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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Students' experiences of workplace learning in Finnish VET

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The Finnish vocational education and training system underwent remarkable transformations at the turn of the century. One of the biggest changes was introducing compulsory and guided on-the-job learning periods in all study programmes. In this article, students’ experiences of on-the-job learning and in particular of integrating school-based and work-based learning and guidance of students are examined. Data were gathered by an Internet questionnaire of final-year students at vocational institutes in the City of Helsinki (N=1282). The questionnaire was answered by 41 % of the students. In general, students were satisfied with connecting school-based and work-based learning and guidance in vocational institutes and at workplaces. However, there were clear differences between fields of study. On-the-job learning seemed to function best in social and healthcare. peerReviewed