VET policies in France

As part of the 2016 State-Regions partnership agreement, in September 2017, 500 new vocational training courses were introduced across VET upper secondary schools (lycées professionnels) with a strong emphasis on ecological transition. These programmes focus on skills related to renewable energy, sustainable building practices, waste management, and green technology, catering to emerging green jobs and addressing shortages in ecological professions, including welding, boiler-making, and...

The minister delegated for vocational training announced an ambitious reform at the end of 2022.

Law No 2022-1598 of 21 December 2022 on emergency measures relating to the functioning of the labour market includes several provisions that reform VAE along three lines:

1. simplification: facilitating the admissibility stage, shortening routes and harmonising funding rules;
2. making validation paths more secure: the law individualises and strengthens the support provided to candidates, giving them...

The total budget of the youth plan is EUR 6.7 billion, with measures to support young people aged 16-25 after the COVID-19 crisis. It mobilises a set of tools: hiring assistance, training, support, financial assistance for struggling young people, etc. to respond to different situations.

Under priority 1 - facilitating entry into working life;

1. compensation of EUR 4 000 of costs to the businesses for any young person recruited between 1 August 2020 and 31 March 2021;
2. exceptional support to recruit...

France Relance has a budget of EUR 100 billion in total over two years, out of which 15 billion is for vocational training. The main measures in terms of education and vocational training offered in both IVET and CVET (excluding exceptional employment subsidies) are:

Training young people in strategic and promising sectors

1. 100 000 qualifying training courses via the Regional skills investment pacts; with a revaluation of the remuneration for trainees undertaking professional training;
2. 16 000...

The 2016 Labour Law (Law No 2016-1088 of 8 August 2016 on labour, modernisation of social dialogue and securing career paths) created new obligations in terms of information to be provided by training institutions and apprentice training centres. It is now mandatory for them to provide information on participation and completion rates as well as the destination and employment rates of their graduates. These data will be aggregated at education district level and will be broken down according...

An online guide, Qualéduc, was made available to education institutions and inspectorate bodies in April 2016 to help them develop a quality assurance system based on continuous improvement.

By March 2017, 25 out of the 30 existing education districts (académies) had been involved in Qualéduc. Two national conferences were organised in 2016 to promote the use of this tool among schools and inspectorate bodies. The tool has since been complemented with sections to guide on how to adapt the...

In 2015, a decree on continuous professional training defined six quality criteria for publicly funded training and introduced a quality label for providers meeting these standards. In 2017, Decree No 2017-239 (February 24, 2017) introduced the Eduform quality label for CVET providers under the education ministry. The label is valid for three years and is granted based on an audit and the recommendations of a national labelling commission.

In 2018, the Law for the freedom to choose one's...

A December 2015 circular created more opportunities for school staff to work with the business world, including courses for head teachers and CPD modules on entrepreneurship; it also contributed to the CPD of VET school teachers. One of the measures included in the circular introduced compulsory traineeship in companies for teachers.

The June 2015 quality assurance decree was rolled out for the first time in January 2017. It requires training bodies to be able to demonstrate that staff in...

In initial vocational education and training apprenticeship schemes, learners receive guidance and support during their in-company training by professionals in the company they work. Depending on the scheme, these professionals are called mentors (within the apprenticeship contract scheme) or tutors (within the professionalisation contract scheme).

The role of apprenticeship mentor is recognised under the Citizen's commitment account (Compte d'engagement citoyen, CEC), which is part of the...

Teacher training was one of the major challenges to be addressed in the Social Agenda (2018-19) developed by the Ministry of Education and Youth. The reform of human resources policy in education promotes support to teams and staff, as well as the empowerment and fulfilment of teaching staff valuing commitment and merit, and reinforcing quality for student success.

A national process of consultation, launched in October 2020, resulted in a set of measures introduced by the Minister of...

A scheme called Students as apprentice teachers (étudiants apprentis-professeurs) was introduced in the 2015/16 school year, replacing a similar scheme called Future jobs for teachers. The scheme is designed for students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are at the start of their university studies and aiming to become teachers. In this respect they integrate a 3-year pre-professionalisation pathway from the second year of the Bachelor degree. During this training programme, participants...

In 2017, the PIX platform was established as a free online public service used to assess, develop, and certify digital competences, intended for secondary and university students in initial education and training as well as workers.

Based on the DigComp 2, European skills reference framework, PIX offers all users the chance to determine their level of proficiency in 16 different skills/areas of competence.

These skills/areas of competence are: conducting research and information monitoring,...

In 2015, social partners created a professional certificate which recognises basic knowledge and skills needed for the workplace (Certificat de connaissances et de compétences professionnelles). To enhance training for illiterate individuals seeking to earn this certificate, nationally referred to as Cléa, the national agency for literacy (Agence nationale de lutte contre l'illettrisme, ANLCI) created a correspondence chart. This chart effectively links the competences from the ANLCI...

In 2015, the social partners through the national cross-sector jobs and training committee (Comité interprofessionnel pour l'emploi et la formation, COPANEF) created the CléA certificate (Certificat de connaissances et de compétences professionnelles, CléA) for adults willing to certify their key competences for employability and for access to further learning.

In 2016-17, a 'common base of knowledge, competences and culture', to be acquired by all learners, was defined. The common base includes languages for thinking and communicating; methods and tools for learning; education for the individual and the citizen; natural systems and technical systems; representations of the world and human activity.

The Skills Investment plan (Plan d'investissement dna les compétences, PIC) is a government initiative aimed at improving job related skills and employability of 1 million job seekers and 1 million young people. Launched in 2018, this 5-year plan focuses on providing training programmes to help people gain qualifications that match the needs of the job market. Its goal is to reduce unemployment and promote social inclusion by investing in the development of skills that are in demand,...

In the reporting period, work to adapt the current five-level structure of the French framework to the eight-level structure of the EQF was carried out. Article 31 of the 2018 Law for the freedom to choose one's professional future introduced a new vocational qualifications framework, which establishes the correspondence between the national five-level structure and the EQF levels. The EQF NCP for France is, as of 1 January 2019, hosted by France Compétences.

Skill sets are 'homogeneous and coherent sets of competencies that contribute to the autonomous exercise of a professional activity, which can be evaluated and validated'. Reforming vocational qualifications into skill sets (blocks de compétences) started in 2016. The first qualifications restructured into skill sets through legislation (decrees 2016-771, 2016-772 and 2016-1037) are the professional skills certificate (CAP, EQF level 3), the vocational baccalaureate (Bac-pro, EQF level 4)...

A new scheme for progression from upper secondary VET to tertiary technological education is being piloted, from September 2017, for three years in three education districts (académies). The aim is to allow students who obtained the baccalauréat (end of upper secondary diploma) in vocational education to pursue their studies in higher technological education (section de technicien supérieur, STS).

Previously, admission to higher technological education programmes was preferably granted to...

A circular from the Ministry of Education issued in March 2016 allows students who made a wrong choice of VET programme to change their mind and move to another programme, whether in VET or general or technological education.

Any student who, at the end of compulsory schooling, has not attained a level of training recognised by a national diploma or a professional qualification registered and classified at or above level 3 of the national register of professional qualifications (RNCP) must be able to pursue studies to acquire a qualification. The State provides the means necessary, as part of its responsibilities, for the resulting continued schooling. Any young person leaving the education system without a...

The 2018 Law for the freedom to choose one's professional future provides for:

1. the creation of the agency France Compétences: continuing training in France is a shared responsibility between the State, the regions and the social partners. The new agency, France Compétences, brings together these three stakeholders. It will be in charge of regulating the quality and the price of training supply, and handling funding discrepancies across sectors;
2. reforming funding mechanisms to establish a...

Within the framework of the 2016 State-Regions partnership agreement, 500 new training courses are offered in VET upper secondary schools (lycées professionnels) since September 2017. Almost 70% of these courses lead to national diplomas, with more than 20% of them being offered in apprenticeships or combined school-based / apprenticeship pathways. On completing an initial VET programme, graduates my continue with a second training programme leading to additional qualification, either to...

The 2015 Success in apprenticeship initiative has put in place 142 projects in 20 regions, most involving the local youth employment and social integration centres (Missions locales) in partnership with apprentice training centres (Centre de formation d'apprentis, CFA). Programmes last 12 months and include guidance. The 2018 Law for the freedom to choose one's professional future sets up a mechanism to support those target group members who wish to enter an apprenticeship with a view to...

Within the framework of 2016 partnership agreement between the State and the regions to support employment and social inclusion, a strategy was set out to extend the range of qualifications that can be gained through apprenticeship. The aim is to support NEETS and low-qualified young people in access to training and acquire a qualification at EQF levels 3 and 4. At least 11 sectors have expressed interest in the approach, including the construction, temporary work, metalwork, plastics and...

In January 2016, the government launched a plan to create 500 000 training places for jobseekers (Plan 500 000 formations pour demandeurs d'emploi). It included the provision of VET to people in long-term unemployment and training tailored for those unemployed aiming to set up or take over a business. The final total of beneficiaries in 2016 was 945 000. Building on its success, the plan was extended in the first semester of 2017 with 200 000 additional training courses specifically targeted...

The transformation of the vocational high school, which began in 2018, aims to improve the link between apprenticeship and the academic path. It is a systemic transformation (covering content and pedagogy, organisation of pathways, evolution of the training offer) in order to make vocational education more effective and more attractive; it aims to involve VET further in preparing learners for promising future jobs, especially in digital technology and the energy transition. Measures include:

...

In July 2018, a report was published detailing the results of a pilot initiative launched in 2015 that explored new approaches for work-based learning through scheduled and guided on-the-job training. This pilot involved collaboration between the Ministry of Labour and stakeholders such as social partners, the National Employment, Training and Vocational Guidance Council (CNEFOP), the National Agency for the Improvement of Working Conditions (ANACT), and training funds (OPCAs). The...

A circular of 2 December 2015 from the Ministry of Education announced 12 measures aimed at developing relationships between businesses and education through career guidance and work-based training for young people. They include work placements and measures to help pupils gain a better understanding of the world of work. School staff will have more opportunities to interact with the business world through courses for head teachers and continuous professional development modules on...

A French-German pilot project to support the mobility of young apprentices was launched in November 2015 and involved 50 young apprentices working in 11 participating large enterprises (Allianz, Michelin, Danone, Bosch, BASF, L'Oréal, Siemens, BNP Paribas, ENGIE, Airbus and Safran). The main aim was to raise awareness about apprenticeship among education and counselling staff in charge of school pupils. The initiative was supplemented by an online continuous professional development course...

In the reporting period, the initiative was further extended through labelling 95 campuses covering 12 growth and job-creating sectors: food and food-processing; chemistry and biotechnologies; creation, design, audiovisual; infrastructures, construction, eco-construction; materials, innovative materials; mobility, aeronautics, terrestrial and maritime transport; digital, telecommunications; business services, logistics; innovative services, mechatronics; tourism, gastronomy; energy...

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...

Apprentice mobility was enshrined in the Labour Code (2017). New legal provisions have come into force, aimed at removing obstacles to long-term mobility in Europe for apprentices and trainees in alternance training schemes. Recent laws reforming the Labour Code (March 2018) and vocational education and training (September 2018) include measures that apply to all young people under the apprenticeship contract (contrat d'apprentissage) and the professional development contract (contrat de...

A 2015 circular established conditions for apprenticeship contracts within the non-industrial and non-commercial public sector. The overall goal was to create 500 000 apprenticeships by 2017, with specific targets for the public sector: 4 000 apprenticeships starting in September 2015 and an additional 6 000 by September 2016. A practical guide was issued for human resources services to facilitate this process. The targets were successfully met, with 4 420 apprentices recruited in 2015 and 8...

Social partners have been involved in the design of the reform, along with regional authorities, chambers of commerce, and experts. Stakeholder consultation lasted from November 2017 to January 2018. The September 2018 Law for the freedom to choose one's professional future includes provisions regarding apprenticeship and work-based learning.

1. The opening of new apprentice training centres no longer requires administrative approval (previously issued by the regions). Sectors and businesses...