- 2020Implementation
- 2021Implementation
- 2022Implementation
- 2023Implementation
- 2024Implementation
Background
The initiative was initially set up to support young learners during the lockdown at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic to tackle potential effects on transitions from school to work or to higher education, e.g. potential delays in finding an employment, difficulties to start their higher education abroad due to sanitary restrictions and negative effects of inactivity or isolation on the well-being of young learners. Luxembourg had not suspended learning in national education and privileged training in presence learning and hybrid formats, respecting sanitary rules. The Diplom+ allows learners further developing their transversal skills and competences, while pursuing to seek employment or to apply for university studies. It has flexible and modular structure and is adaptable in terms of intensity and duration to the learners' interests and obligations. Due to its instant success and positive feedback of the learners, the measure was continued. The initiative has strong government support.
Objectives
Diplom+ aims at facilitating the transition between school and employment or higher education.
Description
Diplom+ is a customised training programme bridging the transition between school and employment or higher education targeting recent graduates at EQF 4 (both general and vocational programmes), neither in employment or higher education. Diplom+ is a cycle of individually certifying training modules on transversal skills in high demand on the labour market, skills applicable in higher education and everyday life skills. Participants are accompanied on demand by individual coaching sessions. Participants can leave the training cycle if they are hired or participate in higher education; they obtain certificates for successfully completed modules.
The training consists of six mandatory and two to six optional modules leading to certifications. During the first semester learners follow six common modules.
a. Module 1: Preparing for employment search or application
b. Module 2: Presentation and communication
c. Module 3: Computer skills
d. Module 4: Time and well-being management
e. Module 5: Project management
f. Module 6: Informed citizen and employee
They also follow two out of the six optional modules which allow the learners to tailor their training to individual expectations.
a. Module A: Tips for everyday life
b. Module B: First aid
c. Module C: Practical Crafts Workshops
d. Module D: Web design
e. Module E: Design and 3D Printing
f. Module F: Data analysis.
Learners who choose to continue during the second semester have the opportunity to deepen and apply the newly acquired skills within the framework of an innovation project, supervised by professional mentors, which consists of developing a product as a team from conception to realisation.
For school year 2020/21, 140 learners in seven classes attended the first semester. Courses were organised over seven locations and were provided by 12 training providers. Following the first semester, 80 learners pursued an innovation project, which provided learners with the opportunity to deepen and apply newly acquired skills by developing a product from conception to completion under the supervision of a professional mentor. 60 of them regrouped in 11 teams have finalised their project. Among those who left the programme before the end of the second semester, more than half reported that they had interrupted the training due to a job offer and more than a third to pursue higher education.
In 2021, a survey of participants in the pilot project revealed a high level of satisfaction. For the school year 2021/22, 98 learners in six classes attended the first semester. Courses were organised in five locations and were provided by 11 training providers.
The programme was extended to young people who had started but dropped out of higher education.
Among the 98 learners who enrolled in the school year 2021/22, 60 followed the innovative project during the second semester. Thus, more than one third successfully enrolled in higher education in the summer semester or found employment. Employment was often voluntarily under temporary contracts with the prospect to join higher education in the following year.
In the school year 2022/23, 88 learners registered, in 4 classes. 58 registered for the innovative project in the second semester.
In summer 2022, a short summer school "Diplom+ Ukraine" offered a seven-week training cycle to learners from Ukraine to join higher studies or aimed at obtaining a secondary education diploma in Luxembourg. It concerned learners between 17 and 30 years who had recently arrived from Ukraine and who had just finished secondary school or were about to finish it, and were seeking employment. It consisted in six modules tailored to their specific situation: Live and Work in the EU; Discover Luxembourg; Public Speaking and Empowerment; Time and Stress Management; First Aid Module; and practical workshops and upcycling. Learners received a certificate for each successfully-passed module. The training was usually provided in English but language mediators and individual support were available to adapt to the needs of learners. The project ended in September 2022.
The content of the Diplom+ course was adapted at the beginning of the school year 2022/23, and students started following eight common modules instead of six. The new modules are:
- Module 1: Professional guidance
- Module 2: Preparing for employment search or application
- Module 3: Empowerment and Mentoring
- Module 4: Presentation and Communication
- Module 5: Time and Stress Management
- Module 6: Project management
- Module 7: Informed citizen and employee
- Module 8: Computer Skills
They follow four to eight optional modules instead of two to six:
- Module A: Learning Strategies
- Module B: Tips for everyday life
- Module C: First aid
- Module D: Green Skills and Circular Economy
- Module E: Practical Workshops
- Module F: Web design and Content Management
- Module G: Design and 3D Printing
- Module H: Data Analysis and Visualisation
During the school year 2023/24, 84 learners registered for the Diplom+ programme. The programme was held in 4 classes in three different regional sites. 65 learners received certifications for at least one module
The content and organisation of the Diplom+ course was adapted at the beginning of the school year 2024/25. It is now organised in three parts. During the first part, students follow eight common modules:
- Professional guidance
- Presentation and Communication
- Preparing for employment search or application
- First aid
- Time & Stress Management
- Project Management
- Practical Life Skills
- Skills for Climate
During the second part, students can choose one pack among three packs:
- Pack 1 : Crafts - Cooking, Sewing, Woodwork
- Pack 2 : Design IT - Web Design, Graphic Design, Design & 3D Printing
- Pack 3 : IT - Coding, Data Analysis, Learning Strategies
Each module (common or in the pack) lasts between 16 and 40 hours. Students receive a certificate for each module successfully completed. Courses are provided in Luxembourgish, French, German and English.
During the third part, students participate in a practical in-company experience, either in the form of an internship of their choice or several short-term job-shadowing opportunities, to confirm their future career choices.
Bodies responsible
- Ministry of Education, Children and Youth
- VET Department of the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth (SFP)
Target groups
Learners
- Young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs)
- Learners with migrant background, including refugees
Thematic categories
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.
VET standards and curricula define the content and outcomes of learning, most often at national or sectoral levels. VET programmes are based on standards and curricula and refer to specific vocations/occupations. They all need to be regularly reviewed, updated and aligned with the needs of the labour market and society. They need to include a balanced mix of vocational and technical skills corresponding to economic cycles, evolving jobs and working methods, and key competences, providing for resilience, lifelong learning, employability, social inclusion, active citizenship, sustainable awareness and personal development (Council of the European Union, 2020). The thematic sub-category also refers to establishing new VET programmes, reducing their number or discontinuing some. It also includes design of CVET programmes and training courses to adapt to labour market, sectoral or individual up- and re-skilling needs.
The learning-outcomes-based approaches focus on what a learner is expected to know, to be able to do and understand at the end of a learning process (Cedefop, 2016). Learning outcomes can be defined at the system level as in national qualification frameworks (NQFs), most of which are currently based on learning outcomes. Learning outcomes can be defined in qualification standards, curricula, learning programmes and assessment, although the last one is still uncommon. This thematic sub-category refers to the use of learning outcomes in these contexts and to development and use of modules or units of learning outcomes in VET curricula and programmes.
This thematic sub-category refers to acquisition of key competences and basic skills for all, from an early age and throughout their life, including those acquired as part of qualifications and curricula. Key competences include knowledge, skills and attitudes needed by all for personal fulfilment and development, employability and lifelong learning, social inclusion, active citizenship and sustainable awareness. Key competences include literacy; multilingual; science, technology, engineering and mathematical (STEM); digital; personal, social and learning to learn; active citizenship, entrepreneurship, cultural awareness and expression (Council of the European Union, 2018).
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 ensuring smooth transitions (permeability) of learners within the entire education and training system, horizontally and vertically. It includes measures and policies allowing learners easily or by meeting certain conditions to move from general education programmes to VET and vice versa; to increase qualification levels in their vocation through the possibility of attending vocational programmes at higher levels, including professional degrees in higher education. It also covers opening up learning progression by introducing flexible pathways that are based on the validation and recognition of the outcomes of non-formal and informal learning.
This thematic sub-category refers to providing the possibility for individuals who are already in the labour market/in employment to reskill and/or acquire higher levels of skills, and to ensuring targeted information resources on the benefits of CVET and lifelong learning. It also covers the availability of CVET programmes adaptable to labour market, sectoral or individual up- and reskilling needs. The sub-category includes working with respective stakeholders to develop digital learning solutions supporting access to CVET opportunities and awarding CVET credentials and certificates.
Subsystem
Further reading
Country
Type of development
Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Diplom+ : new bridging programme: Luxembourg. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2024 update) [Online tool].
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/ga/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/39633