Vocational excellence – ENE

What are the centres of vocational excellence? 

Centres of excellence in vocational education and training are vocational institutions recognised for excellence in identifying and imparting relevant, high-quality, specialised technical skills. In contributing to regional skills strategies, they promote employment and regional development. They work closely with employers, including small and medium-sized enterprises, to foster innovation, applied research, entrepreneurship and reskilling.

Centres of vocational excellence are:

• attractive to learners because they offer responsive, flexible, personalised learning pathways, up-to-date technology, and a fast track into employment and higher education. 
• inspirational for teachers, trainers and managers because they offer models of advanced practice in teaching, teacher training, organisational development and leadership. 
• compelling for policy makers because they show how, through greater autonomy and cooperation, educational and training providers can become a driving force for the continuing improvement of education and training systems. 

ETF Network for Excellence (ENE): What for? 

ENE fosters collaboration and the sharing of ideas, practices and experience between centres of vocational excellence at both national and international levels. ENE self-assessment tool – ENESAT – supports the development and sharing of excellence, helping centres align their own development with that of other members of the network. 

ENE sub-networks bring together centres of vocational excellence focusing on specific dimensions of excellence.

ENE mirrors the EU's initiative on centres of vocational excellence (CoVEs).

Through the Erasmus+ programme, the EU is funding the development of platforms and support services for CoVEs. The ETF places particular importance on the contribution that CoVEs can make to improve vocational education and training systems and also on their contribution to the internationalisation of vocational education. 

What are ENE priorities? 

• ​​​Lifelong learning and vocational excellence
• Education-business cooperation (e.g., work-based learning, public-private partnerships) 
• Pedagogy and professional development 
• Entrepreneurial dimension of vocational excellence – mobilising innovation, ecosystems and SMEs
• Industry 4.0/5.0 and digitalisation
• Autonomy and institutional development (financing, leadership, governance) 
• Going green – supporting sustainable goals 
• Excellence in social inclusion and equity
• Career guidance and vocational excellence

Since 2021, the ETF has been implementing the project Internationalising vocational excellence on behalf of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. Building on the ENE's work , this two-year (2023–25) project is part of the EU’s strategy to make CoVEs an engine for the development of vocational excellence through international collaboration.

Join the network 

ENE is open to members from all countries and includes individual training providers, clusters of providers and centres that coordinate other providers. Policy makers (ministries, other national and regional stakeholders, etc.) from EU Member States and ETF partner countries are invited to participate in the work of the network. Since its creation in December 2020, ENE has grown steadily, comprising more than 320 CoVEs from more than 50 countries as of July 2024.

To join ENE, please contact: [email protected] You will be invited to an introductory meeting with the ENE's secretariat, and asked to complete a simple registration form. You will also be invited to conduct a self-assessment with ENESAT – in EN, FR or RU.

Where can I find more information? 

• ENESAT – ENE self-assessment tool
• Community of Innovative Educators – a platform for innovation in teaching and learning
• Internationalising vocational excellence project