- 2015Implementation
- 2016Implementation
- 2017Implementation
- 2018Implementation
- 2019Implementation
- 2020Implementation
- 2021Implementation
- 2022Implementation
- 2023Implementation
- 2024Implementation
Background
In the context of the National system for the certification of competences, the National repertory of educational, training and vocational qualifications is established as a unitary framework for competence-based training design, identification of competences acquired in formal, non-formal and informal learning contexts, tailored lifelong learning pathways, certification and transparency. The National repertory sets the basis for the creation of the Italian NQF.
Objectives
- Guarantee individual mobility and support the match between supply and demand of skills in the labour market; heighten the recognition and transparency of learning acquired and needs, as well as the use of certifications at national and European level;
- ensure the readability, consultation and portability of qualifications and competences for lifelong learning in the context of the National system for the certification of competences.
Description
In 2013, the Legislative Decree No 13 article 8 sets up the National repertory of education and training and professional qualifications.
In 2014, the National Technical Committee was established and works for the development of the National repertory that is a comprehensive collection of national, regional and sectorial repertories existing and encoded by the entitling bodies. The entitling bodies are the qualification authorities: education ministry (for school and university qualifications), regions (for VET qualifications), economic development ministry, EU policies department (for regulated professions), and labour ministry (for non-regulated professions).
Starting from the National repertory labour and education ministries, regions and the National Institute for Public Policy Analysis (INAPP), have developed the Atlas of work and qualifications, a comprehensive map of the work activities and qualifications; the atlas model was adopted as reference for the implementation of the National framework of regional qualifications (QNQR).
In 2016, INAPP published the Atlas of work and qualifications.
In 2019, the National Technical Committee, established by Legislative Decree No 13/2013 art. 3, initiated a written procedure which foresaw the important role of the atlas in the national repertory of regional qualifications.
In 2020, the implementation of the sections of the Atlas of work and qualification continued.
- Work atlas section: the work descriptions of the 24 professional economic sectors were updated as a result of the annual maintenance procedure as established by the Decree of 30 June 2015.
- Atlas and qualifications section: updating of the National repertory of educational and training qualifications and vocational qualifications continued.
- Atlas and professions section: collection and description activities of the world of professions continued, with the updating of the repertories of apprenticeship professions, regulated professions and regional qualifying qualifications.
On 5 January 2021, the labour ministry, in agreement with the education ministries, and the public administration, issued a Decree that makes operational the Guidelines for the interoperability of awarding bodies of the National system of the certification of competences. The guidelines were prepared in agreement with the regions and autonomous provinces, following the agreement reached in the unified conference on 5 November 2020. This legislative Act completes the architecture of the National system for the certification of competences and provides a common reference framework for awarding bodies: minimum standards of the system; essential performance levels; criteria for the implementation and regular updating of the National repertory of educational and training qualifications and vocational qualifications; and progressive implementation of the unique information backbone through the interoperability of central and territorial databases for the worker's electronic booklet.
The guidelines also formally established that the National repertory adopts the atlas as a device for the access and systematisation of information: the repertory is accessible in the atlas and qualification section.
From March 2021 to December 2021, the implementation of the Atlas of work and qualifications continued.
In the Atlas, Work section, based on the maintenance activity established by the Ministerial Decree of 30 June 2015, the descriptors of the following professional economic sectors (SEP) were updated: food production; textile; footwear and fashion system; financial and insurance services; digital services; education; and training and employment services.
The Atlas describes the content of work using a tree-like classification scheme. This scheme starts with the main branches consisting of the economic and professional sectors (SEP), then identifies within them the main work processes. The work processes are divided into process sequences and activity areas (ADA). The ADA contains the description of the individual activities that constitute it, the expected products and services as well as references to the statistical classifications of economic activities and occupations. The common area consists of the following processes:
- general affairs, secretarial and facilities management;
- administration, finance and management control;
- organisation, human resources management and security;
- marketing, business development and public relations;
- production process management, quality, technical functions and internal logistics;
- interpretation and translation.
In the Atlas and Qualifications section, based on the Decree of 7 July 2020, the qualifications and diplomas and the related competences of the vocational education and training pathways (IeFP) were integrated and updated. The competences of the figures of higher technical institutes (ITS) were also updated.
In 2022, work on the sections of the Atlas of work and qualifications continued.
Two additional sections were included:
- the Atlas for research and innovation, which is designed to host experiments related to Atlas. This section presents the outputs of the European project ValueChain (European Framework DigComp 2.1 elaboration based on the methodology of Work Atlas), and the results of the Macrocompetenze project (which created a macro-competence index capable of measuring and monitoring the degree of digitization of Atlas descriptors);
- the Atlas for qualification design, which is a section dedicated to project capitalisable and certified learning paths, with a video tutorial as a guide to navigating the Atlas for this purpose.
A video was published explaining the procedure for maintaining the Atlas.
Additionally, the work descriptions of 24 professional economic sectors had been updated as part of the annual maintenance procedure established by the Decree 'Provisions for the adoption of the Guidelines for the interoperability of awarding bodies of the National system of the certification of competences' of 5 January 2021.
Regarding the Atlas and qualifications section the update of the National repertory of educational and training qualifications and vocational qualifications continued.
Regarding the Atlas and professions section the work on collecting and describing professional activities continued by updating the repertories of apprenticeship professions, regulated professions and regional qualifications.
In 2023, work on the sections of the Atlas of work and qualifications continued.
The work descriptions of 24 professional economic sectors had been updated as part of the annual maintenance procedure established by the Decree 'Provisions for the adoption of the Guidelines for the interoperability of awarding bodies of the National system of the certification of competences' of 5 January 2021.
In 2024, the implementation of the sections of the Atlas of work and qualification continued.
a. Atlas and qualifications section: updating of the National repertory of educational and training qualifications and vocational qualifications continued.
b. Atlas and professions section: collection and description activities of the world of professions continued, with the updating of the repertories of apprenticeship professions, regulated professions and regional qualifying qualifications.
Bodies responsible
- Ministry of Labour and Social Policies
- Ministry of Education and Merit
- Ministry of Education (until 2022)
- Regions and autonomous provinces
- Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (until 2019)
Target groups
Learners
- Learners in upper secondary, including apprentices
- Young people (15-29 years old)
- Adult learners
Education professionals
- Adult educators
Entities providing VET
- Companies
- VET providers (all kinds)
Thematic categories
Governance of VET and lifelong learning
This thematic category looks at existing legal frameworks providing for strategic, operational – including quality assurance – and financing arrangements for VET and lifelong learning (LLL). It examines how VET and LLL-related policies are placed in broad national socioeconomic contexts and coordinate with other strategies and policies, such as economic, social and employment, growth and innovation, recovery and resilience.
This thematic category covers partnerships and collaboration networks of VET stakeholders – especially the social partners – to shape and implement VET in a country, including looking at how their roles and responsibilities for VET at national, regional and local levels are shared and distributed, ensuring an appropriate degree of autonomy for VET providers to adapt their offer.
The thematic category also includes efforts to create national, regional and sectoral skills intelligence systems (skills anticipation and graduate tracking) and using skills intelligence for making decisions about VET and LLL on quality, inclusiveness and flexibility.
This thematic sub-category refers to the integration of VET into economic, industrial, innovation, social and employment strategies, including those linked to recovery, green and digital transitions, and where VET is seen as a driver for innovation and growth. It includes national, regional, sectoral strategic documents or initiatives that make VET an integral part of broader policies, or applying a mix of policies to address an issue VET is part of, e.g. in addressing youth unemployment measures through VET, social and active labour market policies that are implemented in combination. National skill strategies aiming at quality and inclusive lifelong learning also fall into this sub-category.
This thematic sub-category refers both to formal mechanisms of stakeholder engagement in VET governance and to informal cooperation among stakeholders, which motivate shared responsibility for quality VET. Formal engagement is usually based on legally established institutional procedures that clearly define the role and responsibilities for relevant stakeholders in designing, implementing and improving VET. It also refers to establishing and increasing the degree of autonomy of VET providers for agile and flexible VET provision.
In terms of informal cooperation, the sub-category covers targeted actions by different stakeholders to promote or implement VET. This cooperation often leads to creating sustainable partnerships and making commitments for targeted actions, in line with the national context and regulation, e.g. national alliances for apprenticeships, pacts for youth or partnerships between schools and employers. It can also include initiatives and projects run by the social partners or sectoral organisations or networks of voluntary experts and executives, retired or on sabbatical, to support their peers in the fields of VET and apprenticeships, as part of the EAfA.
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 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.
European priorities in VET
VET Recommendation
- Flexibility and progression opportunities at the core of VET
Osnabrück Declaration
- Establishing a new lifelong learning culture - relevance of continuing VET and digitalisation
Subsystem
Further reading
Country
Type of development
Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). The Atlas of work and qualifications: Italy. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2024 update) [Online tool].
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/28677