The COVID-19 crisis is leading to reductions in work-based learning opportunities for vocational education and training (VET) students. This policy brief argues that VET programmes can be adapted to deliver practical components of VET in school-based settings when there is a persistent shortage of work-based learning opportunities. It also describes how innovative technologies such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and simulators can be utilised to facilitate school-based delivery of practical learning, but also to improve the effectiveness of face-to-face and online teaching in VET in the longer‑term.