Tracking system for IVET graduates

Policy development
Practical measure/Initiative
Sweden
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Timeline
  • 2017Implementation
  • 2018Implementation
  • 2019Implementation
  • 2020Completed
ID number
28528

Background

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

The National Agency for Education is regulated by government instruction to follow up and analyse the transition of young people from upper secondary education to the workforce and/or further education. The data are collected by Statistics Sweden (SCB), which combines a range of sources, such as the population register, social security register, register on education achievements, unemployment register and tax register.

Objectives

Goals and objectives of the policy development.

The objective is to evaluate and follow up the transition of VET graduates to the labour market.

Description

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

The National Agency for Education developed an extensive graduate tracking system to follow up what VET learners and apprentices do after completion of a VET programme, providing in-depth analyses of transition from school to working life. The knowledge gained feeds into planning at both national and local level. Data were collected two years after graduation and were processed during the reporting period. In November 2017, the first statistical data and a report were made available on the first learner cohort that graduated from the reformed upper secondary VET programmes in 2014. The analysis looked at learners’ transition one year after graduation. In November 2018, a new report was published based on data of students who graduated in 2016. The graduate tracking system is continuously being further developed.

2017
Implementation
2018
Implementation
2019
Implementation

In 2019 the graduate tracking system is in place.

2020
Completed

In April 2020, the first report 'Statistics on upper secondary education 2020' (Uppföljning av gymnasieskolan 2020) was published on the website of the National Agency for Education, presenting data on graduate tracking three years after graduation from upper secondary VET programmes. This report will be published from now onwards on an annual basis.

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

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.

Establishing and developing skills intelligence systems

High-quality and timely skills intelligence is a powerful policy tool, helping improve economic competitiveness and fostering social progress and equality through the provision of targeted skills training to all citizens (Cedefop, 2020). Skills intelligence is the outcome of an expert-driven process of identifying, analysing, synthesising and presenting quantitative and/or qualitative skills and labour market information. Skills intelligence draws on data from multiple sources, such as graduate tracking systems, skills anticipation mechanisms, including at sectoral and regional levels. Actions related to establishing and developing such systems fall under this thematic sub-category.

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.
Website of the National Agency for Education- information and pdf summary to download (results of 2015 graduates) - (in Swedish)
Follow-up of upper secondary school 2020
Follow-up of upper secondary school 2022
Follow-up of upper secondary school 2023 (uppfoljning av gymnasieskolan 2023)
Pupils in upper secondary school 2024

Country

Sweden

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. (2026). Tracking system for IVET graduates: Sweden. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2026). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2025 update) [Online tool].

https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/28528