Qualifications and qualification systems
Qualifications and qualification systems are essential to individuals, the economy and society. They signal the knowledge and skills that people possess, enabling them to:
- access education or training
- obtain a job or pursue a career,
- move between countries for work or study.
No other tool represents a person’s capacities as effectively as qualifications.
Employers and schools rely on qualifications when selecting candidates. Parents want their children to earn good qualifications for better prospects. Learners and workers feel rewarded when their efforts lead to certificates and diplomas.
The European Training Foundation (ETF), therefore, advises countries on improving their qualification systems so that people can access learning and find jobs more easily.
How the ETF helps countries develop better qualifications
The ETF works with countries undergoing major social and economic change, advising on education reforms to meet these challenges. In qualifications, we prioritise:
Digitalisation
Databases helping learners choose programmes and employers understand applicants’ credentials.
The ETF also offers
- guidelines for establishing national qualifications databases
- policy briefing: Network of national qualifications databases).
Micro-credentials
Micro-credentials certify skills gained through short courses or rapid learning. The ETF offers a guide to micro-credentials to help providers, credential evaluators, and learners develop and understand them.
Linking national qualifications frameworks
Countries and regions are responding to the globalisation of technologies, trade and migration by linking their qualification frameworks, so that people’s qualifications can be recognised when they move for study or work abroad. The ETF supports by:
- providing the comparison of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) with the national qualifications framework (NQF) of Ukraine (see the comparison report of the EQF and the Ukrainian NQF) and Cape Verde.
- advising the African Union in its development of the African Continental Qualifications Framework, which contributes to the African Union’s agenda in education, trade and free movement in the next decades.
Validation of non-formal and informal learning and recognition of skills and qualifications
Formal certificates are useful, but skills gained through work, volunteering or personal life also matter. Countries should exploit these valuable experiences for the good of the individual, society and economy, by developing validation systems that acknowledge and confirm their skills. The ETF has analysed progress in their validation of non-formal and informal learning systems (see our cross-country reports 2022 and 2024 and find out more about the national validation systems in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye and Ukraine).
Recognition of foreign qualifications
The recognition of foreign qualifications enables migrants to access programmes or be recruited for work in the EU, and for returnees to do the same when they go back to their country of origin. Effective recognition systems can help both the EU fill its pressing labour shortages and third-country citizens to be employed – and paid – at the right skill level. The ETF is supporting the improvement of these systems (see our 2023 mapping of qualifications recognition centres and our article on the mutual benefits of qualifications and skills recognition).
ETF partnerships and resources
The ETF has a longstanding partnership with Ukraine, intensified since the current war began. The ETF’s Ukraine Info Hub provides Ukrainians living in the EU with practical guidance, links and contacts on qualifications, programmes, employment and careers guidance. EU schools, colleges and employers can also find information on Ukraine’s education and training systems, including qualifications.
The ETF maintains and updates data on partner country qualifications systems in its NQF inventory. Find out more about the national qualifications system in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cape Verde, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, North Macedonia, Palestine, Serbia, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
The ETF also contributes to the Global Inventory of National and Regional Qualifications Frameworks, a co-production with Cedefop and UNESCO. See the latest edition: Vol. I. Thematic chapters and Vol. II. National and regional case studies.
To engage in discussions on qualifications, go to ETF Open Space dedicated page.