A so named dual VET was implemented as a top-down policy in the school-based VET system in Spain in schoolyear 20013/2014 (Gil and López, 2013; Marhuenda, 2015). This process was supported by the recently created Spanish Chamber of Commerce (Cámara de Comercio, 2015a, 2015b) and has been fostered by different private groups such as Bertelsmann Foundation and Bankia FPD Foundation, both behind the Spanish Alliance for Dual VET. No evaluation has been conducted by the Ministry of Education so far, while some research has been produced already at a macro level (Marhuenda, Chisvert and Palomares, 2017, 2019) as well as focused upon different dimensions (Pineda, Arnau and Ciraso, 2017), at sectoral level (Grollman, Steadman, Jansen and Grey, 2017), at regional level (Mosso, 2018) as well as through an analysis of current legislation on VET (González, 2015) and its huge variations among different regions (Vila and Chisvert, 2018) that have led to a wide array of different practices all of which receive the label of dual despite being very different in curricular and pedagogical terms. There has also been literature and debates at academic and practice level, discussing the potential as well as the appropriateness of such an implementation in the country (Echeverría, 2016; Valcárcel, Diz and Rial, 2018), some of them supported by the alliance and its partners (IESE, 2014; Nägele, 2017).

However, there has been no specific empirical research about the impact of dual VET upon learning of students, and to what extent it can prove successful.

In this paper, we present results of research conducted within a school that implemented dual VET since its first school-year and we look at variables surrounding the student and the companies, contextualizing them within the analysis of the VET school (an innovative cooperative school) as well as the vocational qualification (pre-school teacher). We focus upon assessment, the tools employed (by trainers as well as by students) and the criteria applied to gain evidence about the learning of students in Dual modes of VET and the dimensions that are covered, as well as the deliverables that students have to produce in order to show what they have learned in the companies (nursery schools).

Our research attempts to identify in which ways sending students in a Dual mode to companies has changed the teaching practice in several domains, hence a series of interconnected research questions: a) is there a more precise definition of vocational competencies; b) has there been a greater integration of different subject-areas; c) in which ways have learning requirements improved; and d) how did the involvement of companies in the delivery and assessment of professional knowledge take place.

We have analysed learning and assessment tools of students enrolled in Dual VET in a school since its implementation in 2013/2014 to schoolyear 2020/2021, covering all students in a VET programme for nursery schoolteachers, including those who participated in a blended learning dual VET course. We have used data from the assessment tools used by the school, designed to assess learning scenarios comprising both learning in the companies as well as content and competences covered in school-subjects, 4 of which are taught in the 1st year and 3 of them in the 2nd year. These learning scenarios provide evidence of learning and competencies acquired, in a flexible way that each student must adapt to the possibilities provided by the company in which she/he is taking the placement; and they are agreed by the school-teacher and the in-company trainer. We will also use assessment results provided by students in a self-evaluation as well as trainers in the learning tools agreed with school-teachers. We have recorded results in terms of systematization of observation, experimentation and learning of the students, and how these relate to the knowledge and competencies acquired in the school setting. Given the size of our sample, we have analyzed data in a quantitative way, though we have also developed qualitative analysis of the data.

Our research indicates that the learning scenarios that occur in Dual VET are extremely diverse and complex. We understand that this training modality does not guarantee success in itself. According to the data obtained, we find a series of variables related to how the involvement of the company can influence the learning process. For instance, a. the perception of the apprentice student, b. the attitude towards co-responsibility in the training of future workers, c. the diversity in learning scenarios offered to the student, d. the stance towards providing a scholarship to the apprentice, e. the quantity and quality of the information provided by the company tutor in the evaluation of students, etc. Similarly, we find the need to design new tools that allow us to obtain more precise information about the learning process that occurs in students who study Dual VET. Simultaneously, the possibility of adding indicators associated to the performance of the technical skills required for the degree is considered. Throughout the training process that takes place in the company, the student receives daily from his manager -tutor or other employees of the company- orientations and feedback on their level of performance of these skills. However, currently this information is not recorded and, therefore, we are unable to provide statistical information or data in this regard. Concerning the integration of knowledge by students, the results indicate that the dual VET favours the globalization of the different areas of knowledge and the understanding of problems and situations that usually occur in the workplace. On the other hand, this student body demonstrates a greater capacity to relate the contents of the different training modules with the praxis in the workplace.

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