Azerbaijan 2024

Key takeaways

Vocational education and training in Azerbaijan remains broadly accessible, and learners are actively encouraged to take part. However, participation still differs by age. Access to initial VET is strong for young people, but demand continues to exceed supply, and many applicants are not admitted. Adult participation in continuing VET remains low, even though free courses and flexible options—such as evening and online formats—are available. Many adults instead take part in other learning opportunities, especially those offered through employment support programmes.

Learners of different ages and backgrounds can move easily between vocational and general education, and progress to higher levels. This flexibility continues to be a strength of the system. At the same time, completion rates remain close to the international average, suggesting that more could be done to support learners in successfully finishing their programmes.

Azerbaijan’s VET system is also recognised for helping both young people and adults build foundational skills. It aims to stay aligned with changing economic needs and labour market demands. Official sources highlight the system’s success in teaching key competences to youth, and note improvements in adult digital skills. However, outcomes for adults remain uneven, and green skills have yet to become a stronger focus in VET programmes. Graduates tend to be well prepared for work, and career guidance services are in place to help them navigate their options. Competence-based and work-based learning models contribute to the relevance of training, although there is room to expand these approaches more widely.

Stakeholders are actively involved in shaping and managing the VET system. However, stronger data is still needed to guide decisions and evaluate progress. Quality assurance processes are being developed, and there has been progress in the quality of adult learning provision. Nonetheless, a shortage of experienced leadership remains a barrier. Staffing overall is well organised, and despite broader financial challenges, infrastructure investment has continued. As a result, the learning environment is reported to be of high quality.

Access to learning

Monitoring in the area of access to and participation to learning helps countries assess the extent to which initial VET, continuing VET and other learning opportunities are accessible and attractive to all learners, regardless of their individual backgrounds or reasons for participating. The data also reflects how well learners can expect to progress through and graduate from these learning opportunities.

Opportunities for lifelong learning: access and participation

The 2024 Torino Process monitoring results for Azerbaijan highlight ongoing gaps in access and participation, with some learners—especially depending on their age—still facing disadvantages. As in 2023, access to initial vocational education remains relatively good, but demand continues to exceed available places. Many applicants cannot be admitted, which puts pressure on providers. The State Agency for VET is working to improve this situation through scholarships and efforts to make the admissions process more effective.

Participation in continuing vocational education and training (CVET) remains low in 2024, even when compared to the international average. The government continues to offer free training for unemployed adults and has kept evening and online courses in place to make learning more accessible. Still, these options do not attract large numbers. At the same time, many adults do take part in other types of learning—especially those linked to employment support programmes.

In both 2023 and 2024, learners have continued to benefit from the ability to move easily between vocational and general education pathways, and to progress to higher levels of learning. This flexibility remains a strength of the system. However, completion and graduation rates are still only average, which suggests that more support is needed to help learners reach the end of their programmes successfully.

In 2024, learners in Azerbaijan continue to have relatively good access to initial vocational education and benefit from flexible pathways between vocational and general education. However, participation in CVET remains low, and many adults do not take advantage of available opportunities. Average completion rates also point to areas where learners need more support. While policies to improve access exist, their impact—especially for adult learners—remains limited, showing that more can be done to make the system more inclusive and effective.

The Torino Process is a regular review of national systems of vocational education and training as well as adult education. It is designed to analyse the ways in which national VET systems (including adult education) address the challenges of human capital development in a lifelong learning perspective. It was established by the European Training Foundation (ETF) in 2010 and has been carried out in partner countries in Southeastern Europe, Turkey, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean ever since.

Monitoring in the context of the Torino Process describes the extent to which countries deliver on their commitments to learners in support of their learning through life (lifelong learning - LLL) in three major areas of policy and system performance: access to learning, quality of learning, and system organisation.

Quality of learning

Quality and relevance of learning is the area of monitoring that identifies how successfully the VET system provides basic skills and key competences to both young and adult learners. It highlights the relevance of VET programmes to the world of work and how effectively VET graduates transition into the labour market. Additionally, it monitors efforts to promote excellence across key domains, including pedagogy, professional development, programme content, governance, and social inclusion, as well as the openness of the VET system to innovation in response to the evolving needs of learners and labour markets.

Lifelong learning outcomes: quality and relevance, excellence and innovation

In 2024, Azerbaijan is doing well in helping both young people and adults develop essential skills through vocational education and training. There has been some progress for adults in particular, thanks to a small increase in the share of people with basic ICT skills. Official sources report that young learners are gaining key competences through VET, while adults also benefit from a system that supports lifelong learning and upskilling.

Even though the formal VET curriculum covers important areas like ICT and problem-solving, adult learners still show mixed results. Some are confident in these skills, while others find them more difficult—suggesting that the quality of learning experiences can vary quite a lot.

The Torino Process monitoring also looks at whether learning content reflects future needs, especially when it comes to digital and green transitions. In Azerbaijan, digital skills have become a clear focus in VET programmes, while green competences are getting less attention for now—leaving space for further development in this area.

VET graduates in Azerbaijan continue to be in high demand in the labour market, as their training generally prepares them well for work. This is largely thanks to the use of work-based learning and dual education approaches. That said, there are still challenges in expanding these opportunities and building stronger links between training providers and employers.

To make VET even more relevant, the country is placing more emphasis on competence-based training in both initial and continuing VET. At the same time, efforts are under way to better understand labour market needs, so that training can be targeted at the right jobs. Career guidance also plays an important role, with support from career centres and online platforms helping learners make informed choices and keeping training aligned with both learners’ goals and the needs of the economy.

In 2024, Azerbaijan’s VET system continues to help young people and adults build strong foundations in key skills, with recent improvements seen in adult ICT competences. VET graduates remain highly employable, thanks to practical training and close links with the labour market. However, not all adults benefit equally from quality learning, and green skills are still underdeveloped. Ongoing efforts to expand competence-based training and strengthen career guidance aim to make VET more responsive, inclusive, and relevant for the future.

System organisation

System organisation is the area of monitoring that captures performance across various domains of management and administration. It examines whether practitioners and leaders have access to data and evidence to support informed decision-making, the level of stakeholder involvement in VET governance, the quality and capacity of staff in leadership positions, and the degree of internationalisation. Additionally, monitoring the allocation of human and financial resources to the VET system helps assess whether these resources effectively support teaching, training, and learning.

System organisation: management and resourcing

Vocational education and training in Azerbaijan involves a wide range of actors, and governance is highly participatory. Stakeholders contribute through various channels, including Boards of Trustees at each VET provider. In 2024, decision-making remains somewhat limited by data gaps, although less so than in 2023, as the country continues to improve the quality and availability of information on education and training.

Work is under way to pilot modern quality assurance systems, including provider accreditation and internal quality reviews. However, it remains difficult to attract experienced school leaders—something that could limit the long-term success of these efforts. Still, progress has been made, especially in assuring the quality of adult education programmes. Staff-related policies for teachers and trainers are also seen as a comparatively strong area of performance.

When it comes to funding, the monitoring data point to a mixed picture: resources are still tight in some areas, while targeted investments have led to improvements in others. Despite broader financial constraints, infrastructure development has been prioritised. Many VET centres now have a high-quality material base for teaching and learning. Funding for adult education has also received renewed attention, with additional support being directed to this area.

In 2024, Azerbaijan’s VET system continues to perform well in some key areas while facing challenges in others. Governance remains inclusive, and efforts to improve data and quality assurance are gradually moving forward. Progress is visible in adult education quality and in the material conditions for teaching and learning, thanks to targeted investments. Although financial resources are limited and skilled leadership remains in short supply, there is broad stakeholder agreement on the direction of reform and the steps needed to move ahead.

Promoting access and participation in opportunities for lifelong learning

Supporting quality and relevance of lifelong learning

Index of system performance

International comparability of performance results

In addition to presenting information on system performance, the Torino Process monitoring also looks at how internationally comparable a country’s results are, how much they may be affected by bias, and how self-critical a country is when reporting on its own performance. This is made possible by the methodology, which keeps detailed records of the evidence used to produce each country’s results—including where the data come from and how they were gathered. This applies to Azerbaijan as well.

Since 2023, the monitoring results for Azerbaijan have become more internationally comparable and now match the average level of comparability across all countries in the Torino Process sample. However, the results for Azerbaijan also remain the most susceptible to bias within the group of Torino Process countries. This is because most of the data used come from self-assessment responses rather than independent or external sources. Azerbaijan also tends to rate its own VET system more positively than most other countries. Its score on this dimension—how favourably a country assesses its own performance—is well above the average score that reflects a neutral or balanced self-assessment.