e2a72ced8463706df2bdac19413ec94c information-16-01037.pdf 4e7640bf0913d6570a6beb17e1952c45963d7f2d information-16-01037.pdf ccc0439a1165e54e1cd56ce18f376d0bd22fa332bcb7e8be694863e9a1c7c8f2 information-16-01037.pdf Title: Vocational Education and Training in the European Union: A Data-Driven Comparative Analysis Subject: Vocational education and training (VET) is a strategic driver of national education and skills development systems. It covers both Initial VET (IVET), which provides young people with vocational qualifications before they enter the labor market, and Continuing VET (CVET), which supports adults in updating or expanding their skills throughout their working lives. VET provides individuals with essential skills for employment and supports economies in adapting to technological, labor market, and social changes. Within the European Union (EU), VET plays a central role in addressing labor market transformation, the green and digital transitions, the rise of artificial intelligence, and the pursuit of social equity. This paper presents a data-driven analysis of VET in the EU countries. It reviews the relevant literature and outlines the role of Cedefop, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, together with its main VET performance indicators. The analysis draws on publicly available Cedefop data on key VET indicators, filtered for reliability and systematically processed to ensure robust results. This research focuses on a selected set of key indicators covering participation in IVET at upper- and post-secondary levels, adult participation in both formal and non-formal learning, government and enterprise expenditure on training, the gender employment gap, and adult employment rates. These indicators are derived from Cedefop data spanning the period 2010–2024, with coverage varying across indicators. This study applies descriptive analysis to identify outlier countries, correlation analysis to explore relationships between indicators, and cluster analysis to group countries with similar VET profiles. It also compares the largest EU countries using common indicators. The results suggest key patterns, differences, and connections in VET performance across EU countries, offering insights for policy development and future research in VET. Keywords: vocational education and training; European Union; data analytics; key performance indicators Author: Alicia Vila, Laura Calvet, Josep Prieto and Angel A. Juan Creator: LaTeX with hyperref Producer: pdfTeX-1.40.25; modified using OpenPDF 1.4.2 CreationDate: Thu Nov 27 14:13:39 2025 CET ModDate: Thu Nov 27 14:23:47 2025 CET Custom Metadata: yes Metadata Stream: no Tagged: no UserProperties: no Suspects: no Form: none JavaScript: no Pages: 19 Encrypted: no Page size: 595.276 x 841.89 pts (A4) Page rot: 0 File size: 438336 bytes Optimized: no PDF version: 1.7 name type encoding emb sub uni object ID ------------------------------------ ----------------- ---------------- --- --- --- --------- TFGRKW+URWPalladioL-Roma Type 1 Custom yes yes yes 97 0 RKVHPX+URWPalladioL-Ital Type 1 Custom yes yes yes 98 0 NOUJTB+URWPalladioL-Bold Type 1 Custom yes yes yes 99 0 TZFXMP+SFTT1000 Type 1 Custom yes yes yes 218 0 SYFPBV+CMMI10 Type 1 Builtin yes yes yes 243 0 NTUNUC+CMSY10 Type 1 Builtin yes yes yes 244 0 JHYTSG+CMR10 Type 1 Builtin yes yes yes 245 0 Jhove (Rel. 1.28.0, 2023-05-18) Date: 2026-02-13 04:39:46 CET RepresentationInformation: information-16-01037.pdf ReportingModule: PDF-hul, Rel. 1.12.4 (2023-03-16) LastModified: 2026-02-12 13:34:59 CET Size: 438336 Format: PDF Version: 1.7 Status: Well-Formed and valid SignatureMatches: PDF-hul MIMEtype: application/pdf PDFMetadata: Objects: 359 FreeObjects: 1 IncrementalUpdates: 0 DocumentCatalog: ViewerPreferences: HideToolbar: false HideMenubar: false HideWindowUI: false FitWindow: true CenterWindow: false DisplayDocTitle: false NonFullScreenPageMode: UseNone Direction: L2R ViewArea: CropBox ViewClip: CropBox PrintArea: CropBox PageClip: CropBox PageLayout: SinglePage PageMode: UseNone Outlines: Item: Title: Introduction Item: Title: Literature Review Item: Title: The Cedefop Key Performance Indicators on VET Item: Title: Processing and Quality Assessment of VET Data Item: Title: Descriptive Analysis: Insights in VET Data Item: Title: Correlation Analysis: Exploring VET Trends Item: Title: Exploring VET Data Through Cluster Analysis Item: Title: Comparing VET Trends in the Five Largest EU27 Countries Item: Title: Conclusions Item: Title: Appendix A Item: Title: References Info: Title: Vocational Education and Training in the European Union: A Data-Driven Comparative Analysis Author: Alicia Vila, Laura Calvet, Josep Prieto and Angel A. Juan Subject: Vocational education and training (VET) is a strategic driver of national education and skills development systems. It covers both Initial VET (IVET), which provides young people with vocational qualifications before they enter the labor market, and Continuing VET (CVET), which supports adults in updating or expanding their skills throughout their working lives. VET provides individuals with essential skills for employment and supports economies in adapting to technological, labor market, and social changes. Within the European Union (EU), VET plays a central role in addressing labor market transformation, the green and digital transitions, the rise of artificial intelligence, and the pursuit of social equity. This paper presents a data-driven analysis of VET in the EU countries. It reviews the relevant literature and outlines the role of Cedefop, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, together with its main VET performance indicators. The analysis draws on publicly available Cedefop data on key VET indicators, filtered for reliability and systematically processed to ensure robust results. This research focuses on a selected set of key indicators covering participation in IVET at upper- and post-secondary levels, adult participation in both formal and non-formal learning, government and enterprise expenditure on training, the gender employment gap, and adult employment rates. These indicators are derived from Cedefop data spanning the period 2010–2024, with coverage varying across indicators. This study applies descriptive analysis to identify outlier countries, correlation analysis to explore relationships between indicators, and cluster analysis to group countries with similar VET profiles. It also compares the largest EU countries using common indicators. The results suggest key patterns, differences, and connections in VET performance across EU countries, offering insights for policy development and future research in VET. 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