All young people leaving compulsory school have a statutory right to attend three years of upper secondary education. Since 1976, general and vocational education and training were subject to the same law, under the same roof. Thus, today many upper secondary schools provide both general education and vocational training, often in the same building. Students may choose from twelve programmes categorised as three general studies programmes and 9 VET-programmes. The VET-programmes are as follows:

• Technical and Industrial Production
• Electrical Trades
• Building and Construction
• Restaurant and Food Processing Trades
• Agriculture, Fishing and Forestry
• Health and Social Care
• Design, Arts and Crafts
• Media and Communication
• Service and Transport

The upper secondary VET leads to the trade- or journeyman´s certificate (“fag- og svennebrev”). The majority of upper secondary VET students are in the age group 16-21.

VET models
Upper secondary VET normally includes two years at school with practical training in school workshops and short work placements in industry, followed by two years of formalised apprenticeship training and productive work in an enterprise or public institution. During the last two years, the apprentice is engaged in one year of training and one year of productive work. This is known as the “2+2 model”. However, not all VET programmes follow the 2+2 model. A few programmes are entirely school-based. Another small group of programmes follow a “1+3-model”, with one year in school followed by three years of apprenticeship training.

The 2 first VET years
The first year in upper secondary VET consists of general education and introductory knowledge of the vocational area. During the second year, VET students choose specialisations and the courses are more trade-specific. While in school, students participate in practical training in workshops and enterprises through the subject In-depth study project (“prosjekt til fordypning”). The two-year apprenticeship takes place with an employer (or employers) and follows the national curriculum.

In Norwegian higher education, all vocationally oriented courses and programmes are part of the ordinary higher education system. There is no formal or other distinction between vocational and non-vocational higher education.

Tertiary Vocational Education
The Tertiary Vocational education (“fagskole”) is an alternative to higher education and is based on upper secondary education and training or equivalent informal and non-formal competence. A Higher Education entrance qualification is not required. The education consists of vocational courses lasting from half a year to two years.

After 2007, all providers must document quality assurance systems. It is also possible to obtain institutional accreditation for programmes within a defined field of study, rather than having to apply for recognition programme by programme.

GOVERNANCE
Norway enjoys a high degree of decentralisation amongst the three administrative levels:

• State,
• County
• Municipality

The municipalities (“kommuner”) are responsible for primary and lower secondary education.

While county authorities (fylkeskommuner) are responsible for public upper secondary school, their associated tasks include: operational responsibilities for the development of curricula, examinations and quality control, running of schools, the intake of students, and the appointment of teachers.

The Ministry of Education and Research (“Kunnskapsdepartementet”) has the overall responsibility for national policy development and administration of education and training at all levels, from kindergarten to higher education, including adult education. Higher education falls directly under the responsibility of the Ministry.

For upper-secondary (tertiary) vocational training (“fagskole”), the situation is slightly more complicated as the counties are responsible for most of the public funding, most schools are private, and a few schools are funded directly by the Ministry.

Curriculum development
The Directorate of Education has responsibility for the continuous curriculum development. For this purpose it makes extensive use of expert groups from both school and companies that provide upper secondary education. When the need for a new qualification is identified, a tripartite group is set down to write vocational profiles (“kompetanseplattform”). This will make the basis for developing the subject curricula. The Directorate appoints teams for curriculum development consisting of professionals (most often suggested by the employer and employee organisations) and VET teachers. Also, the Directorate has recently developed a follow-up system for curricula called SOL (“System for oppfølging av læreplan”). The system aims is to get a more holistic and systematic knowledge about the state of affairs with regards to the curriculum.

Financing
Norway spends considerable resources on its education system, including VET, relative to many other countries. For instance, Norway spends more than the OECD average in Education per student. In 2008, Norway spent 5 per cent of its GDP on primary and secondary education and training as a whole, whereas the OECD countries spent only 3.8 per cent on average.

There are no school fees at any level, including higher education, in the public education system. The finance comes from country authorities for public upper secondary schools while the Directorate of Education is responsible; include finance, for tertiary education.

Only a small share of pupils and students attend private education. The Financial Support to Students and Pupils Act (“Lov om utdanningsstøtte til elever og studenter”-1985, latest amendment 2005) states that all registered students on formally recognised study programmes, at both public and private higher education institutions may receive grants and subsidised loans from the State Educational Loan Fund (“Statens lånekasse for utdanning”) for subsistence costs.