Following decades of educational reform after the political transition in 1989 and the re-centralisation trends of the turbulent 2010s (Benke & Rachwał, 2022, Bükki, 2018, Laczik & Farkas, 2018, 2022), Hungary launched a new comprehensive reform of the vocational education and training (VET) system in September 2020. This reform was introduced by a new VET Act adopted in December 2019, aligned with the VET 4.0 Strategy issued in a government decree earlier that year (Szakképzés 4.0, 2019). The objectives were were structured around three key pillars: creating attractive and engaging learning environments, preparing skilled workers and technicians for successful careers, and ensuring a sufficient supply of VET teachers equipped with up-to-date vocational expertise. The reform was multifaceted, including a range of measures. It introduced a new qualification register that identified a limited number of „basic vocations”, which can only be taught in formal school education (as either IVET or CVET for adults). It also restructured (and again re-named) the VET programme types while introducing new flexible pathways – such as orientation years and workshop schools – to reduce drop-outs and provide a second chance. Dual training was further promoted through changing the apprenticeship contract and introducing the opportunity to establish sectoral training centers formed by company-company or company-school partnerships. A new universal scholarship system was also introduced to make VET more appealing to students. Although the first cohort of students who enrolled in technikum (the higher-level VET program) under this new system will only graduate this year, some early outcomes of the reform can already be evaluated. The analysis draws on desk research (Györgyi & Piacsek, 2024; Varga, 2024) and insights from the government’s First Monitoring Report of the VET 4.0 Strategy and Action Plan (2024). Preliminary findings suggest improvements in student engagement and the reduction of drop-outs, but also reveal persistent issues such as uneven training quality, teacher shortages, and limited access to dual training opportunities.

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