The current European Welfare Systems are facing new social risks (Esping-Andersen et al., 2002; Taylor-Gooby, 2004) as they move towards a knowledge society (EU, 2000) in a globalized world (Sykes, Palier & Prior , 2001). In this sense, educational policies are not an exception as they have to respond to the demands of European society characterized by significant social and cultural changes. In this context, improving the equity and the quality of education systems (EC, 2001, CEC, 2006) have become central issues of educational policies in the framework of lifelong learning (CEC, 2001).

To this end, the European Union regards educational and vocational guidance as a key point to strengthen the development of public policy in lifelong learning (CEDEFOP, 2004; CEC, 2008), which is leading member countries to join their efforts in this direction. This question has not always been a priority in the political agendas of many countries (OECD, 2003), a situation which is changing as a result of increased political sensitivity regarding this topic (Eurydice, 2008), for example in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany or Spain. In addition, from a conceptual standpoint, educational and vocational guidance is subject to a variety of interpretations and often receive different names depending on country or region (for example, educational career, career guidance, vocational counselling, vocational guidance and counselling, etc.). However, improving educational levels of students depends primarily on the effectiveness of educational support systems, whether at the school or offered as specialized services that provide guidance and assistance to teachers and school management. Thus, there are issues of common interest, and which demonstrate the appropriateness and relevance of our proposal, including: Have you actually expanded access to lifelong guidance?; Do you provide quality guidance?; Do the users of services develop the competencies they need? CEDEFOP (2008).

From a perspective of guidance policy analysis within lifelong learning, we believe that guidance services in school are an essential tool in promoting and improving equity in education, in the sense that guidance helps achieve the goal of equity (Sweet, 2003; OECD, 2004), and therefore, it is an equity mechanism per se. From this viewpoint, the aim of this paper is to explore the contributions of educational and vocational guidance services in improving educational equity in compulsory education in the European context. It focuses on comparing and analyzing the extent to which guidance contributes to address and prevent situations of social and educational vulnerability in school. This is essential to gain a greater insight into the factors that explain the contribution of guidance to equity.

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