If you are 25 or older, you take a VET programme as EUV — VET for adults. The school assesses what you can already do and puts you on one of three tracks. And you are not alone: 59% of those who became skilled workers in 2025 were 25 years or older.
Introduction
EUV stands for VET for adults (erhvervsuddannelse for voksne). If you are 25 or older when you start, you must take the VET programme as EUV. The programme is the same, and you get the same certificate — but the course is built around what you can already do.
First: competence assessment
Before you start, the school assesses your competences: your education, your work and what else you have learned. The assessment can last from half a day up to 5 days, and it comes on top of the teaching time. Based on it, the school draws up a personal education plan with you that shows what the school has recognised and which programme you must complete.
Three tracks
| Tracks | Who | The record over time |
|---|---|---|
| EUV1 | At least 2 years of relevant work experience | A standardised programme for adults without a basic course and without in-company training. You can take subjects from the basic course to get the certificates the main programme requires. After a longer period of unemployment, you can get a supplementary module of up to 9 weeks. |
| EUV2 | Less than 2 years of relevant work experience or a previous education | A standardised programme for adults with in-company training. You can receive teaching from the 2nd part of the basic course. |
| EUV3 | Neither relevant experience nor previous education | A programme equivalent to the programme for young people, but without the 1st part of the basic course. |
Complaint
If you disagree with the assessment of your practical competences, you can complain to the trade committee. The complaint is sent via the school and must be received no later than 2 weeks after you received the decision. You complain about other decisions by the school to the Danish Agency for Education and Quality (STUK), also via the school, within 4 weeks.
Example: service assistant
In the service assistant programme, the EUV student has 11 school weeks on level 1 and 11 on level 2, compared with 12 for young people. The education order gives adults a reduction of 1 week on level 1 and 1 week on level 2. Many adults have worked as cleaning assistants or porters for years before they start.
Adults are the majority
In 2025, 26,126 people completed a main programme in vocational education and training. 15,511 of them — 59% — were 25 or older, and 5,063 were 40 or older.
| Age on completing the main programme (2025) | Quantity |
|---|---|
| 25 år | 1.108 |
| 26 years | 1.051 |
| 27 years | 945 |
| 28 years | 940 |
| 29 years | 829 |
| 30-34 years | 3.260 |
| 35-39 years | 2.315 |
| 40 years and over | 5.063 |
| 25 years and over, total | 15.511 |
| All ages, total | 26.126 |