New data from Cedefop's updated Timeline of VET policies show that vocational education and training reforms across EU-27, Norway and Iceland are moving forward, with countries shifting from planning to active implementation.
Where reforms stand
The update adds 2025 progress data to the Timeline's longitudinal dataset, capturing approximately 700 measures either launched or actively underway across seven broad thematic areas and more than 50 policy themes. The data point to increasing momentum, with national reform agendas converging around EU priorities on the green and digital transitions, lifelong learning participation, and the attractiveness and inclusiveness of VET.
Among the standout developments reported for 2025:
Digital transformation in the classroom: several Member States including Austria, Belgium (Flemish Community) and Italy are integrating artificial intelligence and advanced digital solutions into teaching and learning, modernising the infrastructure VET relies on.
Work-based learning on solid ground: countries including Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Spain are reinforcing dual pathways and employer engagement, key building blocks of a skills-responsive VET system.
Microcredentials moving from concept to reality: Estonia, Hungary and Poland are among the countries that have put legislative frameworks in place, enabling formal recognition of flexible, targeted learning.
Individual learning accounts taking shape: Cyprus, Latvia and Slovakia are among those piloting personalised funding mechanisms that could transform how adults access upskilling and reskilling throughout their working lives.
These developments sit squarely within the ambitions set by the Council Recommendation on VET and the Osnabrück Declaration. With the Herning Declaration on attractive and inclusive VET, adopted in 2025, now setting the agenda for the new policy cycle, the evidence from the Timeline provides a timely picture of where reforms stand and what still needs to be done.
Why the Timeline matters for policy
As the only structured, comparable and longitudinal source tracking how VET policies evolve across all EU Member States and partner countries, the Timeline fills a genuine gap in the European data landscape. It covers the full policy journey, from design and adoption through to implementation and completion.
Policymakers, VET stakeholders and researchers can use it to interrogate progress by country, theme, target group or stage of development, identifying where momentum is strongest, where implementation gaps persist, and what can be learned from frontrunners.
Cedefop is translating this evidence base into concrete policy intelligence: a first Insights on policy approaches to tackling VET teacher shortages has just been published, with eight more to follow by end of 2026, alongside synthesis reports and VET policy briefs informing deliberations at ACVT and DGVT level.
The reforms are gaining traction. The challenge now is sustaining them, ensuring that the targets set for this new policy cycle are not just reached, but embedded.