Vocational graduation exam: A step towards better linking education and labour market needs
19.06.2026 13:31
Vocational education is constantly changing so as to better respond to the needs of employers, the labour market and the pupils themselves. One of the topics that can significantly affect the quality of completing studies at secondary vocational schools is the introduction of a unified vocational graduation exam.
The vocational graduation exam has the ambition to strengthen the vocational component of the graduation exam and to create space for more unified, more transparent and more practical verification of the knowledge, skills and competencies of future graduates. An important element is also the involvement of the employer environment and the emphasis on making learning outcomes more readable and accepted in practice.
The State Institute of Vocational Education, within the Swiss – Slovak Cooperation Programme, carried out the verification of the vocational graduation exam in 2026 in the study field 2411 K mechanic-setter. The aim of introducing the institute of the vocational graduation exam is to increase the acceptance of graduates on the labour market and to support permeability within the education system. The adjustment of the structure of the graduation exam is aimed especially at the vocational component of the graduation exam. This systemic change will also provide methodologies for employers and will culminate in a proposal for legislative adjustment at the end of the project period.
The methodology for preparing a unified assignment is available for inspection on the website. Schools can already use the stated outputs of the programme as a starting point in preparing the graduation exam in the coming period.
For schools, the vocational graduation exam can be a practical tool that helps to better set up the preparation of pupils for completing their studies. The unified assignment of the vocational component of the graduation exam at the same time creates space for more comparable evaluation and a clearer link between school education and the requirements of practice.
The outputs of the programme can be useful especially for secondary vocational schools that prepare graduation exams in technical fields and want to draw on methodological materials, sample assignments and experiences from the verification in preparing them.
