In the Dutch educational system, two traditional learning pathways to higher professional bachelor (or HBO) programmes exist: the regular VET route and the general secondary education route. The VET pathway starts from lower secondary pre-vocational school-based programmes at EQF level 2 (VMBO; nominal duration 4 years) and goes via middle-management VET programmes at EQF level 4 (MBO; 3-4 years) to higher professional bachelor programmes at EQF levels 5 or 6 (HBO; 2-4 years) (Cedefop, 2016). The general secondary education route can be described as an integrated lower and upper general secondary programme at EQF level 4 (HAVO; 5 years) leading to HBO.

In addition to these traditional learning trajectories, continuing learning pathways have been designed and implemented during the last decade in the Dutch VET column that combine characteristics of the two traditional trajectories and that are aimed at accelerating students’ learning trajectory and promoting their transition to HBO programmes (see e.g. Sneyers & De Witte, 2016; Mulder & Cuppen, 2018). Continuing learning pathways can be defined as sequential educational programmes combined into a new integrated educational programme (Biemans et al., 2016; 2019; 2020).

Examples of such continuing learning pathways in Dutch VET are the Talent Development Engineering programme (TDE) and the Green Lyceum (GL), which is offered by several agricultural (or ‘green’) VET institutes. These educational programmes can be described as accelerated, continuing pathways connecting VMBO and MBO levels and are specifically aiming at students who combine a relatively high cognitive ability to reach the HBO theoretical level with an outspoken affinity for practical, vocation-oriented assignments. The Dutch trend of designing and implementing continuing learning pathways is in line with the efforts many other countries are making to make pathways to higher vocational education more flexible and, thus, to promote students’ transitions between successive educational levels (see e.g., Catterall et al., 2014; Harris & Rainey, 2012; Aarkrog et al., 2018).

The central aim of the present study was to examine and compare student perceptions of different learning trajectories to HBO: the Talent Development Engineering programme (TDE), the regular VET route in the engineering domain, the Green Lyceum (GL), the regular VET route in the agricultural domain, and the general secondary education route. Moreover, we strive to relate these student perceptions of the different learning trajectories in Dutch VET to their transition data to HBO and their study success data in the first HBO study year. After all, a successful HBO career could be considered as the ultimate goal of these learning pathways to HBO. In this way, the present study aimed to contribute to knowledge on students’ perceptions of different pathways to higher professional bachelor (HBO) programmes and to lead to deeper insights in how students’ transitions to this educational level and their study success in HBO can be promoted through learning pathways with specific educational design features.

The study aimed to answer the following research questions:

1. How satisfied are HBO students from the different routes with their learning trajectory to HBO?
2. To what extent do students feel prepared in their previous educational programme with respect to study skills needed in HBO?
3. To what extent do students feel prepared for the theoretical subjects in their HBO programme?
4. To what extent do students feel prepared for the vocation-oriented aspects of their HBO programme?
5. To what extent do students feel supported in their previous educational programme in choosing a specific HBO programme?
6. To what extent are student perceptions of the different learning trajectories to HBO related to their transition to HBO and their study success in HBO?

Several samples of students in their first HBO phase and coming from the five different learning trajectories to HBO mentioned above were selected from a national student database. They received a letter in which they were requested to complete a student questionnaire on their perceptions of their learning trajectory. There were two data collection rounds: a first round in spring 2022 (N=35 students from the regular VET route and 17 students from the general secondary education route) and a second round in January 2023 (students from all five different learning trajectories to HBO; data analysis still ongoing). The selected students had completed their previous educational programme before HBO in 2021 or 2022. Students’ perceptions of their respective learning trajectories were collected through an online questionnaire. The items corresponding with the various scales were presented to the students in separate blocks. Students had to use five-point Likert scales (1=minimal score; 5=maximal score) to respond to the various items. The scales of the questionnaire were: • Satisfaction with previous educational programme (11 items; RQ1); • Extent to which students feel prepared in their previous educational programme with respect to study skills needed in HBO (10 items; RQ2); • Extent to which students feel prepared for their HBO programme in their previous educational programme with respect to specific theoretical subjects (8 items; RQ3); • Extent to which students feel prepared for the vocation-oriented aspects of their HBO programme in their previous educational programme (5 items; RQ4); • Extent to which students feel supported in choosing a specific HBO programme in their previous educational programme (7 items; RQ5). Mean scores of the five student groups will be compared for the scales mentioned above. At this moment, only data from the first data collection round are analysed. In addition to the survey data, several interviews have been carried out with HBO students coming from the five different learning trajectories to HBO. These interviews were done to collect more in-depth, qualitative data on the underlying motivations and argumentations of the students. Moreover, at ECER 2023, student perceptions of the different learning trajectories will be related to student data with respect to transition to HBO and to study success in HBO (RQ6). In this regard, e.g., percentages of students who enter an HBO programme after receiving a MBO or HAVO diploma and of students who are successful in their first HBO study year will be considered.

As mentioned above, up until now, only preliminary analyses of the data collected in the first round were carried out. As part of these first analyses, perceptions of first-year HBO students coming from the regular VET (MBO) route and students coming from the general secondary education (HAVO) route were compared. In general, former HAVO students were more satisfied with their previous educational programme than former MBO students. Moreover, former HAVO students felt more prepared in their previous educational programme with respect to several study skills needed in HBO, such as planning and independent learning, collaborating, and learning texts. Finally, former HAVO students felt more prepared for their HBO programme in their previous educational programme with respect to specific theoretical subjects such as Dutch and English language, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and economics. On the other hand, former MBO students considered their previous educational programme to be more vocation-oriented, e.g. through previous internships, and they mentioned that their previous teachers had more experience with relevant professional contexts. With respect to the support in choosing a specific HBO programme in their previous educational programme, no significant differences were found between both groups. Former HAVO students, however, reported that they had been supported in the transition from their previous educational programme to HBO to a higher extent than former MBO students. Results from the second round of data analysis will be reported at the ECER 2023 as well as relations between these student perceptions and student variables such as transition to HBO and study success in the first HBO year. Insights in student perceptions of the particular learning trajectory to HBO and the relations with transition and study success have theoretical and practical implications for the design and implementation of both the traditional routes and the new continuing learning pathways to HBO.

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