EFTA countries

Iceland

Apprenticeships and vocational education and training (VET) in Iceland: 1 apprenticeship scheme · 8 VET policies (3 on apprenticeship) · 57 indicators with data.

Apprenticeship schemes
Key figures
More indicators
Apprenticeship policies

Apprenticeship schemes

Iceland has 1 mainstream apprenticeship scheme in Cedefop's European database on apprenticeship schemes.

Apprenticeship (certified trades)

Starfsnám

Iceland's route to journeyman's examinations in certified trades: school periods alternate with an extended, paid workplace contract under a licensed master.

Education level

Upper secondary (EQF 4)

Duration

Commonly 4 yrs

Time at the workplace

Around half — Workplace weeks fixed per trade; no set percentage

Apprentice compensation

Wage

Pay (as stated)

Wage per collective agreements, rising with experience and progression

Apprentices

~7 100 VET learners at ISQF 3 (2025)

Qualification

Journeyman's certificate (sveinspróf), ISQF 3 / EQF 4

Full record Compare with all schemes Cedefop fiche ↗

Source: Cedefop — European database on apprenticeship schemes. Cedefop's coded answers (filters and the comparison matrix) are imported directly from the 2026 fiches. The short descriptions (overview, duration, learners, pay) were condensed by hand and checked against the fiche text on 2026-10-01. The official fiches remain authoritative.

Key figures

Latest value for Iceland on the main measures of vocational education and work-based learning, with the EU-27 figure for the same year where one is published. Select an indicator for its map, ranking, trend and downloads.

Indicator	Iceland	EU-27	Year
Share of upper-secondary VET pupils in work-based programmesEurostat; calculation by Apprentix · educ_uoe_enrs04	63.9%	24.7% d	2024
Pupils in combined school- and work-based upper-secondary VETEurostat · educ_uoe_enrs04	4,797 pupils	2,262,565 pupils d	2024
IVET students as % of all upper secondary studentsCedefop · KIVET 1010	32.4%	49.1%	2023
Employment rate of recent VET graduatesEurostat · edat_lfse_24	93.8%	80.1%	2025
Employment premium for recent IVET graduates (over general stream) (%)Cedefop · KIVET 2090a	8.3%	13.1%	2023
Employment rate of adults with vocational vs general upper-secondary qualifications (OECD)Vocational upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education; From 25 to 64 yearsOECD	88.8%	—	2023
IVET learners who benefitted from a learning mobility abroad (%)Cedefop · KIVET 1026	1.0%	2.2% dV	2021
Erasmus+ VET mobility projectsEuropean Commission (DG EAC / EACEA), Erasmus+ project results · ErasmusPlus_KA1	17 projects	6,890 projects	2025
Early leavers from education and training (%)Cedefop · KIVET 3010	15.3%	9.4%	2024
NEET rate for 15-29 year-olds (%)Cedefop · KIVET 3030	5.0%	11.1%	2024

Sources: Eurostat; calculation by Apprentix (CC-BY-4.0); Eurostat (CC-BY-4.0); Cedefop (CC-BY-4.0); OECD (CC-BY-4.0); European Commission (DG EAC / EACEA), Erasmus+ project results (CC-BY-4.0). Totals only (default breakdown). Letters after a value are the publisher's flags; hover for their meaning.

More indicators

47 further indicators have data for Iceland, each with a map, ranking, trend and downloads.

Show 47 indicators

Adults (16-74 year-olds) learning online (%)Cedefop · Access, attractiveness and flexibility
Adults (25-64 year-olds) with a learning experience in the last 12 months (%) - LFSCedefop · Access, attractiveness and flexibility
Adults (25-64 year-olds) with a learning experience in the last 4 weeks (%) - LFSCedefop · Access, attractiveness and flexibility
Female IVET students as % of all female upper secondary studentsCedefop · Access, attractiveness and flexibility
IVET students with direct access to tertiary education as % of all upper secondary IVETCedefop · Access, attractiveness and flexibility
IVET work-based students as % of all upper secondary IVETCedefop · Access, attractiveness and flexibility
Low-qualified adults with a learning experience in the last 12 months (%) - LFSCedefop · Access, attractiveness and flexibility
Low-qualified adults with a learning experience in the last 4 weeks (%) - LFSCedefop · Access, attractiveness and flexibility
Older adults (55-64 year-olds) with a learning experience in the last 12 months (%) - LFSCedefop · Access, attractiveness and flexibility
Older adults (55-64 year-olds) with a learning experience in the last 4 weeks (%) - LFSCedefop · Access, attractiveness and flexibility
Unemployed adults with a learning experience in the last 4 weeks (%)Cedefop · Access, attractiveness and flexibility
Workers participating in on-the-job training (% of staff)Cedefop · Access, attractiveness and flexibility
Young IVET graduates in further education and training (%)Cedefop · Access, attractiveness and flexibility
25-34 year-olds with tertiary attainment (%)Cedefop · Education and employment context
Adults with lower level of educational attainment (%)Cedefop · Education and employment context
Employment in knowledge intensive activities (% of total employment)Cedefop · Education and employment context
Employment rate for 20-64 year-olds (%)Cedefop · Education and employment context
Employment rate for 20-64 year-olds with lower level of educational attainment (%)Cedefop · Education and employment context
Employment rate of recent graduates (%)Cedefop · Education and employment context
Gender employment gap (%)Cedefop · Education and employment context
Medium/high-qualified employment (% of total in the age group of 20-64 years olds)Cedefop · Education and employment context
Out-of-school rate for population of upper secondary education school age (%)Cedefop · Education and employment context
Unemployment rate for 20-34 year-olds (%)Cedefop · Education and employment context
Government expenditure on vocational secondary and post-secondary education (UIS)UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) · Expenditure
IVET public expenditure (% of GDP)Cedefop · Expenditure
IVET public expenditure per student (1000 PPS units)Cedefop · Expenditure
Employed ICT specialists (1000s)Cedefop · Key indicators on VET
People at risk of poverty or social exclusion (1000s)Cedefop · Key indicators on VET
EU grant for Erasmus+ VET mobility projectsEuropean Commission (DG EAC / EACEA), Erasmus+ project results · Mobility
New Erasmus accreditations in VETEuropean Commission (DG EAC / EACEA), Erasmus+ project results · Mobility
Employment rate of recent general-education graduatesEurostat · Outcomes
Pupils in combined school- and work-based post-secondary VETEurostat · Participation
Share of 15–24-year-olds enrolled in vocational education (UIS)UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) · Participation
Share of VET students in combined school- and work-based programmes (OECD)OECD · Participation
Share of post-secondary non-tertiary students in vocational programmes (UIS)UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) · Participation
Share of secondary students in vocational programmes (UIS)UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) · Participation
Share of short-cycle tertiary students in vocational programmes (UIS)UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) · Participation
Share of upper-secondary students in vocational programmes (UIS)UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) · Participation
Adults (16-74 year-olds) with at least basic digital skills (%)Cedefop · Skills development and labour market relevance
Average number of foreign languages learned in IVETCedefop · Skills development and labour market relevance
Employment rate for recent IVET graduates (20-34 year-olds) (%)Cedefop · Skills development and labour market relevance
IVET graduates as % of all upper secondary graduatesCedefop · Skills development and labour market relevance
STEM graduates from upper secondary IVET (% of total)Cedefop · Skills development and labour market relevance
Short cycle VET graduates as % of first time tertiary education graduatesCedefop · Skills development and labour market relevance
Cedefop labour and skills shortage index (CLSSI) by occupationCedefop · Skills intelligence
European Skills Index (ESI) — 2018, 2020 and 2022 editions as publishedCedefop · Skills intelligence
European Skills Index (ESI), 2024 methodologyCedefop · Skills intelligence

Recent apprenticeship policies

Cedefop and ReferNet track 8 VET policies in Iceland since 2015, of which 3 concern apprenticeship or work-based learning. The most recently reported:

New times in VETStrategy/Action plan · Implementation phase (2025)
Digital logbook for VET learnersPractical measure/Initiative · Implementation phase (2025)
Strengthening VET in Iceland – VET working group’s proposalsStrategy/Action plan · Implementation phase (2025)

All 3 apprenticeship policies All 8 VET policies

Source: Cedefop & ReferNet — Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2025 update) (CC-BY-4.0).

Sources and licences

Apprenticeship schemes

Cedefop — European database on apprenticeship schemes. Cedefop's legal notice: reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged, save where otherwise stated. Fiches also credit national ReferNet experts. Read 2026-10-01.

Key figures

Eurostat; calculation by Apprentix (CC-BY-4.0); Eurostat (CC-BY-4.0); Cedefop (CC-BY-4.0); OECD (CC-BY-4.0); European Commission (DG EAC / EACEA), Erasmus+ project results (CC-BY-4.0).

Policies

Cedefop & ReferNet — Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2025 update). CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2026). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2025 update): Research dataset [Data set].

Last updated

2026-10-01

Apprentix republishes these figures and records; the publishers' own versions remain authoritative. See Data & sources for reuse conditions.

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