Validation arrangements

A working group formed by different members of the General Council for Vocational Training has been reviewing the procedure regulated in RD 1224/2009, collecting the different visions and making proposals. An internal report was presented in one the Council's meetings in May and the authorities are assessing its feasibility.

The first Strategic plan for vocational training set the issue of validation as one of its strategic axes (Axis 6: accessibility to the recognition of the skills acquired by means other than formal training), and laid down two main objectives:

1. to review the regulations for accreditation of professional competences acquired by work experience and release public calls of national scope to intensify and streamline accreditation processes;
2. to create a procedure to accredit basic competences (linguistic, mathematical and digital) for 20 000 adults per year.

In February 2020, the VNFIL one-off report of Spain was presented to the EQF advisory group.

The Reconoce project, with the participation and commitment of the Institute of Youth of Spain (INJUVE), together with the regions' youth authorities, has managed to gather a network of more than 240 volunteer-based organisations, public authorities and companies. These entities accredit the competences of youth volunteers thanks to 170 evaluators; more than 23 000 volunteers have already benefited from this project.

Volunteers can obtain certification of each competence they request through an APP from a catalogue of 12 skills. These competences are grouped into three categories -self-management, communication and organisation - highlighted by different studies as the skills most valued by recruiting companies.

The validation of skills acquired through non-formal, informal learning and work experience is one of the 11 strategic lines included in the plan for the modernisation of VET presented in 2020. Its aim is the generalisation of the procedure set in 2009, with a special concern for people excluded from the labour market during the COVID-19 crisis. The actions considered include the opening of a permanent open call process for the validation of professional skills, by setting up a permanent registration structure in the responsible regional units and the constant operation of the validation procedures in any professional branch (line 1.1.); the inclusion of validation of basic skills (linguistic, mathematical, and digital skills) to be incorporated into validation procedures to facilitate progression in a training itinerary leading to a full qualification (line 1.2); and implementation of skills validation plans by sectors and companies, with the collaboration of trade unions and employers' organisations in each sector (line 1.3).

Training courses on specific professional competences of a modular, short duration, and certifiable nature, are to be added to the national catalogue of occupational standards (CNCP), making them as accessible as possible in any situation. It is envisaged to create a register of qualifications and certifications associated with the VET system to provide citizens with a document listing all VET programmes they have completed.

A permanent call for the validation of professional skills acquired during work experience is to be designed. Its objective is to validate by 2023 the skills of 40% of the workforce under 55 years of age who lack a qualification, equivalent to 3.35 million beneficiaries. In 2020, over EUR 265.6 million were allocated for skills validation, of which nearly EUR 128 million already distributed to the Autonomous Communities for skills validation of 502 800 people.

An extraordinary 3-year credit of EUR 724 million has been earmarked to speed up the process and support the regional authorities in charge of implementing validation procedures. The 2009 Royal Decree regulating the validation procedure is being revised; an amendment, addressing the minimum essential and necessary for reasons of urgency, is expected.

The Ministry of Education and Vocational Training is currently urgently processing an initial modification of specific aspects of RD1224/2009 regulating validation procedures to allow the regions to implement funds from the national recovery and resilience plan. Among the aspects to be introduced is the creation of an open and flexible procedure, so that any citizen with work experience or non-formal training can apply for validation of their skills without having to wait for the competent administrations to publish the call for applications for the units of competence they wish to validate. The number of years of work experience required to participate in the validation procedure has been increased from 10 to 15 and the requirements for assessors and evaluators have been made more flexible, among other measures. The revision and updating of RD1224/2009 is to be completed with the contributions of the Working Group of the General Council for Vocational Training.

The Recognize project has continued to gain new partners. To support companies in identifying and valuing skills young people develop during volunteering, a series of meetings Recognise companies (Reconoce Empresas) was launched. In the first meeting, a web application was presented, through which young people who volunteer repeatedly can apply for official certification of the skills acquired. Awareness raising and dissemination activities are being carried out in different Autonomous Communities.

Royal Decree 143/2021, amending specific aspects of RD1224/2009 on validation procedures, was approved and published in March. It sets a permanent procedure for assessing professional skills acquired through work experience, affecting all productive sectors and addressing a basic workers' right.

The government approved the distribution of EUR 115.71 million to the Autonomous Communities through the Territorial cooperation programme earmarked for the accreditation of professional competencies for the 2021 financial year. The goal is to accredit the skills of around 450 000 workers this year and to reach 3 million by 2023. The amendment aims to contribute to the objectives of the plan for the modernisation of VET (2019-23), presented in July 2020, with an initial budget of almost EUR 852.5 million. The national recovery and resilience plan supports this initiative.

The draft Organic Act on VET, which is in the pipeline, takes into account Royal Decree 143/2021 and consolidates this new model, abolishing the occasional calls limited to some units of competence and advances new lines:

1. opening it to all existing units of competence;
2. implementing them through all vocational training centres;
3. guaranteeing the necessary training offer to complement non-accredited competences;
4. involving companies in the accreditation of their workers.

The Reconoce project continued to grow as the COVID-19 pandemic led to a threefold increase in the number of volunteers in Spain in 2021. It reached 271 accreditation bodies, 289 assessors and 1 984 volunteers, involving more than 300 people in awareness raising and training.

The accreditation system/tool is currently undergoing expansion and renewal to make it accessible to any legal entity (including public authorities) that ensures learning spaces for transversal skills.

Currently, volunteers can obtain two types of certification: they can validate their volunteering experience and associate it with the skill level assessment they choose and they can unify this information into a summary certificate.

The assessment and accreditation of professional skills, acquired through work experience and non-formal training pathways for people without professional qualifications is one of the actions included in Spain´s NIP.

Regarding this procedure, Resolution of 11 July 2022, of the General Secretariat for Vocational Training, publishing the Agreement of the Sectoral Conference on Education of 23 June 2022, defines a series of strategic actions with the aim of fulfilling the objective of the plan for the modernisation of VET.

The first action, on the assessment and accreditation of competences acquired through work experience and non-formal training, sets 748 463 accredited competence units for the financial year 2022 and a milestone of 3 000 000 accredited competence units for the whole action by the end of 2024. This action corresponds to component: 20 of the strategic plan for the promotion of vocational training, for which an investment of EUR 179 631 120 was earmarked.

Also, Title VI of the Organic Act 3/2022, of 31 March, on the organisation and integration of vocational training, published in the Official State Gazette on 1 April 2022, is dedicated to the accreditation of competences. This law takes up the provisions of the RD143/2021 making the process of accreditation more flexible.

In the meantime, regional administrations have continued to call for permanent procedures for the accreditation of competences, following the resolution of 11 July 2022.

Finally, the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training launched a call for the accreditation of two units of competence on digitalisation applied to the professional environment, acquired through non formal training which were not included in the offer of VET degrees or in professional certificates:

1. UC2490_2: Applying digital enabling technologies for the management of devices and data in the professional environment;
2. UC2491_2 Applying digital enabling technologies for content management in the professional environment.

The Reconoce (Recognise) initiative was very active in 2022 and with 441 entities, it has almost doubled the number of both public and private entities that are part of the network, and have registered with the tool and are certifying skills.

In total 2 905 young people have registered to have their experiences and skills recognised. The project now has 406 people who evaluate skills, and more than 4700 registered skills.

In 2022, the Reconoce team also continued to improve their app.

In 2023, the education ministry launched the tool ACREDITA, a guidance tool to help citizens find out which professional competences they can accredit from their work experience or non-formal/informal training. On ACREDITA webpage, citizens can:

1. find out how to complete their training to obtain a VET qualification;
2. help on how to register for the accreditation procedure on the website of the regional authorities that issues the call for applications.

The education ministry also launched an online virtual space for counsellors, advisors and evaluators in the accreditation of skills process which also provides extra information than ACREDITA webpage.

The website also contains access to evidence guides and self-assessment questionnaires by sector branches.

In 2024, the education ministry kept fostering validation arrangements by promoting the changes developed in the previous years on recognition and skills validation by:

1. offering a permanently open procedure for accreditation for the VET institutions depending on the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports: Ceuta and Melilla;
2. shortening deadlines in the accreditation process;
3. expanding the network of VET centres implementing validation processes;
4. proposing a complementary training pathway by the career orientation guidance in the ministry to each of the candidates once the process has been completed;
5. updating the specific virtual space created in 2023 to provide guidance on the process on the TodoFP platform, easily accessible to all citizens.

The education ministry continued working on the following initiatives:

1. collaboration agreements with Autonomous Communities, companies, social partners and organisations to ease workers participation in accreditation processes. Among others: Spanish Chamber of Commerce, Social partners, Spanish Social Economy Business Confederation (CEPES), Institute for Youth (INJUVE), Federation of Rural Women's Associations (FADEMUR) and Castilla y León Family Business Foundation;
2. publication of the agreement with the Ministry of Defence for the training and accreditation of professional military personnel reservists, troops and seamen. This Interdepartmental agreement between the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports and the Ministry of Defence for training linked to the Catalogue of professional skills and professional skills validation procedures aimed at professional military personnel of troops and sailors, who maintain a temporary service relationship with the armed forces and reservists of special availability from this scale;
3. agreement with the Home Office on training activities linked to the catalogue of professional standards and skills validation procedures for people deprived of their liberty.
4. permanent open procedure for professional accreditation of skills linked primarily to digitalisation. Since 2022, a total of 55 970 people have participated, with a total accreditation of 111 940 units of competence.

Regional skills validation processes continued.