Kuben Upper Secondary School (Kuben) is a joint vocational and general academic school with internationalisation as one of its strategies. Providing our students with the possibility of an international experience is one of our measures to decrease the drop out rate, and increase the recruitment and elevating the status of vocational studies in Oslo. Providing the vocational students possibilities of an international experience will help in that regard. We want to show the students the opportunities in their chosen field of study/work, to give them a taste of a European community of their chosen field, and to give them a better understanding and a critical view of their training in Norway by letting them compare with methods in the host countries.Kuben wants to send the following mobilities:- Up to 6 2nd year hair dressing students and one accompanying teacher to City College Brighton & Hove (CCB). The students will spend 4 weeks at the college while living with English host families. The work placement will take place late in spring, so that their stay coincides with the time when the local students mainly do practical work in the college's two saloons. The placement will make up an important part of the practical component of their training. The Kuben students will receive 5 hours a week of English Communications with other international students, and take part in extra curricular activities the International Office arranges. The accompanying teacher stays for 4 days, both to safeguard the students, and to meet with key staff at CCB to evaluate and plan for the continued cooperation.- Up to 4 2nd year students from our health-worker program, and 4 from our childhood and youth-worker program, plus 2 accompanying teachers, one from each program, for work placement with our partners in Alicante, Spain. The work placement lasts for 4 weeks and the students will stay in a guarded apartment complex, where 4 and 4 share an apartment, and are looked after by a local contact person. The partner in Spain is the Norwegian School Costa Blanca, who let us use their local partner institutions for work placements. The health-worker students are placed at a Norwegian care centre for the elderly. The childhood and youth-workers at a Norwegian/international kindergarten. In addition to their work placement the students are given 3 hours per week Spanish lessons.The recruitment process starts while the students are still in 1st year. Returning participants hold a presentation to 1st year students about their experiences in Brighton or Alicante. At the start of the 2nd school year relevant classes will again be informed about the possibility for the work placement, and the criteria for being selected as a participant. These are: little and only documented absence, proven interest in their chosen subject through both schoolwork and extra curricular activities, and that they trough their application and interview demonstrate why they should be selected and how they will represent Kuben in a satisfactory manner. The selected participants will be called in for preparatory meetings and will receive written information and contracts. 1-2 weeks before departure, participants and their parents/guardians will attend a Departure meeting. All participants are equipped with a folder with all necessary information and documents.The possibility of having a work placement period abroad will also be marketed externally. This is partly with a view to recruiting, but it is equally important to highlight the efforts that Kuben with our international program, makes for vocational studies in Oslo.All work placement periods will be included as part of the students' in-depth study project in 2nd year. The quality of the contents of the placement period is matched against the Norwegian curricula. The supervisors at the institutions and teachers at CCB are obliged to evaluate the Kuben participants and send this evaluation to the teachers at Kuben.Kuben have experienced that such projects have several positive effects, in particular for the participants and their classmates, but also for the status of the school and vocational studies in general. Participants and their classmates through dissemination, achieve a greater knowledge and understanding of their chosen profession and the opportunities that exist outside of Norway. It is also important that future students are shown that there are opportunities abroad for those who choose vocational studies, as there is a prevailing belief that only the program for general academic studies gives students the opportunity to do so. After their return the participants will share their experiences with their classmates and the other students and staff at Kuben, with professional networks in Oslo, fellow apprentices through the Department of Vocational training's yearly seminars for apprentices, and more.