- 2015Approved/Agreed
- 2016Implementation
- 2017Implementation
- 2018Implementation
- 2019Implementation
- 2020Implementation
- 2021Implementation
- 2022Implementation
- 2023Implementation
- 2024Implementation
Background
In 2015, the policy for work-based learning in VET was faced with the challenge of bringing VET institutions and enterprises closer.
Objectives
This policy development is aimed at developing relationships between businesses and education through career guidance and work-based training for young people.
Description
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 entrepreneurship. Internship hubs also contribute to this cooperation. New agreements between the Ministry of Education and sector organisations have been signed to foster the provision of vocational training courses for young people, especially dropouts. Training modules in new job search techniques geared towards teachers and other education staff are being established. Following a 2015 circular (No 2015-035) from the Ministry of Education, internship hubs (pôles de stages) have been rolled out in every region to organise schools and businesses into networks which support students in finding work placements. More than 350 local hubs have been set up, specialised, in some cases, by economic sector. These local internship hubs are each managed by a facilitator and coordinated at regional level. Practical tools can be found online.
In April 2015, the Ministry of Employment and the Foundation to fight exclusion (Fondation Agir Contre l'Exclusion,...
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 entrepreneurship. Internship hubs also contribute to this cooperation. New agreements between the Ministry of Education and sector organisations have been signed to foster the provision of vocational training courses for young people, especially dropouts. Training modules in new job search techniques geared towards teachers and other education staff are being established. Following a 2015 circular (No 2015-035) from the Ministry of Education, internship hubs (pôles de stages) have been rolled out in every region to organise schools and businesses into networks which support students in finding work placements. More than 350 local hubs have been set up, specialised, in some cases, by economic sector. These local internship hubs are each managed by a facilitator and coordinated at regional level. Practical tools can be found online.
In April 2015, the Ministry of Employment and the Foundation to fight exclusion (Fondation Agir Contre l'Exclusion, FACE) set up the Foundation for innovation in apprenticeship (Fondation innovations pour les apprentissages, FIPA). FIPA's objective is to:
- support developing all forms of work-based learning in companies;
- propose innovative solutions to issues such as increasing apprentice mobility;
- provide digital resources to support apprenticeships;
- introduce apprenticeship in occupations where it does not yet exist.
IVET / Ministry of National Education and Youth
Bringing together education and the business world is at the heart of the transformation of the vocational pathway initiated in 2019, particularly via the deployment of the trades and qualifications campuses of excellence.
It is embodied, for example, in a new project-based multidisciplinary assignment (chef d'oeuvre, in French) that now applies to all CAP students and apprentices in the training cycle and all vocational baccalaureate students/apprentices in the final year (first and final classes).
The 'Capstone project' is a practical assignment, based on the cross-disciplinary and professional skills developed within their speciality by students or apprentices. It is the culmination of a multidisciplinary project which can be individual or collaborative. The project systematises and embodies the project teaching approach in vocational education.
A guide to the lessons in this new module has been available online since June 2019. The decree of 26 November 2019 introduces the 'Capstone project' as a means of qualifying for the certificate of professional aptitude (CAP). The economy employment education relations units (CR3E) of the education authorities can aid the establishment of partnerships with companies or professional circles.
Partnership agreements with the professional world and Business school week have been renewed: over 200 000 pupils were reached in 2019, with 700 activities in the field, 19 000 teachers involved, 5 600 schools and 11 000 businesses.
The training courses in professional environments and company visits available to all education professionals will be expanded in 2020.
Apprenticeship / Foundation for innovation in apprenticeship (FIPA)
FIPA represents 13 large companies and 27 000 apprentices (engaged in training through an apprenticeship on professionalisation contract). The Ministry of Vocational Training works with FIPA in two ways: first, FIPA has created a company CFA (apprentice training centre) working group, bringing together a number of large companies that already have their own CFAs (such as EDF, La Poste, Veolia, RATP, SNCF) and others that wish to create one (such as Axa, Lactalis, Disneyland, Saint-Gobain). They are supported by consultants in creating a guide on how and why to create a company CFA. The ministry has been participating in all the meetings of this working group for almost a year to support them in the development of this guide, which was to be officially launched in 2020. FIPA also works with partner companies and skills operators (OPCO) to support apprentices undertaking European and international placements.
IVET/Ministry of National Education and Youth
In October 2020, the theme of business school week was Partners to build the future of young people.
Apprenticeship/FIPA
FIPA published a guide for interested companies in the process of creating/transforming their own apprentice training centre (CFA)
IVET/Ministry of National Education and Youth
The first event, School-Business university for training and professional integration, was held in October 2021. It brought together 1 500 participants and 40 speakers: social partners, CEOs, HR managers, international experts, region and education authorities to construct effective responses for the training and the professional integration of young people as part of the economic recovery. The cooperation between the Ministry of Education and the Mouvement des Entreprises de France (employers' organisation representing French companies) was renewed on this occasion to better align the expectations of the younger generations with those of the socioeconomic world, as well as the needs for skills within the regions. The aim is to encourage the immersion of teachers in companies through 5 000 internship offers per year, to support 1 000 capstone projects each year, to be involved annually in 100 projects to support the entrepreneurship of upper secondary VET learners and to deploy trades and qualifications campuses.
The library of resources and ideas for capstone projects (la bibliothèque de ressources et d'idées pour la réalisation du chef-d'œuvre, BRIO) supports the teaching teams and learners with pooling ideas and carrying out the capstone projects included in all upper secondary VET programmes leading to the professional skills certificate (CAP) and the vocational baccalaureate qualifications. The platform lists some 400 projects proposed by 1 000 teachers.
Apprenticeship/FIPA
FIPA published its guide for international mobility of apprentices (apprenticeship and professionalisation contracts). This guide is intended to speed up mobility pathways, by presenting the regulatory framework and the funding available.
IVET/Ministry of National Education and Youth
Regarding IVET, following developments can be mentioned: The School-Business Week was organised under the auspices of the Ministry of National Education and Youth. This initiative is an opportunity to raise awareness among secondary school students about the world of business and careers. The theme chosen for the 2022 edition was: 'France 2030: putting young people and businesses at the heart of the process of developing skills'. Among the issues to be addressed by the France 2030 plan are the economic and ecological transformations underway in the world of manufacturing, as well as the issues of skills and initial training. Collaboration between schools and companies focuses on areas such as career guidance, the acquisition of vocational and life skills and facilitating the integration of pupils into the workforce.
Each year, the programme reaches more than 200 000 students thanks to the involvement of 19 000 teachers and more than 11 000 companies throughout the country.
Apprenticeship/FIPA
In 2022, with the supervision and support of FIPA there were 70 company CFAs (Apprentice Training Centre) in operation. The foundation also supports number of projects, including LOTUS, run by the company Véolia, aimed at integrating refugees into the workforce.
In 2023, the FIPA (Fondation innovations pour les apprentissages) reported that its member companies employed 60 000 young people in apprenticeship programmes. As an illustration of the actions undertaken, the Nuit Des Loups-Garous, an entrepreneurial acculturation event structured as a hackathon for apprentices, which had gathered 100 participants in 2022, expanded to 200 participants in 2023.
The FIPA has renewed its apprenticeship passport (passeport apprentissage) initiative. This pre-training programme, lasting 4 to 6 weeks in apprenticeship training centres (CFA) affiliated to companies, enables young people to discover a profession, learn about a company, and explore training opportunities, often leading to an apprenticeship contract. In 2022 and 2023, 865 young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs), benefited from this programme, with the majority (74%) of them having below-baccalaureate (EQF level 4) qualifications. Three months after completing the programme, 70% of participants advanced to an apprenticeship contract or another scheme for professional integration.
The establishment in each IVET school of a liaison office with local businesses, initiated in 2023/24, continued in 2024.
Some companies co-finance projects alongside the region and the State that address concrete skills challenges linked to the attractiveness, professional integration, and training offer in the industry sectors. Among the most significant examples is the online platform 'Forindustrie, the extraordinary universe', financed by Industries Méditerranée, EDF, and the Union of Industries and Trades of Metallurgy (UIMM), in collaboration with the Campus of Excellence in Future Industry. It is the first metaverse platform dedicated to vocational careers. It offers a video game, an engaging and collaborative way for lower and upper secondary lerners, along with their teachers, to explore the various careers in the industry across France.
Addressing IVET teacher training needs in the regions
The Cefpep training centre (Centre d'études et de formation en partenariat avec les entreprises et les professions, Cefpep) is tasked with co-designing continuous training actions for education personnel in local académies, alongside economic partners, including businesses, associations, foundations, and public organisations. Renamed Cefpep 2030 in 2024, it is specifically supporting the reform of the vocational pathway in upper secondary schools, by allowing IVET teachers to:
- establish direct connections with the economic sector to keep their technical and professional knowledge aligned with innovations and skills needs in local industries;
- stimulate interdisciplinary pedagogical projects and local initiatives, particularly those driven by educational collectives within the campuses of trades and qualifications;
- access a minimum of one training opportunity in a business or a campus every three years.
The Cefpep initiative meets the need for national coordination and fosters partnership relationships at local level, aligning with the evolution of the training landscape and the skills development necessary in emerging sectors. In 2024, over 10 000 training days in businesses were available to teachers to enhance their professional competences.
During 2024, new training offer for education staff was initiated by the national network of campuses of trades and qualifications in collaboration with large companies. The programme is coordinated by the EAFC network of in-service training centres for national education staff (écoles académiques de la formation continue, EAFC). The EAFC centres disseminate these training proposals to the school teachers and education personnel and facilitate enrolment based on the needs in each académie (education district). The programme uses an inverted pedagogy approach and is developed in collaboration with industrial partners, including Exxotest, Renault, Renault Trucks, Volkswagen, and ANFA (the national association for training in the automobile service sector). It is funded by France 2030 to train 2 000 teachers.
Bodies responsible
- Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research
- Delegate Minister for VET under the education and labour ministers
- Ministry of National Education and Youth (until 2024)
- 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)
Education professionals
- Teachers
Entities providing VET
- Companies
- Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
- VET providers (all kinds)
Other stakeholders
- Social partners (employer organisations and trade unions)
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 to the integration of VET into economic, industrial, innovation, social and employment strategies, including those linked to recovery, green and digital transitions, and where VET is seen as a driver for innovation and growth. It includes national, regional, sectoral strategic documents or initiatives that make VET an integral part of broader policies, or applying a mix of policies to address an issue VET is part of, e.g. in addressing youth unemployment measures through VET, social and active labour market policies that are implemented in combination. National skill strategies aiming at quality and inclusive lifelong learning also fall into this sub-category.
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 focuses on developing and updating all kinds of learning resources and materials, both for learners and for teachers and trainers (e.g. teachers handbooks or manuals), to embrace current and evolving content and modes of learning. These activities target all kinds of formats: hard copy and digital publications, learning websites and platforms, tools for learner self-assessment of progress, ICT-based simulators, virtual and augmented reality, etc.
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.
Subsystem
Further reading
Country
Type of development
Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Education-economy cooperation in VET: France. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2024 update) [Online tool].
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/28220