National Reforms in Vocational Education and Training and Adult Learning

2021

Draft Law on the Organization and Integration of Vocational Training

In September 2021, the Council of Ministers approved the draft Law on the Organization and Integration of Vocational Training. In this last quarter of the year, its parliamentary proceedings will be carried out in both houses, Congress and Senate.

The text consolidates Vocational Training in a single system at the service of students and employed or unemployed workers. This new system will integrate the VET of the educational system and the VET for employment. 

The future Law will establish a unique, modular and flexible provision of Vocational Training aimed for the first time at students and workers (both employed and unemployed). It will be organized in training itineraries that allow progression through five ascending degrees: partial accreditation of competences (Grade A), Certificate of Professional Competence (Grade B), Professional Certificate (Grade C), Training Cycles (Grade D) and Specialization Courses (Grade E). 

The entire offer in cycles of Grades C, D and E will have a dual character and will be divided into two types:

• General Dual Vocational Training;
• Advanced Dual Vocational Training.

Regarding the accreditation of competencies, the new text also streamlines the system of accreditation of professional competencies acquired through work experience and non-formal training channels.

The draft Vocational Training Law regulates the relationship between Vocational Training and university education, promoting mutual recognition, such as higher education credits, to facilitate the establishment of training itineraries that recognize previously acquired training in both directions.

The draft law creates new management instruments for the new Vocational Training system:

• State Registry of Professional Training, which will allow any citizen to access it and obtain an updated training-professional life report with their training experience.
• Modular Catalogue of Professional Training, which will determine the professional modules linked to each of the competence standards.
• Catalogue of Professional Training Provision, which will determine the set of available training actions.
• Catalogue of Professional Competence Standards, which replaces the current National Catalogue of Professional Qualifications.

Likewise, other aspects that the draft law establishes are:

• the development of a general strategy for professional guidance within the framework of Vocational Training;
• the obligation for all centres to be registered in the State Register of Non-University Teaching Centres or in the Register of Professional Training Entities;
• the creation of a new body of specialist teachers in unique sectors of Vocational Training, which may be accessed by advanced vocational training technicians in certain specialties.
• the internationalization of vocational training through participation in international projects, in training projects between Spanish and foreign centres, as well as the mobility of students and teachers between centres in different countries.

Scholarships and study aid for the 2021/2022 school year

The budget for scholarships and study aid has increased by more than 128 million, to 2 038 million euros, in part to include the entry of new beneficiaries as a result of the crisis derived from the Covid-19 pandemic. It is the third consecutive year that its funding has increased. Since 2018, the budget has increased by 39.6% and the number of beneficiaries by 24.5%.

In the case of the general call for scholarships, the application submission deadlines are until September 30, 2021, inclusive, in the case of scholarships for non-university students.

All information on requirements, deadlines, amounts and procedures to be eligible for these scholarships and grants are available on the scholarship website of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MEFP) and the Ministry of Universities. The goal is to centralize the information and make it more accessible. 

According to the estimations of the MEFP and the Ministry of Universities, some 850 000 students will benefit from this call for general scholarships: 390 000 of them from university education and 460 000 from non-university education.

Strategic Plan for subsidies by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training 2021/2023

Last May 2021, the Minister of Education and Vocational Training (MEFP) approved the Strategic Plan for Subsidies 2021-2023, with the aim of helping the planning, execution and monitoring of the subsidies managed by the Ministry. This plan seeks to carry out a more effective, efficient, and transparent management. This plan consists of 8 strategic objectives, of which the following have an impact on vocational training education:

• Strategic objective 2: promote permanent training and mobility of teachers with subsides for courses and teacher training.
• Strategic objective 3: improve the quality of the education provision in Secondary Education and Vocational Training. Subsides will go, among other things, for awards for quality and innovation in guidance and Vocational Training, incentives for centres to participate in internationalization programmes, awards for Dual Vocational Training projects …
• Strategic objective 4: guarantee educational inclusion and quality education for all students by subsidizing to private non-profit entities for the performance of actions aimed at students needing special educational support, and compensation for inequalities in education.
• Strategic objective 5: guarantee equal opportunities in the exercise of the right to education with subsidies for National Awards for Advanced Vocational Training.
• Strategic objective 8: promote the learning of foreign languages with subsidies for the English Language Immersion Programmes.
  
   

New Organic Law on Education LOMLOE

On January 19, 2021, the Law on Education 3/2020 (LOMLOE) which amends Law 2/2006 became effective. Its coming into force has repealed Law 8/2013 for the improvement of educational quality.

This new law seeks to improve the social recognition of Vocational Training tracks to bring Spain closer to the rates of students who choose this path in the rest of the European countries. The main changes that this new law introduces in Vocational Training are the following:

1. Vocational Training is moving towards an integrated system, accessible and with a perspective throughout life. Specialization courses are incorporated.
2. Access and admission conditions are notably more flexible, establishing gateways with the rest of the educational system. Likewise, the processes for incorporating new content are expedited.
3. Students who pass a basic level degree training cycle will receive the ESO (Compulsory Secondary Education) graduate degree, which will allow them access to any post-compulsory education. Therefore, Basic Vocational Training integrates general and professional training.
4. The title of Professional Training Technician will allow access to both higher-level training cycles and Professional Education in Plastic Arts and Design.
5. In accordance with the principle of educational inclusion, basic level training cycles will be offered for students with specific special needs, and methodological and organizational adaptations for students with specific need for educational support.
6. Specific training programes may be organized for those over age 17 who left the educational system without qualification in order to allow them to obtain the Vocational Training title or an academic certification.
7. Integrated Vocational Training and Dual Vocational Training centres are promoted.

For more information, see

Urgent measures adopted in the area of non-university education for the 2020/2021 school year

The Council of Ministers, at the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training’s proposal, passed the Royal Decree-Law 31/2020 which includes, among others, the following measures:

1. Exceptionally and temporarily, the hiring of teachers who meet all the requirements but have not yet completed the specific master's degree in didactic and pedagogical training. In this way, a reinforcement of the staff has been made possible. This was necessary to guarantee the right to education in safety conditions during the 2020/2021 academic year. The coverage of these positions, of an exceptional and limited nature, may be carried out in the subjects in which the lists of applicants to the performance of temporary jobs, and of job seekers who are in possession of the aforementioned master's degree, are exhausted. The jobs created will be extinguished at the end of the academic year in which the reasons of urgent need that originated their creation disappear. Continuity in the exercise of teaching, as well as the eventual subsequent entry into the public function of those who have taught under these exceptional conditions will require that they be in possession of the aforementioned master's degree.
2. In order to facilitate the adaptation of the didactic programs to the decisions that are adopted regarding the presence of the students in the education centres, the nature of the assessable learning standards is given for guidance only. The evaluation, promotion and qualification criteria in Primary, Secondary and Bachillerato are also adapted so that the educational administrations may authorize their modification to better adapt them to the situation caused by the pandemic. The teaching teams will assess collectively and globally whether the objectives of each stage have been achieved or not.
3. End-of-stage evaluations of Primary and Compulsory Secondary Education are suppressed, as there are other sources of information on the educational performance of the students. Regarding the school calendar, school days will be considered all those in which attention and educational support is given to the students, either in person or remotely.

For more information, see Real Decreto-ley 31/2020, de 29 de septiembre, por el que se adoptan medidas urgentes en el ámbito de la educación no universitaria

Financing of the REACTIVAFP 20/21 plan and other programmes related to VET

The Council of Ministers, at the proposal of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MEFP), has approved an investment of 33 million euros for different educational programmes of territorial cooperation with the Autonomous Communities in the field of Vocational Training. These agreements were approved on October 21, 2020 by the General Committee of the Education Sectorial Conference.

This investment, distributed among the AACC, will go to the following programmes:

1. Evaluation and Accreditation of Professional Competences (3 481 170 euro)
2. Dual Vocational Training (9 000 000 euro)
3. Vocational Training Quality Actions of the Educational System (4 634 960 euros)
4. REACTIVAFP 20/21 Programme, within the actions to promote the quality of VET (10 583 870 euro)
5. Training, improvement and mobility initiatives for VET teachers (5 300 000 euro).

These funds are in addition to those provided for in the Plan for the Modernization of Vocational Training. The execution period is between September 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021, and its justification will be made before March 31, 2022.

The distribution criteria used for the delivery of these funds are, among others, the number of students, teachers and VET centres, the at-risk-of-poverty rate, the number of municipalities with a population under 10,000, the early school drop-out rate, the number of companies participating in Dual Vocational Training, the gender gap in qualifications, people in search of employment, or the disperse distribution of the active population and of the Public Administrations in each territory.

For more information, see Programa de Cooperación FP

Accreditation of professional skills

The Council of Ministers has approved a Royal Decree that establishes the opening of a permanent procedure for the evaluation and accreditation of professional competences acquired through work experience, or through non-formal training channels, and which affects all productive sectors.

This is one of the actions included in the Plan for the Modernization of Vocational Training with the greatest impact on the workforce, since it puts an end to the limitations of the existing method.

With an initial budget of almost 852.5 million euro, the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training will certify the skills of more than three million people in four years.

Cumulative accreditation system

This permanent procedure will have as a reference the totality of the professional competence units included in the Professional Training offer linked to the National Catalogue of Professional Qualifications.

The accreditation system will be cumulative so that the beneficiary can complete the training that leads to obtaining the corresponding Professional Training title or certificate of professionalism.

The education centres that offer Vocational Training of the educational system, the integrated VET centres, and the National Reference Centres will be authorized to carry out these activities. In addition, the competent administration may determine other venues that hand over their facilities and services.

This transformation is in line with the European Union's employment strategies aimed at qualifying the workforce in order to facilitate employability, mobility, social cohesion, equity and lifelong learning.

For more information, see BOE

2020

Initiatives and measures for the promotion of Vocational Training

Unified Vocational Training System

The Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MEFP) has established the promotion of Vocational Training (VT) as one of its main lines of action. The Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MEFP) has established the promotion of Vocational Training (VT) as one of its main lines of action.

The publication of the First Strategic Plan for Vocational Training in the Education System was a first step in this direction, and the creation of the General Secretariat for Vocational Training within the Ministry's new organisation structure confirms the importance of vocational training.

With this new General Secretariat, the MEFP undertakes responsibilities regarding VT in the education system and employment, and promotes a unified VT system. The Ministry of Employment will confer on it the powers to draw up the standards and reports on the National Vocational Qualifications System, to draw up and update the Certificates of Professionalism and the assessment tests and, finally, to incorporate the network of National Reference Centres into the network of Vocational Training Centres.

First Strategic Plan of the Educational System for Vocational Training

In November 2019, the Council of Ministers approved the First Strategic Plan of the Educational System for Vocational Training, which supports the consideration of Vocational Training (VT) as one of the basic educational and economic strategic lines in the Spanish and European framework, due to the role it must play as an engine for economic growth and employment.

The plan designed for vocational training in the education system is based on the Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Objectives, which the Ministry of Education has undertaken to develop a modern country project, which requires for a new global social contract involving all actors: public administrations, companies, trade unions, civil society and universities.

Some of the objectives that make it necessary to carry out the unavoidable transformations planned in the field of vocational training are:

• guaranteeing inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning for everyone
• achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls
• promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and proper jobs for everybody
• promoting a socially fair and environmental transition, inclusive and sustainable industrialization, while  encouraging innovation.

More information on  First Strategic Plan of the Educational System for Vocational Training and Presentation of the First Strategic Plan for VT.

Draft Organic Law on Education

The Spanish Council of Ministers has submitted for its parliamentary processing and subsequent approval the Draft Organic Law amending the Education Act in force since 2006 and amended in 2013. 

This legislative initiative aims at tackling the following challenges in the Spanish education system:

• improving the level of competence of the entire student body, compensating for any initial disadvantages
• regaining the equality lost during the crisis years
• updating the teaching profession to lead curricular and didactic innovation
• modernising Vocational Training and improving its enrolment and qualification rates
• Increasing STEM vocations, especially among female students.
• guaranteeing an investment  space in education and scholarships regardless of political alternatives and economic circumstances.

To meet these challenges, the bill addresses four main objectives:

1. updating the education system
2. regaining equality and inclusiveness in the system
3. Improving performance and educational achievement
4. stabilising the education system as a basic cornerstone of knowledge policies.

The Ministry of Education suggests the following changes in Vocational Training according to the challenges undertaken and the objectives of the Education Reform:

• setting up a basic vocational training programme leading to the ESO degree
• making it easier to reconcile training and work activities
• renewing contents and degrees in a more agile way, adapting them to employment and productive changes
• making access to vocational training more flexible by eliminating certain age requirements and allowing access from specialised education
• establishing "second chance" programmes with a professional focus for those who drop out of compulsory secondary education without a diploma
• enhancing career guidance by introducing a gender perspective
• promoting the accreditation of work experience while offering access exams in a more flexible and frequent manner
• encouraging further training to complete vocational training qualifications at intermediate and advanced levels
• promoting the creation of a network of centres for the transfer of innovation and successful experiences in VT.

More information on An Education for the 21st Century.

Permanent Collaboration Framework for Vocational Training

The Minister of Education and Professional Training (MEFP) met with representatives of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) and the Spanish Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises (CEPYME).

They discussed the urgent need to transform Vocational Training (VT) and adapt it to the productive system of the 21st century and therefore, among other measures, they considered the establishment of a permanent collaboration framework between the MEFP and business organisations.

Coordination between business organisations and the MEFP is essential to meet the needs of the different training maps for each sector. The joint effort of all the actors involved will help to transform vocational training in a modern and competitive training option. This aspect becomes particularly relevant with the new competences of vocational training for employment.

National Scholarship System and Study Grants Reform

The Government has increased the investment in the scholarship system by 22% reaching 1 900 million euros for more than 600 000 recipients in the coming 2020/2021 school year. the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training and the Ministry of Universities have reformed the National System of Scholarships and Study Grants in order to ensure equal opportunities for all students regardless of their socioeconomic situation.

The main points of the reform are:

1. Change in academic requirements: passing the previous school year will be required to obtain a scholarship, and the current additional requirements for specific qualifications will be eliminated. The minimum grade required to access scholarships for studies other than university studies has been reduced from 5.5 to 5.0. The new measure will benefit 61 059 students, 6 206 of which are non-university students.
2. Raising income threshold 1 almost to the poverty threshold. This economic threshold was not updated since the 2010/2011 school year and had not been adapted to the economic context. This measure will allow students coming from families with fewer resources to access full scholarship (tuition, fixed income, accomodation when necessary, and variable amount). This measure will benefit 161 603 people, 90 448 of which are non-university students.
3. Increase of fixed amounts by 100 euros: to make the amounts of the scholarships progressively approach the real costs of post-compulsory studies, the fixed amount of income obtained by threshold 1 students, the fixed amount for residence that students who live outside their municipality get, and the referred basic scholarship that is given to certain non-university studies, will be increased by 100 euros. 513 620 students will benefit from this measure.
4. Increase investment in people with disabilities: Students with certified Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) will be able to access the scholarships for students with specific educational support needs.

For more information, see Royal Decree 688/2020, 21 of July, where the thresholds for income tax and family assets, and the amounts of scholarships and study grants for the 2020/2021 school year are established, the scholarships for students with  specific educational support needs for the 2020/2021 school year, and the general scholarships for students of post-compulsory studies.

Measures and actions against COVID-19 in Education Centres during the 2020/2021 school year

Last June, the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training and the Ministry of Health created the following document: Prevention, Hygiene and Health Promotion Measures against COVID-19 for schools during the 2020/2021 school year. The basic principles of the defined measures are to limit contact, personal prevention measures, handling of cases, and cleaning and ventilation. In addition, transversal actions are set out such as school restructuring, coordination and participation, communication, and education for health and equity.

Later this year, the Government and the Autonomous Communities, during the Education and Health Multisectoral Conference, have agreed to 29 measures and 5 recommendations for the 2020/2021 school year to be applied in schools by the competent administrations. This agreement allows for further progress in providing public administrations with a common framework. The main points of the agreement are:

• As a general rule, lessons will be face-to-face for all levels and stages of the educational system, specially for younger students, at least until the second year of ESO (Compulsory Secondary Education).
• It is necessary to go back to face-to-face classroom activity "as a priority" by adopting a series of prevention, hygiene and health promotion measures that guarantee the safe return to the classroom.
• Schools will remain open throughout the school year ensuring dining services, as well as educational support for minors with special needs or socially vulnerable families, as long as the epidemiological situation allows it.
• The staff working in schools will reduce their presence in them to the essential. In order to achieve this, online realization of all those non-teaching activities that admit to do so will be promoted.
• In addition, as already stated in the document about Prevention, Hygiene and Health Promotion Measures against COVID-19 for schools during the 2020/2021 school year, all schools must designate a person in charge of matters related to COVID.

For furher information: Agreement.

2019

First Strategic Plan of the Educational System for Vocational Training 2019-2022

The Agreement on the First Strategic Plan of the Educational System for Vocational Training  2019-2022, is approved, in order to update these studies. It was drawn up with the support of the Ministries of Economy and Entrepreneurship; Industry, Trade and Tourism; Ecological Transition and Labour Migration and Social Security. 

With the implementation of this strategy, the aim is to improve employability and meet the needs of the labour market, as well as to consolidate the flexibility of these studies, which in turn will allow students to reach a higher qualification. This improvement in qualification is expected to guarantee a quality work experience that will promote a competitive professional curriculum.

The plan incorporates the Sustainable Development Objectives of the European Commission's 2030 Agenda and the New Capabilities Agenda for Europe which includes actions to ensure that EU citizens benefit from adequate training, skills and support.

The plan is based on 9 lines of action or axes (2 of which are transversal) and 16 strategic objectives.

Axes of the First Strategic Plan for Vocational Training:

Source: Eurydice España-REDIE (CNIIE, MEFP) based on current legislation.

Based on these 9 axes, the following 16 strategic objectives are set:

• Objective 1. Promoting the engagement, collaboration and trust of all the sectors involved in order to achieve value-creating vocational training. 
• Objective 2. Incorporating companies, social partners and other bodies on a permanent basis in the National Qualifications Observatory.
• Objective 3. Reducing the design procedures for qualifications
• Objective 4. Having availability of the training offers associated with the new qualifications 
• Objective 5. Facilitating the diversification of training itineraries, taking into account the characteristics of each production environment and the students’ personal interests.
• Objective 6. Extending the Catalogue of VT qualifications, incorporating qualifications associated with emerging sectors, especially those related to the digitalisation of the economy. 
• Objective 7. Developing the Dual VT model
• Objective 8. Promoting on line or distance VET which allows compatibility between personal and work circumstances with training
• Objective 9. Offer modular programmes which allow to accumulate or complete training leading to a vocational training qualification or a professional experience certificate.
• Objective 10. Improving the accessibility of procedures for the accreditation of professional competences
• Objective 11. Developing a procedure for the accreditation of basic -non-professional- competences for adults. 
• Objective 12. Promoting specialised training for teachers
• Objective 13. Increasing teacher mobility between the different autonomous communities and at a European and transnational level.
• Objective 14. Fostering technological and methodological innovation
• Objective 15. Improving vocational guidance in the education system
• Objective 16. Devising a Quality System for VT in the education system. 

For more information read I First Strategic Plan of the Educational System for Vocational Training 2019-2021

Authorized military educational training centres to provide Vocational Training education

The Ministries of Defence and Education and Professional Training have signed agreements with the corresponding education authorities of the autonomous communities of Aragón, Castilla y León, Galicia and Madrid, to provide the necessary resources to the military schools authorized to offer vocational training courses located in those communities.

In addition, these agreements foresee the incorporation of teaching staff with the necessary qualifications and requirements to deliver the teaching corresponding to the professional training degrees which have been authorised.

The Ministry of Defence will transfer the amount corresponding to the cost of the teaching staff who provide services in military training centres to the educational administration of the corresponding autonomous community  and the latter will provide the aforementioned staff.

The agreement will remain in force until 31 August 2022 and may be extended for up to four additional years or until it is terminated.

New Higher Vocational Training degree

From 2011 onwards there is a general reorganisation of vocational training in the education system. As a result, the new qualifications established have progressively replaced the previous ones.

On 22 April 2019, the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training approved the Advanced Technician in Chemistry and Environmental Health degree which replaces the previous Advanced Technician in Environmental Chemistry and Advanced Technician in Environmental Health degrees.

The general competence in this degree consists in supervising and controlling the effects on health of environmental and food risk factors, participating in the implementation and development of environmental management systems. Likewise, it will be possible to intervene in education programs for public and community health under the supervision, where appropriate, of the responsible manager, in accordance with established protocols and respecting the reference standards in quality and safety settings.

For more information read Advanced Technician in Chemistry and Environmental Health.

Funding for Workshop Schools and Craft Houses and for Employment Workshops

In May, the Spanish Council of Ministers approved an agreement authorising the Public Employment Service (SEPE) to call for grants for 2019 to finance these programmes.

The amount is 12 668 200 euros, to be executed in 2019 (10 358 200 euros) and 2020 (2 310 000 euros), and which will be financed from SEPE's 2019 expenditure budget.

The works or services of public utility or social interest that are developed in workshop schools, trade training centres or employment workshops enable working students to perform effectively at work and, at the same time, receive vocational training for employment which will contribute to their professional qualification and favour their insertion in the labour market.

70% of the students who were enrolled in these programs in 2016 and 2017 (last closed calls) entered the labour market after their participation.

These programs can be promoted by:

• different bodies, autonomous bodies and other public bodies in the General State Administration and the Autonomous Communities
• local entities, their autonomous bodies and entities with competences in the field of employment promotion, dependent on or attached to them, and whose ownership corresponds entirely to said local entities.
• consortia
• associations, foundations and other non-profit organisations.

It can also be developed abroad, within the scope of international collaboration and on the terms agreed by the Ministry of Labour, Migration and Social Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

More information on Programmes of Workshop Schools and Trade training centres.

Draft Law on Education

The Draft Law, which is in the parliamentary approval phase, aims at boosting Vocational Training (VT) through the following measures: 

• the Basic Vocational Training cycles will enable students to obtain the Compulsory Secondary Education Diploma.
• intermediate training cycles will include general and vocational training.

For more information read Ongoing amendments and policy developments and Draft Law on Education.

National strategy to prevent and fight poverty and social exclusion (2019-2023)

The goal is to tackle the existing situations of poverty and social exclusion in Spain.

The lines of action related to Equitable and Inclusive Education (Objective 2.1) are, among others:

• promoting itineraries to improve skills that reflect formal and non-formal learning and allow people to re-enter the education and training process in order to improve their qualifications
• enhancing the Vocational Training programmes (dual vocational training and certificates of professional experience) by improving the coordination between the education system, the labour market and the business environment
• setting-up initiatives and gateways to promote the continuation of studies for groups at higher risk of early school drop-out
• revising the mechanisms for updating training offers in order to ensure the necessary match between supply and demand for qualifications

For more information read Reforms in Primary and Secondary Education.