Improving Employability: The Role of Cross-Cutting Competences in Vocational Education Outcomes

Vocational education and training (VET) is often seen as a pathway to faster and better employment outcomes in comparison to general secondary education. However, the school-to-job transition remains complex, influenced by regional-, institutional- and individual-level factors. This paper evaluates the effects of the Slovak ‘Linking Secondary Education and Practice’ scheme, designed to improve success rates in secondary VET by enhancing cross-cutting literacy competences such as reading and mathematical skills. The study covers 25,219 students from 74 schools, spanning diverse contexts including developed and underdeveloped regions, and lower versus upper secondary vocational education. Using a combination of difference-in-differences (DiD) and the synthetic control method (SCM)—a novel approach for evaluating individual VET school performance—this research examines the determinants of school-to-job transitions at both regional and study field levels. The findings reveal significant disparities in VET outcomes based on programme type, field of study, and level of regional development. Vocational schools in underdeveloped regions exhibit weaker outcomes in comparison to their developed counterparts, underlining the importance of regional contexts in VET policy effectiveness. The research results indicate that the intervention worked best for the service-oriented fields in the lower secondary programme and/or in the poorest Slovak regions. The study contributes to the literature by offering a granular analysis of vocational education outcomes, providing evidence at the regional, study field, and programme levels.