Students ’ experiences of workplace learning in Finnish VET

The Finnish vocational education and training system underwent remarkable trans-formations at the turn of the century. One of the biggest changes was introducing compulsory and guided on-the-job learning periods in all study programmes. In this article, students ’ experiences of on-the-job learning and in particular of integrat-ing school-based and work-based learning and guidance of students are examined. Data were gathered by an Internet questionnaire of final-year students at vocational institutes in the City of Helsinki (N=1282). The questionnaire was answered by 41 % of the students. In general, students were satisfied with connecting school-based and work-based learning and guidance in vocational institutes and at workplaces. However, there were clear differences between fields of study. On-the-job learn-ing seemed to function best in social and healthcare