In May of this year, two ReferNet partners, ISFOL from Italy  and Eoppep from Greece, organised Partnership Forums. The two events focused on the VET policy questionnaire, Spotlight on VET, national news and VET in Europe reports. Additional important topics were: writing for an international audience, using common terminology and peer reviewing other partners' reports. Workshops on the survey of the international mobility of initial vocational education and training (IVET) learners were also organised this year.

ReferNet partners and Cedefop organise Partnership Forums each year to exchange views and experiences on vocational education and training and to elaborate a common understanding of tasks in the annual work plan.

More information is available at the Cedefop website.

The EQAVET (European Quality Assurance in Vocational Education and Training) Network met at the Educational Research Institute on April 14-15, 2016. This was another meeting in the cycle of Peer Learning Activities. The following topics were the main themes of the meeting:

1. Quality assurance for defining qualifications and qualification standards based on the learning outcomes approach;
2. Quality assurance for assessment and certification of learning outcomes.

Cedefop released a report in December 2015 summarising research on the role of in-company trainers in small and medium-sized enterprises. The study provides answers to basic questions on such issues as: who provides training in small and medium-sized enterprises, what kind of qualifications do trainers have, what are their main tasks and activities, how do they update their competences, how do employers support them, and do publicly support programmes exist for them?

254 enterprises participated in the study from eight countries (Belgium-Flanders, Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Lithuania, Poland and Portugal) and four sectors (automotive, construction, IT and hotel and food). Both trainers and employers were respondents in the study.

More information is available at the Cedefop website.