot
- 2022Pilot
Background
Graduate surveys at VET provider level inform providers of graduate destinations and allow a retrospective evaluation of the education process and its outcomes. Creating feedback loops, graduate surveys may thus improve VET provision and VET qualifications. The VET graduate tracking initiative is in line with the VET system development programme (2016-20).
Objectives
This policy development aims to develop and test instruments for graduate tracking at the VET provider level. It also aims to increase VET provider awareness of the relevance of VET graduate tracking and feedback loops, strengthen their capacities for graduate tracking, and encourage measuring indicators 5 and 6 of the EQAVET framework.
Description
In the framework of the Erasmus+ grant Support to European quality assurance in vocational education and training: national reference points (2017-19), the Agency for VET and Adult Education (ASOO) developed a model for school-based VET student tracking upon completion of formal education. In 2017, ASOO conducted one peer learning activity which brought together 14 institutions from six countries, discussing models for monitoring VET graduates. In 2018, the agency (ASOO) started piloting school-level graduate tracking in three Croatian VET schools with different sector profiles and geographic locations. In preparation for the survey, tracking instruments were developed, including background document, exit survey, main survey questionnaire and implementation guidelines. Training and guidance were delivered to participating VET schools.
The VET graduate survey comprised three major sections:
- completed studies and outcomes (including learning outcomes and qualifications, satisfaction with the education received, self-assessment of skills acquired);
- graduate destinations (including the relevance of education received to progression and employment);
- unemployment (including NEET status and the history of employment).
The pilot implementation stage began with statistical data collection from participating schools and development of databases with student contact and education information. From November 2018 to January...
In the framework of the Erasmus+ grant Support to European quality assurance in vocational education and training: national reference points (2017-19), the Agency for VET and Adult Education (ASOO) developed a model for school-based VET student tracking upon completion of formal education. In 2017, ASOO conducted one peer learning activity which brought together 14 institutions from six countries, discussing models for monitoring VET graduates. In 2018, the agency (ASOO) started piloting school-level graduate tracking in three Croatian VET schools with different sector profiles and geographic locations. In preparation for the survey, tracking instruments were developed, including background document, exit survey, main survey questionnaire and implementation guidelines. Training and guidance were delivered to participating VET schools.
The VET graduate survey comprised three major sections:
- completed studies and outcomes (including learning outcomes and qualifications, satisfaction with the education received, self-assessment of skills acquired);
- graduate destinations (including the relevance of education received to progression and employment);
- unemployment (including NEET status and the history of employment).
The pilot implementation stage began with statistical data collection from participating schools and development of databases with student contact and education information. From November 2018 to January 2019, the graduate survey was conducted online and via telephone for the target cohort of students who graduated in the school year 2016/17. Depending on the school, 37% to 57%% of the contacted graduates responded to the tracking survey. Based on the pilot results, future steps for graduate tracking will be defined.
The final report on the implemented 2018/19 graduate tracking survey was drafted for each participating VET provider and the results were presented to other VET providers from all 13 VET sectors in 2019. Based on the pilot experience, a draft handbook on graduate tracking surveys for VET providers was produced in 2019.
In the same year, ASOO started a peer-learning activity on VET graduate tracking with EQAVET NRPs from Greece, Slovenia and Finland. ASOO also started the second round of graduate surveys, engaging three providers that participated in the pilot survey in 2018-19 and expanding the pool of participating schools with four new VET providers. Through the second round of graduate surveys, ASOO proposes to review and fine-tune the tracking instrument and encourage more VET providers to use it.
The second round of pilot graduate tracking surveys was completed by the end of 2020, encompassing seven VET providers across Croatia.
In early 2021, the graduate tracking survey was presented in an online conference on quality assurance in VET. 350 representatives, including 170 self-assessment coordinators at 205 VET providers across Croatia, participated in the conference, and many expressed interest in graduate tracking.
During 2022, the specifications for the development of a VET graduate tracking app were finalised and an external developer was selected to develop it. The contract was signed at the end of 2022 and the development of the app will continue until 2023.
Bodies responsible
- Agency for VET and Adult Education (ASOO)
Target groups
Learners
- Learners in upper secondary, including apprentices
- Young people (15-29 years old)
Entities providing VET
- VET providers (all kinds)
Thematic categories
Governance of VET and lifelong learning
This thematic category looks at existing legal frameworks providing for strategic, operational – including quality assurance – and financing arrangements for VET and lifelong learning (LLL). It examines how VET and LLL-related policies are placed in broad national socioeconomic contexts and coordinate with other strategies and policies, such as economic, social and employment, growth and innovation, recovery and resilience.
This thematic category covers partnerships and collaboration networks of VET stakeholders – especially the social partners – to shape and implement VET in a country, including looking at how their roles and responsibilities for VET at national, regional and local levels are shared and distributed, ensuring an appropriate degree of autonomy for VET providers to adapt their offer.
The thematic category also includes efforts to create national, regional and sectoral skills intelligence systems (skills anticipation and graduate tracking) and using skills intelligence for making decisions about VET and LLL on quality, inclusiveness and flexibility.
This thematic sub-category refers to further development of national quality assurance (QA) systems for IVET and CVET, for all learning environments (school-based provision and work-based learning, including apprenticeships) and all learning types (digital, face-to-face or blended), delivered by both public and private providers. These systems are underpinned by the EQAVET quality criteria and by indicative descriptors applied both at system and provider levels, as defined in Annex II of the VET Recommendation. The sub-category concerns creating and improving external and self-evaluation of VET providers, and establishing criteria of QA, accreditation of providers and programmes. It also covers the activities of Quality assurance national reference points for VET on implementing and further developing the EQAVET framework, including the implementation of peer reviews at VET system level.
High-quality and timely skills intelligence is a powerful policy tool, helping improve economic competitiveness and fostering social progress and equality through the provision of targeted skills training to all citizens (Cedefop, 2020). Skills intelligence is the outcome of an expert-driven process of identifying, analysing, synthesising and presenting quantitative and/or qualitative skills and labour market information. Skills intelligence draws on data from multiple sources, such as graduate tracking systems, skills anticipation mechanisms, including at sectoral and regional levels. Actions related to establishing and developing such systems fall under this thematic sub-category.
European priorities in VET
VET Recommendation
- VET agile in adapting to labour market challenges
- VET underpinned by a culture of quality assurance