Vocational Education and Training (VET) refers to ‘learning pathways which aim to equip people with knowledge, know-how, skills and/or competences required in particular occupations or more broadly in the labour market’.
Vocational training and learning can be formal or non-formal/informal, and can take place in education and training institutions, at the work place, within informal and traditional apprenticeships. The VET training should be aimed at helping those who are out of work to find a job; or training for those who are in work to find better employment to improve their career prospects. What should NOT be included is training which is aimed at those in work to better carry out their jobs, nor training which helps people in unpaid work, (e.g. community /volunteer work).
Formal VET includes the training provided by the established education and training system and normally leads to a formal qualification. A formal qualification is the formal outcome (certificate, diploma or title) of an assessment and validation process which is obtained when a competent body (trade association, government authority, public and private awarding bodies, etc.) determines that an individual has achieved learning outcomes to given standards and/or possesses the necessary competence to do a job in a specific area of work. A qualification confers official recognition of the value of learning outcomes in the labour market and in education and training.

For more information about the EU RF methodological notes please see https://europa.eu/capacity4dev/eu-rfi