Tertiary vocational education in Europe - examples from six education systems

The tertiary education sector has observably been developing comparatively dynamically in recent years. Numerous European countries are introducing or expanding educational programmes that contain both vocational and academic elements, which in some cases also lead to the acquisition of double qualifications. On the basis of examples from England, France, Ireland, Norway, Austria and Poland the understanding of 'tertiary education', its structures and the relevance of work-based learning programmes are described. They are characterized by a combination of theoretical learning in an education institution and in-company learning periods. It becomes clear how strongly tertiary education is shaped by elements of vocational education while it is often misleadingly equated with higher education. Traditional arrangements and designs of vocational and academic education programmes often open up for the benefit of both sectors. However the different forms of vocational education in tertiary education - be it as important part in higher education programmes or in the sector of so-called higher vocational or professional education - often remains in the shade of the academic education. (Editor, BIBB-Doku)