Coherent data infrastructure for skills provision

Policy development
Practical measure/Initiative
Sweden
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Timeline
  • 2021Design
  • 2022Design
  • 2023Design
  • 2024Design
ID number
41022

Background

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

The government mission to develop a coherent data infrastructure for competence provision and lifelong learning is part of the national strategy for increased access to data. A cohesive data infrastructure aims to support societal development through to lead to increased competitiveness and thereby contribute to growth as well as maintained or increased welfare.

Objectives

Goals and objectives of the policy development.

The objective is to promote efficient skills provision and lifelong learning in the long term and facilitate transition to the labour market. The aim of the initiatives included in the assignment is to reinforce the conditions for authorities and other actors to create and provide digital services that strengthen individuals' positions in the labour market while meeting the skills needs of the private and public sectors.

Description

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

In June 2021, the government gave several national authorities involved in education and employment the mission to develop digital services that provide data about education and the labour market, as well as to establish forms for the management of a coherent data infrastructure for the provision of skills and lifelong learning. These authorities shall jointly investigate the conditions for, and begin work on, developing common concepts or translation keys between existing conceptual structures in education and the labour market with the aim of facilitating the development of validation, matching and guidance services. The new conceptual structure can be used as a bridge between different classifications to describe competences and competence requirements such as Sweden's Qualifications Framework (SeQF), Standard for Swedish Professional Classification (SSYK2012), Swedish Education Nomenclature (SUN), Standard for Swedish Industry Classification (SNI) and the European Classification of Skills, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO). Target groups for the measure are teachers, VET providers and guidance practitioners who can increase opportunities for individuals and reduce mismatch in the labour market.

The authorities involved are: the Swedish Public Employment Service, the National Agency for Education, the Swedish Agency for Higher Vocational Education, the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Council for Higher...

In June 2021, the government gave several national authorities involved in education and employment the mission to develop digital services that provide data about education and the labour market, as well as to establish forms for the management of a coherent data infrastructure for the provision of skills and lifelong learning. These authorities shall jointly investigate the conditions for, and begin work on, developing common concepts or translation keys between existing conceptual structures in education and the labour market with the aim of facilitating the development of validation, matching and guidance services. The new conceptual structure can be used as a bridge between different classifications to describe competences and competence requirements such as Sweden's Qualifications Framework (SeQF), Standard for Swedish Professional Classification (SSYK2012), Swedish Education Nomenclature (SUN), Standard for Swedish Industry Classification (SNI) and the European Classification of Skills, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO). Target groups for the measure are teachers, VET providers and guidance practitioners who can increase opportunities for individuals and reduce mismatch in the labour market.

The authorities involved are: the Swedish Public Employment Service, the National Agency for Education, the Swedish Agency for Higher Vocational Education, the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Council for Higher Education, Statistics Sweden, the Swedish Agency for Digital Administration and the Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems (below the authorities).

2021
Design

In 2021, the national authorities involved further investigated the conditions for developing a coherent data infrastructure for skills provision and lifelong learning.

2022
Design

In 2022, the Swedish National Agency for Education has started to investigative in what way the steering documents could be linked to external qualification frameworks.

2023
Design

In 2023, the Swedish National Agency for Education continue the work to investigative in what way the steering documents could be linked to external qualification frameworks.

2024
Design

In 2024, the Swedish National Agency for Education continue the work to investigative in what way the steering documents could be linked to external qualification frameworks.

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.
  • Public employment service (PES)
  • National Agency for Education
  • National Agency for Higher VET
  • Swedish Research Council

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.

Education professionals

  • Teachers
  • Trainers
  • School leaders
  • Adult educators
  • Guidance practitioners

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.

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.

European priorities in VET

EU priorities in VET and LLL are set in the Council Recommendation for VET for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience, adopted on 24 November 2020 and in the Osnabrück Declaration on VET endorsed on 30 November 2020.

Osnabrück Declaration

  • Resilience and excellence through quality, inclusive and flexible VET

Subsystem

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

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. (2025). Coherent data infrastructure for skills provision: 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/41022