The European Alliance for Apprenticeships (EAfA) is happy to announce the results of its 2021−2022 monitoring survey. The survey took place between June and September 2022 and was sent to all EAfA members that joined the Alliance before May 2022. The survey collected responses from 131 members from 30 countries, including 22 EU Member States.

Progress on EAfA’s objectives

The majority of respondents said they had made significant progress on EAfA’s four objectives, with the image of apprenticeships being the area with the most progress (85 % of respondents), followed by supply (80 %), quality (79 %), and mobility (69 %).

• More specifically, between 2021 and 2022, survey respondents created over 206 000 apprenticeship places.
   
• More than two thirds of the respondents who committed to improving the image of apprenticeships implemented communications activities, like participating in and organising events.
   
• More than two thirds of all survey respondents implemented measures to improve the quality of apprenticeships, such as providing financial and non-financial support to companies, improving quality assurance and tracking of apprentices, pedagogical support to trainers and mentors, career guidance and awareness raising, formulating learning outcomes, and developing the workplace component of apprenticeships.
   
• Survey respondents also participated in multiple mobility projects and initiatives (e.g. Erasmus+) and disseminated information about mobility opportunities.
   
• Over half of all respondents’ organisations supported apprentices to develop skills for the green and digital transitions.
   
• In addition, one in five survey participants said they had implemented activities to support people fleeing the war in Ukraine, with another 22 % saying that they would like to or intend to do so. These activities included offering study or training programmes, apprenticeships, internships, awareness-raising activities, and providing social integration or financial support.

Main challenges for the EAfA community

Although the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in online opportunities and online skills, survey respondents reported a decrease in both the number of apprenticeships and mobility opportunities, in addition to the technical difficulties that accompanied moving apprenticeships and trainings online.

Aside from COVID-19, the most common challenges were the lack of human resources as well as existing administrative burdens. These two challenges were 20 percentage points more common in comparison to the 2019−2020 EAfA monitoring survey.

One challenge that was reported less frequently were changing legislative frameworks (21 percentage point decrease since the previous EAfA monitoring survey).

The added value of EAfA

The majority of respondents’ perception of EAfA is still largely positive. Over 90 % of survey participants consider EAfA valuable for boosting the quality, supply, image, and mobility of apprenticeships. This positive outlook on EAfA is shared across all stakeholder groups.

Most of the respondents recognise EAfA’s role in contributing to knowledge sharing and exchange of best practices. Organisations found it particularly helpful to be able to understand the challenges and opportunities of apprenticeships in other countries. EAfA’s role in boosting cooperation and networking is also appreciated by survey respondents.

The return of in-person events was especially welcomed by a large number of respondents, with 91 % rating EAfA’s in-person events as high quality. Two high-level events stood out for many respondents – the high-level events that took place in Barcelona and Vienna.

The newsletter remains respondents’ preferred channel for keeping up to date with the Alliance, followed by the EAfA website.

Download the full survey report from the ‘Related documents’ section below.