France: tracking IVET graduates (2019/20 school year)

At the end of 2021, the education ministry published two studies following up the pathways of IVET learners 6 months after they graduated in 2020/21. One study focuses on graduates from school-based VET programmes, while the other follows up the pathways of graduates from apprenticeship-based programmes leading to VET qualifications at levels 3 to 5. Comparing these two groups, we find that graduates from apprenticeship programmes tend to choose to enter the labour market directly rather than pursue further studies. For all training programmes it applies, obtaining the final diploma seems to facilitate labour market integration.

Pathways of IVET graduates from school-based programmes

Pathways of IVET graduates from school-based programmes

Continuing education

Some 49% of all learners who graduated from one of the various school-based vocational programmes continued to pursue further general or vocational training in the following year. More specifically, for graduates with a professional skills certificate (CAP; EQF level 3) or vocational baccalaureate (Bac-Pro; EQF level 4) this is the case for up to 50%, while for graduates with an advanced technician’s certificate (BTS; EQF level 5) this proportion is lower, at 39%.

Entering the labour market

In the context of the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, professional integration of young IVET graduates seems to have deteriorated. Overall, 40% of the learners who followed a school-based vocational programme started working 6 months after graduation. Compared to graduates of the previous year, the employment rate fell by 4 percentage points (pp.) for CAP graduates, 6 pp. for Bac-Pro graduates and 5 pp. for BTS graduates.

The rate of labour market integration 6 months after graduation differs, depending on the training field. Graduates from vocational programmes in the field of ‘transport, handling, warehousing’ (45%), ‘industrial technologies’ (44%), ‘energy, chemistry, metallurgy’ (43%) and ‘aesthetic hairdressing’ (41%), have the best chance of being integrated into the labour market. In contrast, labour market integration is the weakest for graduates from the training fields of ‘mechanical engineering and metal structures’ (24%) and ‘food processing’ (28%). The pandemic has not affected all business sectors in the same way; graduates who pursued vocational training in the field of ‘hotel, catering and tourism’ were particularly affected, with their labour market integration dropping from 40% in 2019 to 33% in 2020.

Pathways of IVET graduates from apprenticeship-based programmes

Continuing education

Some 38% of all the graduates who followed one of the various apprenticeship-based programmes continued to pursue further general or vocational training in the following school year. Compared to graduates of the previous year, this proportion is the same for graduates of the professional certificate (BP), 3 pp. higher for CAP graduates, and almost 7 pp. higher for BTS graduates.

Entering the labour market

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the labour market integration of recent graduates and the continuation of apprenticeship programmes; thanks to the introduction of financial incentives, however, the government managed to mitigate many of these negative effects. Some 61% of graduates who wanted to enter the labour market were able to find a job in January 2021, i.e. 6 months after graduation (only 2 pp. less compared to the generation who graduated in 2019, before the pandemic started).

Professional integration also depends on the field of training. Graduates completing an apprenticeship-based programme in the field of ‘mechanical and metal structures’ (66%) and ‘civil engineering, construction, wood’ (65%) have very good chances of labour market integration within 6 months. Graduates from professional fields which were most affected by health restrictions (catering, hotels, etc.) faced significantly higher difficulties in entering the labour market in 2020; while 60% found a job within 6 months after graduation in 2019, in 2020 this number went down to 48%.  

Sources

Insertion professionnelle des lycéens du niveau CAP à BTS 6 mois après leur sortie du système éducatif en 2020 [Vocational integration of secondary school students from the CAP to BTS level 6 months after they leave the education system in 2020]. Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports, DEPP, NOTE D’INFORMATION No. 21.42 December 2021

Insertion professionnelle des apprentis du niveau CAP à BTS 6 mois après leur sortie du système éducatif en 2020 [Vocational integration of apprentices from the CAP to BTS level 6 months after they leave the education system in 2020]. Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports, DEPP, NOTE D’INFORMATION No. 21.43 December 2021