- 2015Design
- 2016Implementation
- 2017Implementation
- 2018Implementation
- 2019Implementation
- 2020Implementation
- 2021Implementation
- 2022Implementation
- 2023Implementation
- 2024Implementation
Background
Improving the integration of young people and preparing them for the professional world requires that all students have the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the jobs around them.
Objectives
National guidance policies aim to provide learners with information and guidance on their future education and career options, including apprenticeships, and to provide individualised support for forward planning.
Description
The Pathways for the future (Parcours d'avenir) measure, announced in 2015, has been in place in all lower secondary education schools since September 2015. It is available to all learners from lower to the end of upper secondary years (from Sixième to Terminale). A particular focus is placed on apprenticeships.
A practical guide for the implementation of the Parcours d'avenir measure has been circulated to the heads of institutions. It emphasises the importance of raising awareness of alternating training, whether in vocational high school or apprenticeship, and suggests avenues for action and concrete resources for developing it. A national ambassador for apprenticeship was appointed by the Ministry of Employment in June 2015. His mission is to attract large companies to get further involved in apprenticeship, and disseminate best practices in relation to apprenticeship. The national ambassador is supported by a network of regional ambassadors for apprenticeship. To increase the effectiveness and quality of work placements, since September 2016 courses have been put in place in all secondary schools to prepare students before going on placement.
To support the quality of work placements, steps have been taken at regional level to:
- train teachers;
- strengthen school/business relationships;
- involve practice experts in teaching and evaluation;
- include young people on youth voluntary service in internship hubs (pôles de...
The Pathways for the future (Parcours d'avenir) measure, announced in 2015, has been in place in all lower secondary education schools since September 2015. It is available to all learners from lower to the end of upper secondary years (from Sixième to Terminale). A particular focus is placed on apprenticeships.
A practical guide for the implementation of the Parcours d'avenir measure has been circulated to the heads of institutions. It emphasises the importance of raising awareness of alternating training, whether in vocational high school or apprenticeship, and suggests avenues for action and concrete resources for developing it. A national ambassador for apprenticeship was appointed by the Ministry of Employment in June 2015. His mission is to attract large companies to get further involved in apprenticeship, and disseminate best practices in relation to apprenticeship. The national ambassador is supported by a network of regional ambassadors for apprenticeship. To increase the effectiveness and quality of work placements, since September 2016 courses have been put in place in all secondary schools to prepare students before going on placement.
To support the quality of work placements, steps have been taken at regional level to:
- train teachers;
- strengthen school/business relationships;
- involve practice experts in teaching and evaluation;
- include young people on youth voluntary service in internship hubs (pôles de stages).
The 2018 Law for the freedom to choose one's professional future creates a 'preparatory vocational' course for students in their final year of lower secondary school. While continuing to gain common core knowledge, skills and culture, those who so wish will be able to, in parallel, attend this course to prepare for upper secondary VET. The Law also gives the regions new powers in terms of guidance: they now have the responsibility 'to organise information actions on professions and related training, develop the related documentation, and circulate it to pupils and their families, higher-education students and apprentices in schools and universities'.
Information documents from the National Office for Information on Curricula and Professions (Office national d'information sur les enseignements et les professions, ONISEP), containing information about apprenticeship, are provided to all students at the end of lower and upper secondary education. On the ONISEP website, a section dedicated to apprenticeship provides users with resources.
Each website of the Ministry of Education includes information specifically relating to apprenticeship. The number of pupils applying to join the apprenticeship pathway is on the increase. In July 2018, the number of pupils wishing to enter apprenticeship had increased by 45.1% compared to July 2017. The number of those selecting apprenticeship as their first choice had increased by 40.5%.
The Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of National Education and Youth have, since October 2018, been jointly organising 'apprenticeship days' to find contracts for those young people who have stated their desire to enter apprenticeship.
Information and career guidance services at regional level:
The September 2018 law gave the regions new responsibilities in terms of informing pupils, students and apprentices of the diversity of jobs and training programmes available in their territories, and gender equality in the workplace. The regions can intervene in lower and upper secondary schools and organise information campaigns targeted directly at students during dedicated time periods. The aim is to focus the information provided better on the local context, taking into account the characteristics of the regional training options and local economic needs.
Decree 2019-018 of 21 March 2019 further specifies the new responsibilities of the regions to provide information on jobs and training, and career planning. A national reference framework was signed on 28 May 2019 between the State and the Régions de France association, specifying their respective roles and the principles for implementation of local guidance services provided by the regions in partnership with local education authorities.
As of the start of the 2019 academic year, a new pre-vocational class (prépa-métiers) is offered in the last (third) year of lower secondary education. Classes are especially aimed at pupils who voluntarily elect to discover and explore several jobs as they plan to undertake either vocational scholarship or an apprenticeship. Pupils take compulsory classes in the 'third year' and benefit from a placement lasting between one and five weeks, and 180 hours spent discovering the trades and vocational training.
The push towards apprenticeships has produced a positive trend:
- in two years, there has been a 40% increase in expressions of interest in apprenticeships by young people; this is more than 1 000 more expressions of interest from candidates than in 2018, nearly half of them first applications;
- apprenticeships saw a 16% increase in admissions in 2019;
- apprenticeships grew by 8% in secondary education and 30% in higher education in 2019.
On 11 December 2019 the Ministers of National Education, Higher Education and Labour jointly entrusted Mr Guillaume Houzel with responsibility for removing obstacles to the development of apprenticeships and facilitating contact between young people, apprentice training centres (CFAs) and companies. The mission has three main focus areas:
- mapping the apprenticeship training offer, which has developed considerably since the enactment, in 2018, of the law on the freedom to choose one's professional future: a general catalogue of apprenticeship training offer enables the promotion of apprenticeships not only by the State and its agents, but also by other competent institutions;
- improving public information sites: Affelnet, which is used at the end of lower secondary; Parcoursup, used for orientation after the baccalaureate and for changes in studies; and Trouver mon master (find my master) for higher education;
- designing, prototyping and implementing new digital services to provide career guidance and counselling services to young people (and their families) on topics such as quality of training offer, career prospects, skills identification and help in finding companies who may be interested in hiring them.
Pathways to sucess (Les Cordées de la Réussite) is a networking programme for education institutions to support career guidance projects. Their aim is to be a driver of equal opportunities in guidance support. Additional funding from the national Recovery plan (EUR 10 million allocated) is dedicated to doubling the number of VET learners benefiting from the programmes, with an aim to reach a total of 200 000 students across the country starting from the 2020/21 school year.
In line with the reforms of the general and technological and vocational upper secondary paths and the Law relating to student guidance and success and the creation of the Parcoursup platform (online centralised system for application in higher education programmes), the new generation of Cordées de la réussite aims to make support for career guidance a real driver of equal opportunities. It is intended primarily for those enrolled in priority schools or from priority city districts (Quartiers prioritaires politique de la ville,QPVs), secondary school learners from rural and isolated areas and upper secondary VET learners. They aim to fight self-censorship and stimulate students' academic ambition and to offer progressive support from the last two years of lower secondary (quatrième, troisième) and throughout upper secondary for career planning, either higher education studies or entering the workforce.
The Inserjeunes online support service for career guidance for young people provides information on professional integration rates of IVET graduates (and apprentices) per vocational qualification acquired (from the professional skills certificate, CAP/level 3 till the advanced technician certificate, BTS/level 5).
Pathways to success (Cordées de la Réussite ): for the year 2021-2022, 14,873 vocational high school students have been accompanied.
A public guidance platform for young people, DiagOriente, was deployed in connection with the Youth Guarantee and the support schemes offered within its framework. DiagOriente was supported as part of a State start-up from the Directorate General for Employment and Vocational Training (délégation générale à l'emploi et à la formation professionnelle, DGEFP) of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Professional Integration. It is a free online service that now also provides guidance for adults. Platform users can receive support to explore their potential, analyse their transferable skills and identify their professional interests that would help them identify and build career choices. In February 2021, DiagOriente had 65 263 beneficiaries, 5 800 professional employment and career guidance users and 532 professions to explore.
From 2022 this policy development is part of the national implementation plan (NIP): It can be related to the measure 'Develop all forms of training and particularly work-based training', action 'The contribution of national education to the development of apprenticeship', and to the measure 'Contributing to equal opportunities in all areas', action 'National education measures for equal opportunities: Equality between girls and boys, mentoring, CAP courses in 1, 2 or 3 years, compulsory training for 16-18 year olds'.
There has been observed also a sharp increase in the number of organisations using Diagoriente (various public employment service operators, including local offices) The usage of Diagoriente has risen from approximately 400 by the end of 2021 to almost 1 000 by the end of 2022.
The effectiveness of the platform is also improving, as indicated by the usage statistics. 100% of end-users add an area of experience to their CV, while over 60% add interests and 85% consult job listings.
After the launch of Diagorente a social impact assessment study estimated that two hours of career advisor time were saved per beneficiary, and that job search time was reduced by two months.
In their continuous efforts to enhance career guidance, the government and ONISEP (the national office for information on curricula and professions) are launching also the Avenir(s) programme. This scheme will improve guidance by enabling students to identify their skills and incorporate them into their individual career plans, and will make it possible for students in both secondary and higher education to document their competencies as they progress through their studies thanks to a competencies portfolio.
Finally, an initial inter-regional career guidance meeting, held in November 2022, brought together 600 participants from the Regions, the French national education system and their partners. The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss the initiatives undertaken by the Regions in connection with the new career guidance responsibilities entrusted to them under the 2018 Professional Future law.
The National Week 'Pathways to success' (Cordées de la réussite) took place from 16 to 21 January 2023. The event was organised by the Minister of Education and Youth, the Minister of Higher Education and Research, and the Minister for Vocational Education and Training. This event was an opportunity to highlight the scheme, to showcase the players involved and the initiatives carried out, and to promote the Cordées de la réussite to schools and higher education establishments that are not yet involved in the scheme. In 2023, the number of students benefiting from the Cordées de la réussite has doubled compared with 2019: 180 000 students in 2023 (compared with 80 000 in 2019).
As part of the Semaine de l'Industrie, the Minister for Industry opened the doors of the Ministry of Economy, Finance, and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty for the second consecutive year to over 1 000 lower and upper secondary education students. They had the opportunity to explore various industrial objects and professions through a photo exhibition, presentations, and demonstrations of products made in France. Students also heard testimonials about available career paths in the industry and engaged in inspiring meetings with women in the industry from the Industri'Elles collective.
The National Week 'Pathways to success' (Cordées de la réussite) took place from 15 to 20 January 2024.
As usual, this week was organised by several ministries, including the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education. Its aim was to highlight the Cordées de la réussite players and their achievements, and to encourage other schools and higher education establishments to join the scheme.
Bodies responsible
- Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research
- Ministry of Labour, Full Employment and Inclusion
- Delegate Minister for VET under the education and labour ministers
- Regional authorities
- Ministry of National Education and Youth (until 2024)
- Ministry of Labour, Employment and Professional Integration (until 2022)
- Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports (from 2020 till 2022)
Target groups
Learners
- Learners in upper secondary, including apprentices
- Young people (15-29 years old)
- Learners at risk of early leaving or/and early leavers
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 both to formal mechanisms of stakeholder engagement in VET governance and to informal cooperation among stakeholders, which motivate shared responsibility for quality VET. Formal engagement is usually based on legally established institutional procedures that clearly define the role and responsibilities for relevant stakeholders in designing, implementing and improving VET. It also refers to establishing and increasing the degree of autonomy of VET providers for agile and flexible VET provision.
In terms of informal cooperation, the sub-category covers targeted actions by different stakeholders to promote or implement VET. This cooperation often leads to creating sustainable partnerships and making commitments for targeted actions, in line with the national context and regulation, e.g. national alliances for apprenticeships, pacts for youth or partnerships between schools and employers. It can also include initiatives and projects run by the social partners or sectoral organisations or networks of voluntary experts and executives, retired or on sabbatical, to support their peers in the fields of VET and apprenticeships, as part of the EAfA.
Modernising VET offer and delivery
This thematic category looks at what and how individuals learn, how learning content and learning outcomes in initial and continuing VET are defined, adapted and updated. First and foremost, it examines how VET standards, curricula, programmes and training courses are updated and modernised or new ones created. Updated and renewed VET content ensures that learners acquire a balanced mix of competences that address modern demands, and are more closely aligned with the realities of the labour market, including key competences, digital competences and skills for green transition and sustainability, both sector-specific and across sectors. Using learning outcomes as a basis is important to facilitate this modernisation, including modularisation of VET programmes. Updating and developing teaching and learning materials to support the above is also part of the category.
The thematic category continues to focus on strengthening high-quality and inclusive apprenticeships and work-based learning in real-life work environments and in line with the European framework for quality and effective apprenticeships. It looks at expanding apprenticeship to continuing vocational training and at developing VET programmes at EQF levels 5-8 for better permeability and lifelong learning and to support the need for higher vocational skills.
This thematic category also focuses on VET delivery through a mix of open, digital and participative learning environments, including workplaces conducive to learning, which are flexible, more adaptable to the ways individuals learn, and provide more access and outreach to various groups of learners, diversifying modes of learning and exploiting the potential of digital learning solutions and blended learning to complement face-to-face learning.
Centres of vocational excellence that connect VET to innovation and skill ecosystems and facilitate stronger cooperation with business and research also fall into this category.
This thematic sub-category covers all developments related to work-based learning (WBL) elements in VET programmes and apprenticeships which continue to be important in the policy agenda. It includes measures to stabilise the offer of apprenticeships, the implementation of the European framework for quality and effective apprenticeships, and using the EU on-demand support services and policy learning initiatives among the Member States. It also covers further expansion of apprenticeships and WBL to continuing VET (CVET), for transition to work and inclusion of vulnerable groups, and for improving citizens’ qualification levels.
Teachers, trainers and school leaders competences
Competent and motivated VET teachers in schools and trainers in companies are crucial to VET becoming innovative and relevant, agile, resilient, flexible, inclusive and lifelong.
This thematic category comprises policies and practices of initial training and continuing professional development approaches in a systemic and systematic manner. It also looks at measures aiming to update (entry) requirements and make teaching and training careers attractive and bring more young and talented individuals and business professionals into teaching and training. Supporting VET educators by equipping them with adequate competences, skills and tools for the green transition and digital teaching and learning are addressed in separate thematic sub-categories.
The measures in this category target teachers and school leaders, company trainers and mentors, adult educators and guidance practitioners.
This thematic sub-category refers to all kinds of initial and continuing professional development (CPD) for VET educators who work in vocational schools and in companies providing VET. VET educators include teachers and school leaders, trainers and company managers involved in VET, as well as adult educators and guidance practitioners – those who work in school- and work-based settings. The thematic sub-category includes national strategies, training programmes or individual courses to address the learning needs of VET educators and to develop their vocational (technical) skills, and pedagogical (teaching) skills and competences. Such programmes concern state-of-the-art vocational pedagogy, innovative teaching methods, and competences needed to address evolving teaching environments, e.g. teaching in multicultural settings, working with learners at risk of early leaving, etc.
Supporting lifelong learning culture and increasing participation
Lifelong learning refers to all learning (formal, non-formal or informal) taking place at all stages in life and resulting in an improvement or update in knowledge, skills, competences and attitudes or in participation in society from a personal, civic, cultural, social or employment-related perspective (Erasmus+, Glossary of terms, https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/programme-guide/part-d/glossary-common-terms). A systemic approach to CVET is crucial to ensure adaptability to evolving demands.
This broad thematic category looks at ways of creating opportunities and ensuring access to re-skilling and upskilling pathways, allowing individuals to progress smoothly in their learning throughout their lives with better permeability between general and vocational education and training, and better integration and compatibility between initial and continuing VET and with higher education. Individuals should be supported in acquiring and updating their skills and competences and navigating easily through education and training systems. Strategies and campaigns that promote VET and LLL as an attractive and high-quality pathway, providing quality lifelong guidance and tailored support to design learning and career paths, and various incentives (financial and non-financial) to attract and support participation in VET and LLL fall into this thematic category as well.
This thematic category also includes many initiatives on making VET inclusive and ensuring equal education and training opportunities for various groups of learners, regardless of their personal and economic background and place of residence – especially those at risk of disadvantage or exclusion, such as persons with disabilities, the low-skilled and low-qualified, minorities, migrants, refugees and others.
This thematic sub-category refers to initiatives that promote VET and lifelong learning implemented at any level and by any stakeholder. It also covers measures to ensure and broaden access to information about VET to various target groups, including targeted information and promotional campaigns (e.g. for parents, adult learners, vulnerable groups). Among others, it includes national skill competitions and fairs organised to attract learners to VET.
This thematic sub-category refers to all kinds of incentives that encourage learners to take part in VET and lifelong learning; VET providers to improve, broaden and update their offer; companies to provide places for apprenticeship and work-based learning, and to stimulate and support learning of their employees. It also includes measures addressing specific challenges of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) willing to create work-based learning opportunities in different sectors. Incentives can be financial (e.g. grants, allowances, tax incentives, levy/grant mechanisms, vouchers, training credits, individual learning accounts) and non-financial (e.g. information/advice on funding opportunities, technical support, mentoring).
This thematic sub-category refers to providing high-quality lifelong learning and career guidance services, including making full use of Europass and other digital services and resources.
This thematic sub-category refers to making VET pathways and programmes inclusive and accessible for all. It concerns measures and targeted actions to increase access and participation in VET and lifelong learning for learners from all vulnerable groups, and to support their school/training-to-work transitions. It includes measures to prevent early leaving from education and training. The thematic sub-category covers measures promoting gender balance in traditionally ‘male’ and ‘female’ professions and addressing gender-related and other stereotypes. The vulnerable groups are, but not limited to: persons with disabilities; the low-qualified/-skilled; minorities; persons of migrant background, including refugees; people with fewer opportunities due to their geographical location and/or their socioeconomically disadvantaged circumstances.
European priorities in VET
VET Recommendation
- VET agile in adapting to labour market challenges
- VET as an attractive choice based on modern and digitalised provision of training and skills
- VET promoting equality of opportunities
Osnabrück Declaration
- Resilience and excellence through quality, inclusive and flexible VET
- Establishing a new lifelong learning culture - relevance of continuing VET and digitalisation
- European Education and Training Area and international VET
Subsystem
Further reading
Country
Type of development
Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Career guidance for IVET learners: France. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2024 update) [Online tool].
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/et/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/28217