Enhancing the standing of vocational education and training (VET) is the one of two main targets in the current legislation of Danish VET, the other target being reducing drop out of around 50%. The focus on enhancing VET should curb a development throughout the past 15 years in which the enrollment in VET has descended from one third to one fifth of a youth cohort (in 2017 only 18,5% of a cohort), alongside an increasing intake in general upper secondary program (in 2017: 74% of a cohort) A number of - to some degree research-based - assumptions about the low intake have guided the latest reform of VET which was inaugurated in August 2015: 1. 15-year-old students in lower secondary are too young to choose occupation and education. 2. The guidance counselors in lower secondary and the parents are uninformed about VET and perceive general upper secondary as the safe choice. 3. The admission requirements are too loose (before the reform anybody had a right to enroll in a VET-program) 4. The VET colleges need a learning environment that appeals to the young people, the argument being that VET mostly attracts young adults and adults. 5. The VET-programs should qualify for not only jobs but also give access to higher education and 6. The quality of the teaching in VET needs to be improved, particularly in relation to developing for differentiated teaching and learning and for strengthening the coherence of the practical and theoretical parts of the dual VET programs. At the symposium, the perspectives for enhancing the standing of VET will be based on current research (Søndergaard et al, 2017; EVA, 2017) into the focus areas, which, based on the assumptions above, were included in the reform.

EVA (2017) Uddannelsesvalg i 8. klasse. English translation: Choice of education in the 8’th grade. Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut. Søndergaard, N.M. (2017) Grundforløb på erhvervsuddannelserne efter reformen. English translation: Basic courses in VET after the reform. KORA.