Young people in Germany have a positive view of vocational training, according to a study by the Bertelsmann Foundation. However, it is above all those "who have managed to get started" who are convinced, the foundation announced on Thursday in Gütersloh. Young people with lower levels of schooling, meanwhile, are particularly doubtful about their chances.
According to the foundation, nine out of ten trainees are satisfied with their vocational training. Almost as many, 87 percent, say they would choose their current training occupation again. "Vocational training gets a very good report card from trainees," said Fabian Schaffer, the Bertelsmann Foundation's expert on vocational education. This is "welcome news for young people and for companies."
The survey also found that vocational training is the most popular option among the surveyed pupils for the time after school: around a third of them definitely want to start vocational training directly after finishing school, while a further 44 percent could imagine taking this path.
However, the study also found that the lower a respondent's level of school education, the more pessimistic they are about their personal chances of securing a training place. Among those with low qualification levels, 38 percent either do not believe they will find a training place or are unsure whether they will.
Schaffer considers this problematic, since vocational training represents the best route into working life for young people with lower school qualifications. The consequences of lacking a qualification are considerable: in 2025, the unemployment rate among people without a vocational qualification stood at 21 percent, compared with just four percent among those who had completed vocational training.
In the view of the Bertelsmann Foundation, there is therefore also a need to focus more strongly on skills rather than school grades. "To reduce the rate of people without formal qualifications and counter the shortage of skilled workers, entry into vocational training must be designed to be as low-threshold as possible," Schaffer explained.
The foundation therefore recommends, among other things, expanding company-based access routes such as introductory qualification programs, longer internships, and schemes like Assisted Vocational Training (Assistierte Ausbildung).
For the study, 1,763 young people aged 14 to 25 as well as 1,325 trainees aged 15 to 25 were surveyed from early March to mid-April.
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