Estonia: reforming the professional qualifications system for greater flexibility and labour market relevance

The professional qualifications system serves as a bridge between education and the labour market, helping individuals develop, assess, and certify their competences regardless of how they acquired them. However, the current system faces several challenges, including a slow and complex process for updating qualifications standards, overlapping competence assessments, and fragmented governance with many bodies responsible for different tasks. The reform aims to simplify these processes by merging advisory bodies, and reducing administrative burdens for both learners and employers.

A major issue addressed by the reform is the rigidity of qualifications standards in developing VET programmes. Currently, VET schools are required to revise their curricula whenever a qualification standard changes, a process that takes time and limits the ability of schools to adapt quickly to workforce demands. This results in employers’ dissatisfaction with VET, as the current standards focus on specific occupational skills rather than broad, cross-sector competences increasingly required in the modern workplace.

The reform introduces competence profiles alongside traditional qualifications standards. Competence profiles will be primarily used for unregulated professions and will describe the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary for success in each field, serving as a foundation for VET and micro-qualification programme development. Each competence profile will be assigned a level under the Estonian Qualifications Framework.

In designing the reform, Estonia has analysed best practices from countries with strong skills-based qualifications systems, such as Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Canada, and Australia. These countries have successfully implemented modular qualifications and recognition of prior learning, ensuring that professional qualifications remain relevant and adaptable to emerging labour market needs. 

A key feature of the reform is the restructuring of the governance model. The existing sectoral qualifications councils and expert panels, responsible for assessing labour market skill needs, will be consolidated into 25 expert councils. These councils will include representatives from employers, education providers, and State institutions, ensuring a more coordinated approach to skills forecasting and qualification development. Additionally, the process for updating qualifications standards will be streamlined, making it easier to adjust training programmes in response to economic and technological changes.

The reform package includes drafting of a new Professions Act and amendments to the Vocational Education Standard, introducing new possibilities for qualifications assessment in VET in cooperation with employers. The plan for the new legislation has been sent to partners for consultation and the reformed system is scheduled to go into effect in autumn 2026.