Vocational

Vocational education

Vocational education or vocational education and training is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation...

 secondary education in Denmark

Secondary education in Denmark

Secondary education in Denmark usually takes two to four years and is attended by students between the ages of 15 and 20. Secondary education is not compulsory, but usually free of charge, and students have a wide range of programmes to choose from...

takes place at special state-funded vocational school

Vocational school

A vocational school , providing vocational education, is a school in which students are taught the skills needed to perform a particular job...

s (erhvervsskoler), most of which are either technical schools (tekniske skoler) or business colleges (handelsskoler). Through a combination of teaching in vocational schools and apprenticeship

Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...

, mostly in private companies

Private sector

In economics, the private sector is that part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is run by private individuals or groups, usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by the state...

, students are trained for work as tradesmen, clerks, farmer

Farmer

A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...

s etc.

Vocational education takes 2-5 years and can be commenced after the completion of the compulsory

Compulsory education

Compulsory education refers to a period of education that is required of all persons.-Antiquity to Medieval Era:Although Plato's The Republic is credited with having popularized the concept of compulsory education in Western intellectual thought, every parent in Judea since Moses's Covenant with...

 primary

Primary education

A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...

 folkeskole

Danish Folkeskole Education

The Folkeskole is one type of school in Denmark, covering the entire period of compulsory education. This form of education cannot, as in the case of many other nations' education systems, be divided into primary and secondary education....

('public school'), i.e. at age 15-16.

Contrary to academically oriented types of secondary education

Secondary education

Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...

 such as the Gymnasium

Gymnasium (Denmark)

The Danish Gymnasium offers a 3-year general academically-oriented upper secondary programme which builds on the 9th-10th form of the Folkeskole and leads to the upper secondary school exit examination...

, vocational secondary education aims directly at jobs rather than higher education

Higher education

Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...

, although it is possible, with certain requirements, to enter a university

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 to study for instance engineering

Engineering

Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...

 upon completing vocational education.

Students train for work in a specific profession

Profession

A profession is a vocation founded upon specialized educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain....

 (e.g. as an electrician

Electrician

An electrician is a tradesman specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, stationary machines and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance and repair of existing electrical infrastructure. Electricians may also...

 or a chef

Chef

A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...

), but the different education programmes are organized in eight main groups that share certain subjects:

• Building
• Crafts and technique
• From earth to table (hotel, cooking, foods, agriculture)
• Mechanics, transport and logistics
• Commercial area (trade, office, finance)
• Service
• Technology and communication
• Vocational elementary course

In addition, it is also possible to pursue vocational secondary education aimed at work in social and health institutions such as nursing home

Nursing home

A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...

s: Basic Social and Health Education (Social- og Sundhedsuddannelse or SoSu).

Furthermore, there are programmes combining vocational elements with more adacemically oriented elements: Higher Technical Examination Programme (HTX)

Higher Technical Examination Programme (HTX)

In Denmark, the Higher Technical Examination Programme is a 3-year vocationally oriented general upper secondary programme which builds on the 10th-11th form of the Folkeskole...

 and Higher Commercial Examination Programme

Higher Commercial Examination Programme

The Higher Commercial Examination Programme is a business-oriented education in Denmark. The 3-year HHX programme requires a completed 9-year folkeskole and offers general subjects in addition to business administration, economics, and foreign language...

. These aim at higher education

Higher education

Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...

 and are comparable to the more general and theoretical Gymnasium

Gymnasium (Denmark)

The Danish Gymnasium offers a 3-year general academically-oriented upper secondary programme which builds on the 9th-10th form of the Folkeskole and leads to the upper secondary school exit examination...

 and Higher Preparatory Examination (HF)

Higher Preparatory Examination (HF)

The Higher Preparatory Examination is a 2-year general upper secondary programme building on to the 10th form of the Folkeskole and leading to the higher preparatory examination , which qualifies for admission to higher education, subject to the special entrance regulations applying to the...

.