Making the content of qualifications (certificates, diplomas and titles) easier to understand:
- helps individuals to enter and progress through quality education and training throughout life
- encourages citizens to change career or move abroad
- makes qualifications and training more compatible
- leads to more consistent policies in the fields of employment and education and training.
Cedefop helps individuals, education and training providers and the labour market to understand European qualifications by contributing to the development of common European tools and principles: the European qualification framework (EQF), the European credit system for vocational education and training (ECVET), Europass and the European Quality Assurance Reference Framework (EQARF), based on the new approach to learning outcomes and qualifications.
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- The European qualifications framework (EQF) provides 8 levels for the description and comparison of qualifications in qualifications systems.
The EQF acts as a translation grid to make learning outcomes more understandable across countries, sectors and systems.
Cedefop carries out comparative studies and analysis on the implementation of the framework at EU, national and sectoral level.
- The European credit system for vocational education and training (ECVET) is a mechanism for expressing qualifications in units of learning outcomes.
ECVET helps to validate learning outcomes, promotes learner mobility and encourages mutual trust and cooperation between stakeholders.
Cedefop provides support to the implementation of the ECVET Recommendation at EU, national and sectoral level.
- Europass is a five-document framework to help citizens improve the way they communicate their skills and competences to make it easier for them to work or study in Europe.
The Europass CV and the language passport are filled in by citizens.
The Europass mobility is issued to citizens moving abroad to study or work, the Certificate supplement is issued to holders of vocational education or training certificates and the Diploma supplement is issued to holders of higher education degrees.
Cedefop designed and maintains the Europass website, which is available in 26 languages.
- The European Quality Assurance Reference Framework (EQARF) helps Member States to improve the quality of their vocational education and training (VET) systems.
EQARF uses common European references, such as quality indicators, criteria and indicative descriptors.
Cedefop provides analysis of approaches to quality and supports cooperation between experts and stakeholders on quality in VET.
- The new approach to learning outcomes and qualifications helps implementation of the European tools.
Cedefop conducts comparative studies and analysis of the use of learning outcomes (defined in terms of knowledge, skills and competences) to develop qualifications (curriculum development, educational and occupational standards) and their recognition (assessment, validation and certification).
