This symposium focuses on vocationally-related degree level provisions in three European countries, Germany, England and Scotland. Higher education (HE) has been increasingly offering non- traditional academic degrees and these provisions show the tendency of blurring traditional boundaries between academic and practical learning. In this proposal we apply the term ‘work-based learning’ (WBL) broadly to all examples where academic and practical learning is intertwined. We discuss this mix of academic and practical on a spectrum where on the one end the ‘pure academic’ learning happens and on the other end where learning from practice happens. WBL is often at the heart of these provisions. So, what triggers these new WBL type provisions? Why is there a growing interest in them? What do they try to achieve? And how do they fit into the existing education systems?

There is a wealth of literature on the complexity (Evans et al. 2006) and benefits of work-based learning (WBL) (Mühlemann, S., 2016; O’Donovan, 2018) in general. However, WBL, hybrid studies and practically-based courses at degree level are discussed less.  Evidence suggest that WBL modules at university level are built into academic undergraduate programmes regardless of the focus of the studies in many European countries. In the Riga Conclusion agreed by European ministers in 2015, WBL was identified as one ‘medium term deliverable’ for 2015-2020, emphasising and promoting this approach ‘in all its forms’. Many of the practically-based HE degree provisions are not classified as vocational as they often sit alongside traditional academic courses hence bringing this into the current discourse is essential. In this complex and varied HE landscape we aim to discuss HE provisions that are vocational and that are vocationally-related.  Equipping higher education students with both practical skills and theoretical knowledge,  as well as their preparation for the world of work  have become central to the higher education landscape (e.g Mason et al 2020; Bridgstock and Tippett, 2019).

The first paper discusses the developments of hybrid HE degree provisions in Germany and the specific conditions of this development in comparison to the English and Scottish contexts. In addition to discussing  the well-established dual study programmes in Germany, it also discusses further alternative models and approaches that have lately emerged.

The second paper, set in the context of England, offers the perspectives from a case study of practically-based higher education in the hospitality sector, which combines the development of theoretical and practical knowledge and enables students to experience real-life employment contexts on a day to day basis, during their university studies.

The third paper will discuss the newly introduced Graduate Apprenticeships (GAs) in Scotland and the way in which this WBL provision may support skills development and the future of work.

Through these three papers, the symposium aims to detect and accelerate the current discourse of HE provisions that blur the boundaries between vocational and academic. We also aim to facilitate a cross-national discussion of the complex nature of WBL in a broad sense by outlining their distinct features and that way they are represented at universities and universities of applied sciences.

Based on the three papers we reflect on the increasing tendency of intertwining vocational and academic learning delivered by the different higher education institutions and the way in which these are realised.

Bridgstock, R. & Tippett, N. (Eds.). (2019). Higher Education and the Future of Graduate Employability: A Connectedness Learning Approach. DOI:https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788972611 Evans, K., Hodkinson, P., Rainbird, H., & Unwin, L. (2006). Improving Workplace Learning (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203946947 European Commission (2015). Riga Conclusions 2015 on a New Set of Medium- Term Deliverables in the Field of VET for the Period 2015-2020, as a Result of the Review of Short-Term Deliverables defined in the 2010 Bruges Communiqué. Brussels: European Commission. Mason, G. (2020). Higher education, initial vocational education and training and continuing education and training: where should the balance lie?, Journal of Education and Work, 33:7-8, 468-490, DOI: 10.1080/13639080.2020.1755428 Mühlemann, S. (2016), "The Cost and Benefits of Work-based Learning", OECD Education Working Papers, No. 143, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/5jlpl4s6g0zv-en. O’Donovan, D. (2018) "Bilateral benefits: Student experiences of work-based learning during work placement". Industry and Higher Education Vol 32, Issue 2, 2018 https://doi.org/10.1177/0950422218761273