Apprenticeships: a key vocational education and training (VET) pathway

Apprenticeships are a cornerstone of vocational education and training (VET) systems across Europe. They combine company-based training with school-based education, and lead to a nationally recognised qualification when completed. Apprentices work under the guidance of experienced professionals while receiving formal education in their field. This dual approach ensures that apprentices gain practical skills and also understand the theoretical aspects of their trade or profession.

Unlike educational paths that require full-time study and personal costs, apprenticeships offer a salary or other compensation which enables individuals to support themselves financially while learning and also reduces the economic burden of their education.

Launched in 2013, the European Alliance for Apprenticeships (EAfA) is a platform that aims to strengthen the quality, supply and image of apprenticeships, as well as the mobility of apprentices in Europe and beyond. Today, EAfA includes 40 countries and more than 450 members, and provides practical information and knowledge exchange on apprenticeships. Since 2013, companies, employers and intermediaries working with EAfA have pledged to provide over 2.5 million apprenticeship opportunities to young people.

For more information, you can join the Alliance by filling in the online pledge form, and you can stay updated with the latest news through the EAfA LinkedIn group.

The value of human skills in a digital world

Technological revolutions such as artificial intelligence (AI) are increasing the digitalisation of many fields of work. This requires workers to have digital competences to succeed, but it can also give more value to human skills and competences that cannot easily be automated. Transversal skills, also referred to as ‘soft skills’, ‘human skills’ or ‘21st-century skills’, encompass critical thinking, problem solving and teamwork, among others, and can help employers and workers adapt to transformative changes in the labour market.

Digital competences are increasingly seen as transversal rather than just technical, and digital literacy is becoming a key focus in apprenticeships by integrating digital, cognitive and social skills that are defined and tailored to a specific occupation. They help workers become more adaptable to changes in the labour market, such as those brought on by the digital and green transition. Defining the relevant transversal skills is key to setting standards to develop and assess them.

Autonomy and ownership of the learning path and career

Apprentices can benefit from guidance services (also known as career counselling or vocational guidance) that help them to make educational, training and occupational choices.

Targeted guidance efforts that assess learners’ skills and preferences can:

• help them find their talents – learners may not be aware of all their skills and how they might relate to possible apprenticeships or employment;
• promote social inclusion by helping disadvantaged learners to learn about different options;
• promote basic skills needed for both job-seeking and self-employment thereby increasing individuals’ autonomy and ownership of their own learning path.

In Belgium, the public employment service has a multilingual online career guidance system called My career where users can create an online portfolio to keep track of their competences and qualifications, from their student days through to their pensions. A comparable guidance system in Denmark, eGuidance, targets learners in secondary and tertiary education as well as adults seeking career management and skills development assistance.