Timeline
  • 2015Design
  • 2016Legislative process
  • 2017Approved/Agreed
  • 2018Pilot
  • 2019Pilot
  • 2020Pilot
  • 2021Pilot
  • 2022Pilot
  • 2023Discontinued
ID number
28524

Background

A brief overview of the context and rationale of the policy development, explaining why it is implemented or why it is important.

Upper secondary education provision is decentralised and VET schools tend to be small with few learners in each. It is, therefore, difficult for schools to offer courses in specialised VET fields in which there is a need for rarely used or costly equipment or facilities, or advanced skills needed to operate the equipment and facilities.

Objectives

Goals and objectives of the policy development.

The aim of the measure is to promote training programmes deemed to be difficult to offer in VET schools by providing the specialised parts of the VET education in a trade school. Trade schools are intended to gather learners from over the whole country to fill classes.

Description

What/How/Who/For whom/When of the policy development in detail, explaining its activities and annual progress, main actors and target groups.

A national commission of inquiry (Yrkesprogramsutredningen) in 2015 had already suggested establishing trade schools/industry schools for the provision of school-based training for upper secondary VET programmes in trades and industries that are too small, and have too few applicants, for VET institutions to have the required infrastructure to provide the related school-based training. A government proposal to parliament was approved in 2017. A total of 10 trade schools have been selected to pilot the measure between 2018 and 2023. An annual State grant of up to SEK 50 000 (about EUR 4 780) per learner has been made available to the trade schools.

2015
Design
2016
Legislative process
2017
Approved/Agreed
2018
Pilot
2019
Pilot

In 2019, the pilot phase is continuing.

2020
Pilot

In 2020, the pilot phase is continuing.

2021
Pilot

In 2021, the pilot phase is continuing.

2022
Pilot

In 2022, the pilot phase is continuing.

2023
Discontinued

In 2023, the pilot phase stopped and a final report was delivered to the government.

Bodies responsible

This section lists main bodies that are responsible for the implementation of the policy development or for its specific parts or activities, as indicated in the regulatory acts. The responsibilities are usually explained in its description.
  • National Agency for Education

Target groups

Those who are positively and directly affected by the measures of the policy development; those on the list are specifically defined in the EU VET policy documents. A policy development can be addressed to one or several target groups.

Learners

  • Learners in upper secondary, including apprentices
  • Young people (15-29 years old)

Entities providing VET

  • VET providers (all kinds)

Thematic categories

Thematic categories capture main aspects of the decision-making and operation of national VET and LLL systems. These broad areas represent key elements that all VET and LLL systems have to different extents and in different combinations, and which come into focus depending on the EU and national priorities. Thematic categories are further divided into thematic sub-categories. Based on their description, policy developments can be assigned to one or several 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.

Engaging VET stakeholders and strengthening partnerships in VET

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.

Subsystem

Part of the vocational education and training and lifelong learning systems the policy development applies to.
IVET

Further reading

Sources for further reading where readers can find more information on policy developments: links to official documents, dedicated websites, project pages. Some sources may only be available in national languages.

Country

Type of development

Policy developments are divided into three types: strategy/action plan; regulation/legislation; and practical measure/initiative.
Practical measure/Initiative
Cite as

Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Trade and industry schools offering training in low demand VET fields: Sweden. 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/28524