In 2019, the vocational education and training statistics recorded almost 68 000 successfully-completed diplomas. With 90%, the greatest proportion of diplomas were federal VET diplomas. The federal VET certificates represented almost 10% of qualifications.
Training type | 2000 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2019 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 60 164 | 59 774 | 68 154 | 69 668 | 68 011 |
Male | 32 128 | 33 151 | 37 620 | 37 835 | 37 726 |
Female | 28 036 | 26 623 | 30 534 | 31 833 | 30 285 |
Federal VET diplomas | 50 386 | 52 183 | 59 367 | 63 384 | 61 252 |
Male | 28 973 | 29 869 | 33 180 | 34 341 | 33 779 |
Female | 21 413 | 22 314 | 26 187 | 29 043 | 27 473 |
Trade Certificates | 2 241 | 2 826 | 2 897 | 2 | . |
Male | 913 | 1 221 | 1 450 | . | . |
Female | 1 328 | 1 605 | 1 447 | 2 | . |
Federal VET Certificates | . | 94 | 3 690 | 5 917 | 6 707 |
Male | . | 81 | 1 883 | 3 243 | 3 933 |
Female | . | 13 | 1 807 | 2 674 | 2 774 |
Certificates of Basic Vocational Education | 2 081 | 2 526 | 1 174 | 270 | . |
Male | 1 453 | 1 719 | 907 | 222 | . |
Female | 628 | 807 | 267 | 48 | . |
VET diplomas (other professions) | 5 456 | 2 145 | 1 026 | 95 | 52 |
Male | 789 | 261 | 200 | 29 | 14 |
Female | 4 667 | 1 884 | 826 | 66 | 38 |
Data as of: April 2020
Vocational education and training (VET) mainly occurs according to the dual system which combines in-company training (practical part) and a vocational school (theoretical part and general education). It can also take place in full-time school in a small number of cases. VET is completed with the Federal VET Certificate after two years or the Federal VET Diploma after three to four years.
As recently as 2000, the share of VET diplomas was about 85%; the VET certificates had not been introduced yet. Between 2000 and 2019, the other categories decreased considerably. These changes can be explained by the fact that the Federal Vocational and Professional Education and Training Act (VPETA) has been extended to include the fields of agriculture and healthcare. Furthermore, education at the upper-secondary level trade schools was henceforth completely integrated into the vocational education training, and since 2014 graduates leave with a VET diploma. The decline in the certificates of basic vocational education is due to their gradual replacement by the federal VET certificates.
Almost half of the qualifications in vocational education and training are awarded in the fields of Business and administration (commercial occupations), Wholesale and retail sales, Building and civil engineering, Nursing and midwifery as well as Mechanics and metal trades. Although gender distribution is fairly even for the first two fields, Building and Mechanics and metal trades are clearly male-dominated, whereas Nursing is female-dominated.
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