The Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (SFIVET) derives from the previous Swiss Pedagogical Institute for Vocational Education (SPIVE).
SPIVE was established in Zollikofen in 1972. A second campus was opened in Lausanne in 1975 for the French-speaking region of Switzerland and a third in Lugano in 1991 for the Italian-speaking region.
SPIVE's mandate covered basic and continuing training of vocational teachers in the commercial-industrial field, particularly full-time and part-time vocational teachers responsible for teaching and/or managerial, guidance or mediation activities.
Further tasks included the implementation of research and development projects in the vocational education field and the publication of studies and technical reports.
In 2001, the Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology (OPET) broadened SPIVE's mandate to include the training of vocational teachers in the commercial field and the training of VET qualification procedure examiners.
In January 2007, SPIVE became the Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (SFIVET). This change resulted from two far-reaching reforms of the Swiss educational system:
With these two reforms and the newly transferred tasks and competences, the structures and organisation of the Institute were adjusted and the courses were positioned to cover the whole of Switzerland. The SFIVET is the Confederation's competence centre for basic and continuing training of VET/PET professionals as well as for research and development in the VET/PET field.