Tracer studies for VET: supporting their creation and implementation – VET Toolbox

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Tracer studies for VET: supporting their creation and implementation

Tracer Studies for VET

This document and the accompanying sample tracer study are designed for those involved in VET either at a system or institutional level. It is intended to support those who are seeking to improve their understanding of the efficacy of training courses by conducting tracer studies.

The best way to improve VET systems and support the objectives they contribute to is to understand the effectiveness of current training and the specific gaps, challenges and opportunities, and then, take action based on this evidence. Too often, however, this evidential base is inconsistent and inadequate.

Where resources are limited and systems have high degrees of informality, information on the effectiveness of training – including on what happens with graduates after the training – is often not available. A comprehensive tracking of learners is needed to see if the training led to the envisaged success. Therefore, it presents a need for more agile tools to accurately provide an evidential base upon which value judgements and decisions can be made.

A tracer study is one mechanism that can be used to this effect. It is simply a survey of learners after they have finished their training. Tracer studies can be used to better understand the effectiveness of training, both for employers and learners. This guide and the accompanying template will assist those policy makers and training institutions seeking to use tracer studies as an effective evidence-gathering mechanism, and ultimately help to improve their decision making.

Would you like to know more?

Download the full guide for free on this page or send us an email to info@vettoolbox.eu.

Request-based technical support (2017-2022)

We offered technical assistance through short-term interventions that build VET system capacities.

Between 2017 and 2022, VET Toolbox successfully implemented technical interventions in eligible countries. Each intervention, requested by public authorities, social partners, and private institutions, has placed an emphasis on providing expertise to support systemic change, through capacity-building key stakeholders, developing tools, and advising on strategic planning.

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Assistance technique sur demande (2017-2022)

Depuis 2017, VET Toolbox a mis en œuvre avec succès des interventions techniques dans les pays éligibles. Chaque intervention, demandée par les autorités publiques, les partenaires sociaux et les institutions privées, a mis l'accent sur la fourniture d'une expertise pour soutenir un changement systémique, en renforçant les capacités des parties prenantes clés, en développant des outils et en conseillant sur la planification stratégique.

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Supporting the positive effects of European investments (2020-2024)

We implement opportunity-driven actions in 11 Sub-Saharan African countries accompanying European investments to help improve local benefits (e.g., jobs, income, local value chains) by addressing the skills gap.

We deliver demand-driven skills development and VET, catering to investment needs in selected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, through targeted skills development and VET programmes.

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Funding of innovative pilot projects (2017-2022)

We funded 11 pilot projects that promote inclusion of disadvantages groups in VET.

They focused on youth experiencing or at risk of exclusion, such as women (including young mothers), youth exposed to violence or extremist groups or with a criminal background, internally displaced people and returnees, youth from the poorest households and rural/remote areas, youth with (complex) disabilities, and other vulnerable and disadvantaged people.

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Actions axées sur les opportunités : des investissements de l’UE aux opportunités d’emploi (2020-2024)

Nous menons des actions de développement des compétences et de formation professionnelle axées sur la demande, répondant aux besoins d’investissement dans certains pays d’Afrique subsaharienne, par le biais de programmes ciblés de développement des compétences et de formation professionnelle.

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Financement de projets pilotes innovants (2017-2022)

Ils se sont concentrés sur les jeunes en situation d'exclusion ou à risque d'exclusion, tels que les femmes (y compris les jeunes mères), les jeunes exposés à la violence ou à des groupes extrémistes ou ayant un passé criminel, les personnes déplacées à l'intérieur du pays et les rapatriés, les jeunes des ménages les plus pauvres et des zones rurales/éloignées, les jeunes ayant des handicaps (complexes) et d'autres personnes vulnérables et défavorisées.

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Twinning and mentoring partnerships (2019-2022)

LuxDev and the British Council are working to support the development of TVET in different countries through various partnership agreements. As part of VET Toolbox, LuxDev used a South-South approach to match countries with similar contexts and improve the management of vocational training centres, focusing on public-private collaboration to improve the quality and relevance of training. The British Council set up intercontinental Mentoring Partnerships, bringing together local institutions with a UK TVET college, to focus on employer engagement and bring training programmes closer to the needs of industry.

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Partenariats de jumelage et de mentorat (2019-2022)

LuxDev et le British Council travaillent pour soutenir le développement de l'EFTP dans différents pays à travers des accords de partenariat. Dans le cadre de VET Toolbox, LuxDev a utilisé une approche Sud-Sud pour mettre en relation des pays présentant des contextes similaires et améliorer la gestion des centres de formation professionnelle, en se concentrant sur la collaboration public-privé pour améliorer la qualité et la pertinence de la formation. Le British Council a mis en place des partenariats de mentorat intercontinentaux, mettant en lien des institutions locales avec un collège britannique d'EFTP, pour se concentrer sur l'engagement des employeurs et rapprocher les programmes de formation des besoins de l'industrie.

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