Within Higher Vocational Education (HVET), which has a mixed character between vocational and higher education, often tools which were designed for higher education are used for quality control - meaning that either apprenticeships fall entirely out of the purview of the QA system or that they are ill adapted for use within it. In fact, no proposal currently exists on how European Higher Vocational Institutions may adapt their internal quality systems to ensure proper supervision and control of apprenticeships, or even what a minimum level of quality for an apprenticeship should entail. Thus, the project is designed to complement exist tools for coordinating quality in educational institutions, in particular EQAVET, and in certain cases the ESGs by proposing cross-based methods for ensuring quality apprenticeships. There is a lack of experiences, concepts and vision how to leverage the potential of practice and work-based learning for the field of VET which needs to be addressed through comprehensive quality criteria in order to given guidance and orientation how to structure those parts of VET which take part in the world of work. ApprenticeshipQ will: • provide a clear framework for quality management of apprenticeships at the system, provider and company levels ensuring systematic feedback • foster mutual trust and respect through regular cooperation and better quality management between the apprenticeship partners • ensure the content of HVET programmes is responsive to changing skill needs in companies and society • ensure fair, valid, and authentic assessment of learning outcomes in apprenticeships • support the continuous professional development of in-company trainers and improving their working conditions It will do this by: • identifying and analysing different forms of apprenticeships and work-based learning to design and test a typology of apprenticeships • identifying the strategic goals of the main stakeholders involved in HVET to inform quality management • identifying the factors that stakeholders consider essential for QM within the strategic partnership providing a set of best-practice examples for QM at education institutions and at training/placement sites • identifying QM success factors and best practices in different education institutions, in different industry sectors This knowledge will be made useful for target groups including institutions, enterprises and students by creating: • an institutional quality management framework for apprenticeships • an online-assessment tool for quality management • an apprenticeships QM Manual for educational institutions containing instruments, methods and tools they can work with to develop a joint quality culture between themselves and small and medium enterprises • an apprenticeships QM Manual for enterprises containing instruments, methods and tools they can work with to develop a joint quality culture between themselves and educational organizations The project will consult extensively with stakeholders to forge consensus in the field, including by organising: • Workshops in 6 countries involving more than 300 QM experts, other expert stakeholders from training and education site • Field test in 6 countries involving more than 300 employers, quality managers, trainer and teachers, HVET institutions, etc. • Survey in 6 countries involving more than 1.200 employers, QM person responsible from the placement as well as the HVET institution site, teachers and trainers Through the involvement of chambers of commerce, standardization bodies and associations of European institutions of Higher VET in the project, ApprenticeshipQ has the potential to reach a wide impact, and ensure uptake of its processes amongst both enterprises and HVET institutions. This in turn will lead to improved quality management and hence improved quality of apprenticeships in Higher VET around Europe, which should in turn increase the attractiveness of HVET as an educational pathway.
The project “Mainstreaming Procedures for Quality Apprenticeships in Educational Organisations and Enterprises” (ApprenticeshipQ) wanted to support educational institutions and placement providers to offer high-quality education to their apprentices. The project’s proposed assessment of quality has made these processes more manageable and will benefit all stakeholders. These benefits include lifelong learning for teachers, professors and tutors, enhancements for placement providers, improvement of apprentice’s skills development and overall higher quality of the learning experience. Quality is key to assuring positive outcomes for all stakeholders involved and this project therefore focused on approaches to securing and developing high quality apprenticeships that will in turn help foster stronger collaborations between employers, providers and students. However, experiences, concepts and vision on how to leverage the potential of practice and work-based learning (WBL) for the field of HVET was lacking. The project addressed this issue through comprehensive quality criteria to give guidance and orientation on how to structure those parts of HVET which take part in the world of work. In fact, no proposal existed on how European Higher Vocational Institutions may adapt their internal quality systems to ensure proper supervision and control of apprenticeships, or even what a minimum level of quality for an apprenticeship should entail. The intention of the ApprenticeshipQ project was to: develop an ApprenticeshipQ toolkit, which provides a clear framework for quality management of apprenticeships at organisations, particularly educational institutions and placement providers, ensuring systematic feedback; foster mutual trust and respect through regular cooperation and better quality management between the apprenticeship partners; ensure the content of HVET programmes is responsive to changing skill needs in companies and society; ensure fair, valid, and authentic assessment of learning outcomes in apprenticeships; support the continuous professional development of in-company trainers and improving their working conditions. The ApprenticeshipQ toolkit was developed by: identifying and analysing different forms of apprenticeships and work-based learning to design and test a typology of apprenticeships; identifying the strategic goals of the main stakeholders involved in HVET to inform quality management; identifying the factors that stakeholders consider essential for QM within the strategic partnership; providing a set of best-practice examples for QM at education institutions and at placement provider sites; identifying quality criteria including their measurement indicators in different education institutions and various industry sectors. This knowledge was applied for target groups including educational institutions, placement providers and apprentices by creating the ApprenticeshipQ toolkit, consisting of: an institutional quality management framework for apprenticeships; an online-assessment tool for quality management; an apprenticeships QM manual for educational institutions containing instruments, methods and tools they can work with to develop a joint quality culture between themselves and small and medium enterprises; an apprenticeships QM manual for enterprises containing instruments, methods and tools they can work with to develop a joint quality culture between themselves and educational organizations. a harmonisation and translation guide with policy recommendations. To test, validate form consensus in the field the project consulted extensively with stakeholders by organising: Workshops in 6 countries involving more than 500 QM experts and other expert stakeholders from the training and education site; Field tests in 6 countries involving more than 300 employers, quality managers, trainer and teachers, HVET institutions, etc.; Surveys, interviews and presentations in 6 countries involving more than 1.300 employers, QM person responsible for the placement as well as the HVET institution site, teachers and trainers. Through the involvement of chambers of commerce, standardization bodies and associations of European institutions of Higher VET in the project, ApprenticeshipQ reached a wide impact, and ensured the inclusion of its processes amongst both placement providers and educational institutions. This in turn led to an enhanced quality management and hence improved quality of apprenticeships in Higher VET around Europe, which is going to increase the attractiveness of HVET as an educational pathway thus enhancing the employability of apprentices and students.