2. Full Title: «Q-Placements: VET-Enterprise Cooperation for Quality Assurance of VET Placements and Apprenticeships: Introducing Q-Placements Model» «Q-Placements» stands for «quality of placements», i.e., quality of apprenticeships or other kinds of work-based learning

3. Project partners and countries: P1, Baltic Bright, Ltd., Management Coordinator (Latvia) P3, National Centre for Education (Latvia) P4, MBO Raad, Dutch Association for Vocational Training and Adult Education (Netherlands) P0, Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Latvia) P5, Center RS za poklicno izobraževanje, Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for vocational education and training (Slovenia) P2, Official Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Terrassa (Spain)

4. Backround: How to ensure VET quality Labour market relevance > Work-based learning Quality of work placements, apprenticeships, internships largely influences the quality of VET as a whole; How to ensure quality of placements?

5. Background: Assumption: One of the factors determinig quality of placements - skills of people involved, quality of communication and cooperation between VET and Host companies; Donor of innovation: Q-Placements project, Q-Placements network by Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Terrassa, Spain Q-Placements Handbook, www.q-placements.eu

6. Aims of Q-Placements project: To improve the quality of national and transnational work placements through: 1) Better cooperation between VET and enterprises/host companies; 2) Better skills of tutors from VET and host companies to provide support and guidance for trainees before, during and after placements;

7. Target groups of Q-Placements Project: VET tutors supervising work placements; Tutors from host companies supervising work placements; Quality managers of VET, management of VET institutions, management of host companies; Stakeholders supporting VET quality, policy makers

8. Q-Placements project steps 1-2 Step 1: Preparation and analysis Quality of VET placements: current procedures and relation to EQAVET Cooperation between VET and Enterprises in partner countries; Skills of people involved Q-Placements Handbook: what do we take from it? Step 2: Developing Training methodology, Guidelines for joint training of tutors from VET and Host companies; European Train-the-Trainer Workshop for trainers from partner countries The training methodology will be adopted by each partner country

9. Q-Placements project steps: 3-4 Step 3: Joint training workshops for tutors from VET and in partner countries Tutors from VET and tutors from host companies are trained together; They improve skills of cooperation, mutual communication, agree on better procedures, more effective guidance for VET trainees; Collecting feedbacks and recommendations; Step 4: Testing and mainstreaming Trained tutors are testing the approach, their new skills with actual VET students in placements Seminars with policy and decision-makers

10. What shall we leave after us: Overview of current quality assurance of VET placements in Latvia, Netherlands, Spain, Slovenia; Tested methodology and training programme for improving the skills of VET and Host company tutors for ensuring higher quality of placements; Trained tutors from VET and from Host companies in Latvia, Nehterlands, Spain, Slovenia; Lead-trainers for new trainings Methodological material for improving quality of placements, and quality of VET in general; Recommendations, proposals for improved procedures, policies, etc;

11. Q-Placements contact information: Q-Placements project website: www.qualityplacements.eu Management coordinator: Baltic Bright, Ltd: info@ balticbright.lv, +37167373876 Project manager: Vita Žunda vita.zunda@balticbright.lv +371 29127527