The paper reports on a multi case study into school based work learning settings in a regional VET college. In the Regional VET college ROC Leiden, together with the Inholland university for applied sciences,  guidelines and procedures were developed for designing  semi-school based, authentic practice for several courses and occupations. Small business units, ran by students and teachers, were established, supported by local employers (and sometimes inside local organizations), in order to work on real, authentic projects and tasks, commissioned by local clients. High service level agreements and quality requirements urged students to deliver realistic services within authentic conditions. ROC Leiden now has these kind of operational work learning companies in four departments delivering different courses: ICT, administration, caring and catering/restaurants.  Reason to start these new school based workplace learning arrangements is the perceived shortage for the near future shortage of individual internships as well as the wish to design and develop a variety in work/learning environments within the educational curricula, characterized by authentic  content and more guidance for weaker students.  

Specific working-learning arrangements are organized in which schools and companies work closely together. Real work sites are created, but these are either placed inside the regional college or, when in real companies, they are separated from regular practice (learning islands). There is extra guidance from school as well as from the company. Examples are a training ward in an elderly home and a psychiatric hospital, a training facility for teaching assistants, a school restaurant, an administrative unit etc. Whereas some characteristics of real work places are difficult to simulate (i.e. work pressure), learning possibilities are made larger because there is focus on interesting tasks, there is more space for mistakes and guidance is more intensive. Regional colleges design these kind of learning sites for several reasons: creating high quality learning spaces for students who otherwise have difficult access to real jobs/ placements. In this way they hope to make vocational pathways from education to work more inclusive. Also these sites can be seen as double learning arrangements, for apprentices (students) as well as for school teachers and practice trainers. .

Teacher teams investigated the organizational (co-makership) and educational aspects of such work-and-school-based learning environments and evaluated the learning results within the scope of a practical curriculum: which added value can be ascribed to these environments, in comparison with real practice and/or classroom instruction? These included possibilities to offer extra support for weaker students.  The outcomes of these developmental investigations has lead towards guidelines and insights for the use and design of authentic practice within VET colleges.

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