Schools and colleges for engineering, arts and crafts primarily provide educational programmes for initial vocational education and training (IVET). These include the following:

• The 5-year colleges of engineering (HTLs), which cover years 9-13, introduce both the theory and practice of the respective subject from the beginning, and provide post-secondary forms of teaching and learning in the final year: HTLs are completed with a Reife- und Diplomprüfung;
• the 4-year VET schools (years 9-12), which are completed with a final examination and are linked to the post-secondary sector via add-on courses, the higher education entrance examination or Berufsreifeprüfung; 
• the 2-year add-on courses, leading graduates of subject-specific VET schools to the educational objective of the related 5-year VET college; in the case of 3-year VET schools, a so-called preparatory course must be completed before entry to the add-on course;
• the (4-semester) post-secondary VET-courses (years 13-14), which require university/higher education entrance qualifications and are completed with a diploma exam.

Apart from IVET, there is also a differentiated continuing vocational education and training (CVET) provision for people in employment. It includes the following programmes:

• the 8-semester VET colleges for people in employment, which lead to the same educational objective as the respective 5-year VET colleges and are designed in a modular form. Apprenticeship diploma holders start in the first semester, graduates of VET schools or foreperson courses enter in the third semester;
• the 6-semester post-secondary VET-courses (night school), which correspond to the related semesters of the VET colleges for people in employment in the last four semesters, presuppose university/higher education entrance qualifications and are completed with a diploma exam; as do the 4-semester post-secondary VET courses;
• the 7-semester VET schools for people in employment, which are completed with a final examination and are linked to the post-secondary sector via add-on courses, the higher education entrance examination or the Berufsreifeprüfung examination;
• the foreperson courses, building craftsperson schools and master craftsperson courses, which are all completed with a final examination and serve to provide higher vocational qualifications.