DR reports that students at Danish vocational schools increasingly have to search for an apprenticeship place more than once, because the number of short apprenticeship agreements has risen.
DR reports that a growing share of apprenticeship contracts in Denmark cover only part of a vocational program. Students who sign such a contract must find a new company for the following practical periods, meaning several rounds of applications during one education.
The Ministry of Children and Education defines a short education agreement on its page Om uddannelsesaftalerne. According to the ministry, the agreement must cover at least one school period and one practical period of the main program, but not the full course. It may also include parts of the basic program.
What the figures show
The economic think tank Arbejderbevægelsens Erhvervsråd documented the trend in an analysis published in March 2024. Within the technology, construction and transport programs, short agreements grew from 410 learners in 2008 to 6,719 in 2022, according to AE. The think tank also finds a close overlap between short agreements and programs facing particular challenges.
Official statistics point in the same direction. A statistical news item from Styrelsen for It og Læring, published in September 2023, states that the share of short agreements had risen over the previous four years while the share of long agreements fell. The same release reports 49,700 education agreements concluded in 2022.
The ministry’s report Lærepladsområdet 2024 Årsstatistik puts the total number of agreements at around 45,000 per year, based on 2024 figures. The report also confirms the legal limit on repeated short agreements introduced at the start of 2022.
Rules and employer perspective
Since January 1, 2022, the same company and the same apprentice may generally sign only one short education agreement, according to guidance from Danish Industry. A second short agreement requires a dispensation from the relevant vocational committee. Guidance from STIL adds that each short agreement carries a three month trial period and cannot normally be extended.
Official guidance describes short agreements as a way to involve companies that cannot commit to a full apprenticeship. Fagbladet 3F reported in May 2024 that short contracts have become far more common in construction, citing the same AE figures. The outlet’s feature centered on a carpentry master’s use of short contracts and noted that apprentices must find placements several times.
AE notes that the share of short agreements has stabilized in some sectors at around 20 percent, but remains well above the 2008 level. Fagbladet 3F reported in November 2020 that growth in short agreements had been a concern since at least 2016, prompting rules meant to encourage full-length apprenticeships.
