The topic ‘VET at a higher levels’ is reflected in ongoing policy debates at European level. Already in 2010, the Bruges Communiqué on enhanced European cooperation in vocational education and training for the period 2011-20 explicitly called on Member States to ‘develop or maintain post-secondary or higher VET at EQF level 5 or higher, as appropriate, and contribute to achieving the EU headline target of 40% with tertiary or equivalent education’. In 2016, the New skills agenda points out that ‘higher level VET provision is steadily expanding and is valued by both learners and employers for providing skills needed on the labour market. Such developments need to be further encouraged and be appropriately integrated into the qualification frameworks and systems’ (European Commission, 2016, p. 6).

In the European higher education sector, VET principles are increasingly emphasised in the Bologna process. This is clearly visibly in the recent Communication on a renewed EU agenda for higher education: ‘higher education should also allow students to acquire skills and experiences through activities based around real-world problems, include work-based learning and, where possible, offer international mobility. Cooperation with employers can allow HEIs [higher education institutions] to increase the relevance of their curricula and deliver them effectively, and to increase opportunities for students to access high quality work-based learning’ (European Commission, 2017, p. 5).

Research studies suggest that expansion of vocationally oriented education and training at higher levels (i.e. levels 5-8 of the European Qualifications Framework - EQF) is already noticeable in many countries and may point towards a future model where the inherent qualities of VET, as expressed in its definition (Cedefop, 2017b), are delivered at all qualifications levels and by a broader range of institutions. Vocationally oriented education and training at higher levels takes many forms, is in most cases not clearly defined, is usually not considered as a sector on its own and there is often an overlap with continuing vocational education and training (CVET) or HE.

This paper reflects on the developments and change processes in this area during the last two decades in Austria and the Netherlands. The comparative analysis is based on the following main research question:

• To what extent has the vocational dimension been strengthened in higher education (academic and professional HE) as defined within the qualifications framework in the European Higher Education Area (QF-EHEA)?
• To what extent is higher level vocationally oriented education and training delivered outside higher education?
• What are the implications of these developments for the content and delivery of programmes and qualifications at higher levels?

To identify characteristics and indicators of change processes in relation to VET at higher education levels in Austria and the Netherlands, a multi-perspective model was used: The model is composed of essential features of VET as seen from three partly overlapping perspectives (Cedefop, 2017a):

• Education system perspective (dimensions: segment and level of the education system, number/back-ground of students, outcomes/destination, institutional landscape, parity of esteem);
• Socioeconomic/labour market perspective (dimensions: governance, source of funding, student identity, purpose, policy rationale);
• Epistemological or pedagogical perspective: (knowledge approach, Pedagogical/didactical approach, teacher-student relationship and background of teachers, learning sites, specificity of learning outcomes.

The analysis of the change processes draws on a literature analysis to explore the concepts used and their underlying theories and to gain insights into related developments across Europe. In a second step, case studies were carried out for an in-depth review of the developments in Austria and the Netherlands. In addition to analysing these change processes in general, the case studies put a particular focus on two sectors: nursing and engineering. A common structure and research questions were developed that reflect the analytical model introduced above. Information was collected based on desk research and semi-structured interviews with relevant national stakeholders. Also the comparison of the findings in Austria and the Netherlands is based on the analytical model applied.

From the education system perspective the comparison between the developments in Austria and the Netherland shows that although both higher education systems have a binary structure, in Austria, there are clear dividing lines between the sub-systems whereas combination of clear and more blurred dividing lines can be observed in the Netherlands: - In Austria, UAS were established in the early 1990s as a new type of HE. Their profile is different from academic universities and they can provide research infrastructure to a lesser extent. The share of UAS students of all HE students is below 20%. - In the Netherlands, the title UAS has been used since 2006/07 for hbo which are part of tertiary education since the 1960s and were legally acknowledged as a HE sub-sector besides the university sector in 1986. This was further formalised in the 1993 Comprehensive higher education and research Act. UAS have the higher share of all HE students. Also outside HE differences can be observed: - In Austria, VET colleges (EQF level 5) are offered as part of the formal system. The number of students enrolled is nearly twice as high as students enrolled in UAS. Also putside the formal education system, some VET qualifications are offered at higher levels, such as the master craftsperson qualification and the ingenieur qualifications at EQF level 6. So-called ‘non-formal qualifications’ (some of them might also be linked to higher levels are not yet included in the NQF. - In the Netherlands, so called ‘non-regulated qualifications’ are currently offered at NLQF levels 5 to 7. These professionally or vocationally oriented qualifications are offered by private providers or by branch/sector organisation. So far, their number seems to be quite low (however, there is no record of the number of learners enrolled on programmes preparing for these qualifications).

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