Estonia: Major reforms on compulsory education and VET programmes reach schools
Since the 2025/26 school year, Estonia has been carrying out two major education reforms, to reduce early leaving, and to help more students complete upper secondary education. The first one, is an extension of the compulsory education, and the second one, new 4-year Vocational Education and Training (VET) programmes.
From 2026, all students who finish basic education must continue studying until they turn 18 or complete upper secondary or vocational education. The goal is to ensure that every young person has access to further learning in either in general education, vocational training, or a preparatory programme. By 2035, 90% of young people aged 20–24 should complete upper secondary education, and less than 5% of young people aged 18-24 years old should be out of education or training with a low level of education.
Concerning the reform in upper secondary VET, new four-year programmes are being piloted in areas like construction, food technology, ICT, and sustainable business management. These programmes emphasize building general competencies, enabling graduates to enter the job market, pass state exams, and pursue for higher education if they wish.
The revamped VET model gives students more flexibility and choice. Instead of committing to a specific occupation right away, they enter a field-based programme, starting with an introductory module, and choose their specialisation later.
Students will start building skills for lifelong learning and civic participation, and the overall VET programme will balance vocational training with general education. This is expected to create more learning pathways and provide the labour market with more skilled workers.
VET remains free of charge for students who enter after completing basic education. Tuition fees may apply to adults who have already obtained the same or a higher level of education, or to those who have interrupted their studies multiple times. Until 2030, learners under 27 years may re-enter VET at the same level or after completing tuition-free higher education with no charges.
The main goal of this reform is that at least 40% of basic school graduates should continue in applied upper secondary VET by 2035.
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