From initial vocational qualifications to working life

– Evaluation of employment support as well as career planning and workplace skills

Paperisia ihmishahmoja ympyrässä. — Image: Silentgunman/Shutterstock

The evaluation produced evidence on the current situation of employment after vocational education and on how employment can be supported during initial vocational qualification programmes. In addition, the evaluation identified good practices nationally and internationally.

For the evaluation, a national evaluation group and an international expert panel were established. The national evaluation group examined skills and labour force needs anticipation in working life, the labour-market relevance of education, and how students’ work-life skills and employment opportunities can be supported, and it provided development recommendations based on the evaluation. The international expert panel, in turn, reviewed Finnish initial VET qualifications in an international context and presented its key observations, as well as examples from other countries to promote employment. The evaluation was carried out in 2024–2026.

Evaluation reports were published on 5 May 2026

Press release: Conditions for employment need to be strengthened in VET leading to an initial vocational qualification
Report of the national evaluation group: From initial vocational qualifications to working life – Evaluation of employment support as well as career planning and workplace skills (in Finnish, summary in English)
Report of the international expert panel: Transitions from Initial Vocational Education and Training Qualifications to Working Life in Finland – Observations and Reflections from an International Expert Panel

Materials from the launch webinar

Presentations:

FINEEC’s presentation and a comment speech from the Ministry of Education and Culture (partly in English, partly in Finnish)
Lappia’s comment speech (in Finnish)

Recording:

Webinar recording (available until 22 May 2026)

Previously published as part of the evaluation

First results of the evaluation

The first results of the evaluation shed light on the connection between vocational education and working life from different perspectives. The results address employers’ views on the skills of newly graduated young people, recruitment, and the alignment of education with labour market needs. In addition, they highlight graduates’ experiences of studies and employment among those who graduated between spring 2022 and spring 2024. The evaluation also examines VET providers’ assessments of anticipating labour market skill needs and using foresight data in planning the provision of vocational qualifications, as well as the views of teaching and guidance staff on supporting students’ work-readiness and guidance.

Press release: How does VET support competence and employment? – Initial results of FINEEC’s evaluation

Explore the results here:

In addition, we have published good practices from VET providers to support students’ employment:

Good practices from VET providers to support students’ employment (in Finnish)

Employment of VET graduates

Look at the recent overview, which examines the employment, unemployment and other placement after graduation of vocational education and training (VET) graduates. The overview is based on placement data from 2009–2021 obtained from Vipunen, and examines placement in relation to field of education, qualification completion method, the age and mother tongue of graduates and factors related to the education provider.