ABSTRACT
The opportunity to progress from initial vocational upper secondary education (VET) to higher education (HE) is important for VET’s attractiveness to young people and for social equality in education. This chapter examines the very diverse progression routes from VET to HE in the Nordic countries. It explores the decisive historical turning points in national education and compares patterns of participation in HE after completing VET. It finds that VET in Finland and Sweden has offered universal access to higher education, while Denmark and Norway have organised more selective routes to higher education, allowing for more educational stratification.
