SFIVET is active in the following areas:

• Provision of basic and continuing training to teaching staff at VET schools and PET colleges as well as to vocational trainers at industry training centres or trade schools and other VET professionals.
• Training of qualified VPET specialists through the Master of Science in VET programme.
• Training of examiners as mandated by the Confederation.
• Support to cantons, professional organisations and schools in their efforts to develop programmes and implement reforms both in the upper-secondary level VET and tertiary level PET sectors.
• Pursuit of three research themes as well as internal evaluations to shed light on VET-related issues primarily from the standpoint of education science, economics, psychology and sociology.

As an interface between researchers and practitioners, SFIVET ensures that knowledge is transferred to practice. SFIVET maintains close ties with national and international partners from the business and academic worlds.

With regional campuses in three of Switzerland's linguistic regions,
German-speaking region (Zollikofen/Bern, classroom space Zurich),
French-speaking region (Lausanne)
Italian-speaking region (Lugano)
and its institutionalised network of VET/PET partners (OPET, the cantons and professional organisations), SFIVET helps coordinate the VET/PET system at the national level.