TVETipedia Glossary

Pre-vocational education

Education which is mainly designed to introduce participants to the world of work and to prepare them for entry into vocational or technical education programmes. Successful completion of such programmes does not yet lead to a labour-market relevant vocational or technical qualification. For a programme to be considered as pre-vocational or pre-technical education, at least 25% of its content has to be vocational or technical.

Source:
UNESCO, International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 1997), 1997
UNESCO, International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 1997), 1997
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The International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) was designed by UNESCO in the early 1970s to serve ‘as an instrument suitable for assembling, compiling and presenting statistics of education both within individual countries and internationally’.
The present classification, now known as ISCED 1997, was approved by the UNESCO General Conference at its 29th session in November 1997.

Education preparing students for the world of work, including counselling on career choices, training in general work skills and habits, and work experience.

Source:
NCVER (Australia), VOCEDplus: Glossary of VET, (accessed 05/2026)
NCVER (Australia), VOCEDplus: Glossary of VET, (accessed 05/2026)
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This glossary is a compilation of Australian vocational education and training (VET) terms and acronyms. It includes both current and historical terms, concepts, acronyms and other abbreviations found in Australian VET research, policy and data.