- 2015Design
- 2016Design
- 2017Design
- 2018Approved/Agreed
- 2019Implementation
- 2020Implementation
- 2021Implementation
- 2022Implementation
- 2023Implementation
- 2024Implementation
Background
A National repertory of education, training and professional qualifications has been in development since 2013.
Objectives
Implementation of National qualifications framework and National strategy for the certification of competences.
Description
A national strategy on lifelong learning has been defined, together with the implementation of legislative norms on the identification and validation of competences acquired in different contexts, through which the National system for the certification of competences has been launched. Since 2012, as a consequence of the Recommendation for validation of non-formal and informal learning (2012), a national legal framework on validation of competences has been progressively developed in Italy.
The establishment of the NQF is part of the implementation process stated by the Legislative Decree 13/2013 on the General norms and standards for the definition and validation of informal and non-formal learning and for the definition of a minimum standard framework of services for the certification of competences. As a first step, an initial EQF referencing process was carried out between 2009 and 2012 linking national formal qualifications, as well as those awarded by regions in the framework of the State-regions agreement, directly to the eight EQF levels. The first Italian referencing report was adopted in December 2012 and presented to the EQF advisory group in May 2013 (Italian technical working group, 2012). The qualifications involved in the process were for general education, higher education (academic and non-academic), and VET qualifications in the framework of State-regions agreements. At this point, an important area of...
A national strategy on lifelong learning has been defined, together with the implementation of legislative norms on the identification and validation of competences acquired in different contexts, through which the National system for the certification of competences has been launched. Since 2012, as a consequence of the Recommendation for validation of non-formal and informal learning (2012), a national legal framework on validation of competences has been progressively developed in Italy.
The establishment of the NQF is part of the implementation process stated by the Legislative Decree 13/2013 on the General norms and standards for the definition and validation of informal and non-formal learning and for the definition of a minimum standard framework of services for the certification of competences. As a first step, an initial EQF referencing process was carried out between 2009 and 2012 linking national formal qualifications, as well as those awarded by regions in the framework of the State-regions agreement, directly to the eight EQF levels. The first Italian referencing report was adopted in December 2012 and presented to the EQF advisory group in May 2013 (Italian technical working group, 2012). The qualifications involved in the process were for general education, higher education (academic and non-academic), and VET qualifications in the framework of State-regions agreements. At this point, an important area of Italian qualifications was missing regional qualifications. In 2015, to enable implementation of the national repository (as foreseen in Decree 13/2013 art.8), stakeholder agreement was reached on an operational common framework for national recognition of regional qualifications and related skills - the National framework of regional qualifications (QNQR) - followed by an inter-ministerial decree.
The rationalisation of the regional qualifications was necessary for entering the national repertory and for making regional qualifications recognisable at the national level. This highly relevant national result represented the precondition to the establishment of the NQF. Qualifications referenced to the NQF and referred to in Article 8 of the legislative decree No 13 of 16 January 2013 are included in the Atlas of work and qualifications in the specific section National repertory of qualifications of education and training and professional qualifications.
According to the technical proposal developed by the EQF national coordination point (NCP), in line with the Recommendation on the European qualification framework (EQF) (2017), the NQF was established by inter-ministerial Decree on 8 January 2018. One of the main challenges in establishing and implementing a comprehensive NQF in Italy has been the high number of stakeholders involved in the process, related to the complexity of the national education and training system, with diverse qualification repositories at national and regional level managed autonomously by the awarding bodies. The education ministry is responsible for qualifications awarded in general and higher education, while the regions and the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano are responsible for VET qualifications. The education and labour ministries have been leading developments in EQF-related processes, in agreement with the regions, autonomous provinces and social partners, as laid down in several agreements. All these institutions worked together for the implementation of the NQF in a committee established by the labour ministry. This technical committee includes all national and regional awarding bodies.
At this stage, the NQF is in implementation phase: all the qualifications issued in Italy will have to be included in the framework.
The implementation of the Italian NQF, allowing the referencing of all qualifications to the EQF, is a wide-ranging public tool, referred potentially to all types of stakeholders as its implementation might be seen as an advantage to those who would like to see skills and qualifications transparent for mobility purposes (geographic or sectoral), but also to those who would like to take part to upskilling and reskilling activities. In addition to that, the implementation of NQF serves as a framework for the validation of non-formal and informal learning, representing a chance for disadvantaged target groups, for ensuring equal opportunities and inclusiveness in education and training and the labour market.
Decree of 30 June 2015 on the implementation of the National framework of regional qualifications (QNQR) was adopted.
On 8 January 2018, with a Decree of the labour and education ministries, the establishment of National qualifications framework (QNQ) was formally adopted.
In 2019, for the application of the Decree of 8 January 2018 and the implementation of the national NQF, a technical process to update the first referencing report, began. In 2019, the EQF National Coordination Point (NCP), the National Agency for Active Employment Policies (ANPAL) presented a draft summary of the updated report to the technical committee of the labour ministry. This report was planned to contain the classifying criteria for all qualifications not yet referenced to EQF. At the same time, another labour ministry committee approved the guidelines for the interoperability of awarding bodies of the National system of the certification of competences (general norms and standards for the definition and validation of non-formal and informal learning and for the definition of a minimum standard framework of services for the certification of competences) which allowed the full operability of the national system for the certification of competences, in alignment with the provisions and requirements set by the Legislative Decree 13/2013. This approval- although necessary for the system to operate- wasn't formal (in terms of legislative intervention). These guidelines which function as a technical instrument, aim to support the efficient implementation of validation services for the portability of qualifications and skills. The validation and recognition of informal and non-formal learning supports individuals to return to formal education and training and to acquire a qualification or part of it for reintegration in the labour market. As per the European Recommendation, the connection to the NQF is a fundamental element for the further implementation of validation processes.
In 2020, based on the workplan of the European grant, the EQF NCP worked on the technical proposal on the update of the referencing report, which was then presented by the labour ministry at the National Technical Committee. The presentation had as a goal to share the updated contents of the report with the public competent authorities responsible for learning actions at national level, in accordance with the legislative context of the National system for the certification of competences and with the establishment of the NQF. The presentation of the technical proposal started a complex and long-lasting debate with all the subjects directly involved in the referencing procedure. From November to December 2020, four meetings were held with labour and education ministries and regional authorities involved in the process, discussing the proposal for finding a common vision.
The EQF NCP tried to 'link' the Italian qualifications and learning opportunities to the European Qualifications dataset register in the Europass website. Special emphasis was given to the analysis of the technical requirements. A pilot project was carried out for referencing learning opportunities.
In 2021, the update of the referencing report continued.
In 2022, the second Italian referencing report was presented to the Advisory Group and the social partners.
On 3 August 2022 the State-Regions Conference- established in 1997 is part of the Italian multi-governance system- agreed on a draft Decree on the updated referencing report to EQF. Following the agreement, the labour and education ministries started drafting an Interministerial Decree to finalise the formal procedure for the adoption of this second, updated referencing report.
On 15 June 2023 the joint decree of the labour and education ministries, adopted the Referencing Report of the Italian qualifications to the EQF, implementing the EQF Recommendation of 2017, aimed at improving the transparency, the comparability and the portability of qualifications of EU citizens. The updating procedure of the national report, updated in 2022 and adopted in 2023, was an essential step in the wider context of the EU cooperation in the education and training system policies within the strategic framework of EU Education and Training 2020-26 and of the future EU strategic frameworks, which is focused particularly at achieving the following objectives:
a. contribute to the modernisation of the education and training systems;
b. increase the employability, mobility and social integration of workers and learners;
c. ensure a better link between formal learning and non-formal and informal learning, with the aim of supporting the validation of the skills acquired in non-formal and informal learning (especially in the workplace).
On 11 October 2023 the Italian Referencing Report was presented to a wide public of stakeholder during a national seminar devoted to illustrating the innovations of the system within the European Year of Skills. The event was the occasion for presenting the essential steps of the updated Report, but it also gave the opportunity of contextualising the innovations introduced within the Italian NQF adopted in 2018 and through the national guidelines for the interoperability of National Competent Authorities of 2021, implementing the National Certification system, as stated in the legislative decree nr. 13/2013.
Until 2024 the EQF NCP was located at the National Agency for Active Labour Policies (ANPAL). In 2024 ANPAL ceased operations and the EQF NCP was transferred at the National Institute for Public Policy Analysis (INAPP). Currently, according to the updated Italian Referencing Report and consequent to new context of key policy actors, the NCP is redesigning the governance for the implementation of the 'Italian Referencing procedure of all qualifications to NQF/EQF issued at national and regional level'. The development of a NQF platform prototype, initially funded under the Grant agreement 2021-2023 (project JiTT), is ongoing under a new project (ToNQFit) funded by the Erasmus policy network grant agreement 2024-26. This platform is currently in the implementation phase, providing technical support for the referencing procedure and setting up the NQF Register of referenced qualifications. Once the redesign phase of the procedure is completed, testing pilots will be launched in cooperation with national competent authorities issuing qualifications at both national and regional levels. These aim to facilitate the creation of the register, enabling the interoperability of the Italian NQF with the Europass portal.
Bodies responsible
- Ministry of Labour and Social Policies
- Regions and autonomous provinces
- Ministry of Education and Merit
- Ministry of Education (until 2022)
- Ministry of Universities and Research
- Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (until 2019)
- National Institute for Public Policy Analysis (INAPP)
Target groups
Learners
- Adult learners
- Unemployed and jobseekers
Entities providing VET
- Companies
- Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
- VET providers (all kinds)
Other stakeholders
- Social partners (employer organisations and trade unions)
Thematic categories
Transparency and portability of VET skills and qualifications
European principles and tools, such as EQF, ESCO, ECTS, Europass and ECVET, provide a strong basis for transparency and portability of national and sectoral qualifications across Europe, including the issuing of digital diplomas and certificates.
This thematic category looks at how individuals are supported in transferring, accumulating, and validating skills and competences acquired in formal, non-formal and informal settings – including learning on the job – and in having their learning recognised towards a qualification at any point of their lives. This is only possible if qualifications are transparent and comparable and are part of comprehensive national qualifications frameworks. Availability of qualifications smaller than full and acquirable in shorter periods of time is necessary; some countries have recently worked on developing partial qualifications, microcredentials, etc.
This thematic sub-category refers to the application of EU transparency tools that allow recognition of qualifications among EU Member States (EQF, Europass, ESCO, ECTS). Among others, it includes linking national VET platforms and databases to Europass in accordance with the Europass Decision and EQF Recommendation and the use of the ECVET principles and tools, such as memoranda of understanding or learning agreements applied in mobility actions. The sub-category also covers measures on recognition of foreign/third-country qualifications for specific target groups, e.g. migrants or highly skilled professionals.
This thematic sub-category concerns all developments related to national qualification frameworks (NQFs). As in most countries NQFs are in place and referenced to the European qualifications framework (EQF), the thematic sub-category covers updating and expanding the frameworks, developing new qualifications and using NQFs as catalysts for other reforms.
This thematic sub-category refers to validation mechanisms allowing individuals to accumulate, transfer, and recognise learning outcomes acquired non-formally and informally, including on-the-job learning, or in another formal system. In case they are not automatically recognised, a learner can have these learning outcomes validated and recognised through a particular process with a view to obtaining a partial or full qualification. This thematic sub-category covers such provisions and mechanisms.
Supporting lifelong learning culture and increasing participation
Lifelong learning refers to all learning (formal, non-formal or informal) taking place at all stages in life and resulting in an improvement or update in knowledge, skills, competences and attitudes or in participation in society from a personal, civic, cultural, social or employment-related perspective (Erasmus+, Glossary of terms, https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/programme-guide/part-d/glossary-common-terms). A systemic approach to CVET is crucial to ensure adaptability to evolving demands.
This broad thematic category looks at ways of creating opportunities and ensuring access to re-skilling and upskilling pathways, allowing individuals to progress smoothly in their learning throughout their lives with better permeability between general and vocational education and training, and better integration and compatibility between initial and continuing VET and with higher education. Individuals should be supported in acquiring and updating their skills and competences and navigating easily through education and training systems. Strategies and campaigns that promote VET and LLL as an attractive and high-quality pathway, providing quality lifelong guidance and tailored support to design learning and career paths, and various incentives (financial and non-financial) to attract and support participation in VET and LLL fall into this thematic category as well.
This thematic category also includes many initiatives on making VET inclusive and ensuring equal education and training opportunities for various groups of learners, regardless of their personal and economic background and place of residence – especially those at risk of disadvantage or exclusion, such as persons with disabilities, the low-skilled and low-qualified, minorities, migrants, refugees and others.
This thematic sub-category refers to providing the possibility for individuals who are already in the labour market/in employment to reskill and/or acquire higher levels of skills, and to ensuring targeted information resources on the benefits of CVET and lifelong learning. It also covers the availability of CVET programmes adaptable to labour market, sectoral or individual up- and reskilling needs. The sub-category includes working with respective stakeholders to develop digital learning solutions supporting access to CVET opportunities and awarding CVET credentials and certificates.
This thematic sub-category refers to providing high-quality lifelong learning and career guidance services, including making full use of Europass and other digital services and resources.
European priorities in VET
VET Recommendation
- Flexibility and progression opportunities at the core of VET
Subsystem
Further reading
Country
Type of development
Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). The Italian national qualifications framework (QNQ): Italy. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2024 update) [Online tool].
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/fi/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/28676