The IVET mobility scoreboard is a tool for monitoring developments in IVET mobility policies and the implementation of the 2011 Council recommendation 'Youth on the move' in European countries.

The scoreboard is a mechanism for assisting policy-making in international learning mobility.

To access the scoreboard database, click the database tab.

The scoreboard provides detailed country information on the conditions for IVET learner mobility in Europe. It addresses 10 key action areas:

  • information and guidance on opportunities;
  • motivating learners for mobility;
  • preparing learners for mobility;
  • removing obstacles to mobility;
  • portability of grants and loans;
  • ensuring mobility quality;
  • recognition of learning outcomes;
  • support to disadvantaged learners;
  • partnerships and funding;
  • involving multipliers.

The scoreboard offers seven monitoring tools:

  • Country fiches, providing detailed descriptions of countries’ mobility policies, structures and mechanisms;
  • Scorecards, synthesising the individual performance of respective countries in implementing the Youth on the move recommendation;
  • Progress graphs, allowing for following up a country’s progress over time;
  • Benchmarking graphs, allowing for comparing progress in two countries;
  • Maps, showing country categories with respect to aspects of mobility policies;
  • Indicators, showing country categories with respect to performance in implementing the Youth on the move recommendation in each mobility area;
  • Overview Tables, showing country categories in terms of overall implementation performance, all indicators combined.

The mobility scoreboard for initial VET is produced within Cedefop’s department for VET systems and institutions (DSI). It is based on country information provided by ReferNet and validated by country representatives. The scoreboard was designed in cooperation with the European Commission (EMPL E3), EACEA/Eurydice, and the expert group on a mobility scoreboard for IVET. Cedefop has sole responsibility for the country information, data analysis, monitoring tools and policy suggestions presented. The analyses and policy suggestions are not intended to reflect the views of governments.

 

 

EU Legislation and Policy

2018 Council Recommendation of 26 November 2018 on promoting automatic mutual recognition of higher education and upper secondary education and training qualifications and the outcomes of learning periods abroad

2017

Education and Training Monitor  2017
Commission Progress Report on a Learning Mobility Benchmark COM (2017)148 final
Commission Communication on Strengthening European identity through education and  Culture, COM (2017) 673 final

2016

Commission Staff Working Document Analytical underpinning for a New Skills Agenda for Europe SWD (2016) 195 final
EU 2016-2018 Work Plan for Youth
Evaluation of the EU Youth Strategy and the Council recommendation on the mobility of young volunteers across the EU

2015

EU Youth report

2011

Council conclusions on a benchmark for learning mobility
Council recommendation ‘Youth on the move’ promoting the learning mobility of young people

2010

Youth on the move package
Council conclusions on European researchers’ mobility and careers

2009

Green Paper Promoting the learning mobility of young people
Results of the consultation
Impact Assessment

2008

Council recommendation on the mobility of young volunteers across the European Union 
Council conclusions on youth mobility

2006

European quality charter for mobility

2001

Recommendation of the Parliament and of the Council on mobility  for students, persons undergoing training, volunteers, teachers and trainers

2000

Council Resolution concerning an action plan for mobility

 

Promoting mobility

 

Erasmus+ Mobility for young people and workers

European Youth Monitor  

European Youth Strategy

European Youth Portal

Volunteering

Youthpas

Europass

ECTS

ECVET

EQF

Youth Employment: mobility of young workers

Background

In July 2009, in the context of the international economic crisis, the European Commission issued its green paper Promoting the learning mobility of young people, stressing the importance of investing in education and training. Among ways of improving youth employability and tackling unemployment, the paper emphasised the role of learning mobility. This was the starting point for public consultation on obstacles to mobility and ways of addressing them. The consultation was closed by December 2009. More than 3 000 responses were received from a wide range of stakeholders including individuals, associations, Member State authorities and EU institutions. The results of the consultation confirmed that there were still many obstacles to learning mobility in European countries. From these results, policy options were designed and, in 2010, the Council of the European Union launched the Youth on the move package of policy initiatives to improve young Europeans’ learning and working opportunities, at home and abroad. The package included a ‘recommendation aimed at removing obstacles to mobility (…), accompanied by a mobility scoreboard to measure Member States’ progress in this regard’.

Emphasis on mobility is based on the idea that learning mobility can strengthen the future employability of young people. Supporting mobility in this target group is timely, as mobility is particularly attractive to young people; they have a better knowledge of foreign languages and fewer family obligations.

The foreseen Council recommendation Youth on the move – Promoting the learning mobility of young people was adopted on 28 June 2011. It identifies ways in which Member States can promote learning mobility across the EU, with 10 key thematic areas for action outlined:

  1. information and guidance on opportunities for learning mobility;
  2. motivation to participate in international learning mobility activities;
  3. preparation for learning mobility, particularly with regard to foreign language skills and intercultural awareness;
  4. addressing administrative and institutional issues relating to the learning period abroad;
  5. portability of grants and loans;
  6. quality of learning mobility;
  7. recognition of learning outcomes;
  8. support to disadvantaged learners;
  9. partnerships and funding;
  10. engaging multipliers.

To monitor policy progress in the field, the recommendation encourages the European Commission to develop a methodological framework, referred to as the mobility scoreboard. The Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA)/Eurydice engaged in work on a mobility scoreboard for higher education in 2012. In parallel, Eurostat initiated exploratory work on setting up learning mobility statistics. Cedefop started developing a mobility scoreboard for initial vocational education and training in 2015.

Objectives

The scoreboard is a tool to assist in devising mobility policies. Its role is to:

  • provide learners’ organisations and mobility organisers with an overview of mobility practices across other countries, and inspire them to design reform suggestions, which they may implement or submit to the attention of their national policy-makers;
  • assist national policy-makers in better understanding their respective countries’ positions in the European mobility arena, and better identifying options for reform;
  • provide EU policy-makers with information and evidence on current mobility policies across European countries, and suggestions on priorities for action.

It is not only learners’ organisations and policy-makers who can benefit but all types of mobility organisers, such as VET institutions, Erasmus+ national agencies and other mobility agencies, companies involved in mobility, guidance institutions, and teachers, trainers, counsellors and other staff involved in organising mobility activities.

To fulfil its objectives, the scoreboard provides:

  • EU-wide overviews of countries’ structures, policies and performance through maps, indicators and tables;
  • country information, analyses and suggestions through scorecards and country fiches.

Glossary

Countrywide coordination
There is countrywide coordination of a process when, for all existing actions related to the process, regulation and implementation of the process are arranged through/underpinned by one of:

  • top-down guidelines followed by all stakeholders/players;
  • any form of cooperation and dialogue involving all stakeholders/players and leading to convergent practices and approaches.
    Countrywide coordination may be partial/incomplete when it applies only to part of the actions or players related to the process.

Evaluation of an activity or policy action
Comparison between a target reference and a given situation to point out the differences between them and to identify and implement possible steps for improvement. Evaluation typically heads towards further improvement, as opposed to monitoring that may not involve the intention to translate the conclusions from analysis into further readjustment/reform of the activity or policy.

Improvement measure
Any step to bring an actual situation closer to a reference situation. In the context of this report, the reference situation is defined by the provisions of the 2011 Council recommendation Youth on the move.

Information and guidance
The service provided to help people make well-informed choices in relation to working life. Information and guidance consists in helping people clarify their interests and values, identify their skills, reflect on their experience, understand the options available to them, formulate plans, and make career-oriented decisions (1). Information and guidance on international learning mobility in IVET is the part of information and guidance specifically targeted at providing IVET learners with insights into existing mobility opportunities and advice on mobility decisions.

International learning mobility
Physical mobility, whereby a national boundary is crossed for the purpose of study or training in another country. In the IVET context this refers to both school-based and work-based learning. International mobility includes both mobility between EU Member States and mobility between an EU Member State and a non-EU country. This scoreboard does not address international mobility in which there is not at least one EU country (or Iceland or Norway) involved.  

Mechanism
A process through which a defined type of output is delivered, for example in providing information and guidance, funding stakeholders, or supporting partnerships. A mechanism is generally limited in scope and coverage. In its most complete form, a mechanism can turn into a system, which then covers all/most possible cases and situations related to the type of output at play.

Policy initiatives and/or actions
An initiative or action is a step taken at a given time to achieve an identified objective. Policy initiatives or actions do not require per se any continuity or follow-up. Also, they require neither long preparation upstream nor a comprehensive overview of the context. In that sense, policy initiatives or actions are less sophisticated than fully-fledged strategies, which presuppose prior in-depth and comprehensive analysis of context and thoughtful preparation in terms of coordinating a consistent series of actions, securing appropriate means, and sequentially taking into account interactions between players.

Portability
Possibility to take abroad and use at destination a domestic financial support that was not granted with a mobility purpose.

Third countries
Countries other than the 28 EU Member States.


Methodology

The scoreboard provides five categories of tool: maps, indicators, scorecards, overview tables and country fiches. Maps, indicators and overview tables aim to provide EU-wide overviews, whereas scorecards and fiches are targeted at focusing on the country level.

Basically, the methodology of the scoreboard is derived from that of the Bologna process.

The methodology document explains the general principles which guide the design of the tools; the meaning and intention of these tools; how the general principles were applied, and how to interpret the tools’ outputs.

 

Database

Mobility scoreboard database

 

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Project contacts

Who is who
Helene Hamers
Expert - mobility scoreboard - performance measurement system