- 2016Implementation
- 2017Implementation
- 2018Implementation
- 2019Implementation
- 2020Completed
Background
There is no single all-encompassing strategy for validation of prior learning (VPL, realkompetansevurdering) nationally. However, there are laws and regulations on validation of prior learning for each level of education and training. The counties at regional level are responsible for validation of prior learning at primary and secondary level, and the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training has developed guidelines for the validation process. Skills Norway has developed guidelines for validation in higher vocational education and higher education. There are also validation mechanisms in enterprises, such as the documenting workers' competences tool mentioned in the Basic Agreement between the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO) and the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO).
Objectives
To develop a single all-encompassing strategy for validation of prior learning nationally.
Description
The main initiative relates to validation of skills for refugees and migrants. Measures have been taken to speed up the mapping and validation of skills and competences of refugees and other recent immigrants. The Ministry of Education and Research has allocated extra funding support from the 2016 budget. Skills Norway coordinates the Erasmus+ project VISKA (2017-20) on validation of prior learning for asylum seekers, immigrants and low- qualified adults. In the Norwegian trials, refugees have been validated in their own language or in English, making it possible to recognise their skills and competences at an early stage in their integration process. NOKUT (the Agency for Quality Assurance in Education) is working on possible ways of fast track assessment of higher education qualifications. It participates in a pilot project with similar methodology, The European qualifications passport for refugees. This passport provides an assessment of higher education qualifications, upper secondary VET qualifications and post-secondary vocational qualifications based on available documentation and a structured interview.
No new developments took place in 2019.
To integrate refugees and immigrants into working life more quickly, the government proposed having their prior learning assessed in languages other than Norwegian and Sami. According to previous regulations, this assessment had to take place in one of these two languages. The proposed solution would give the county municipalities an important tool to speed up the process and get immigrants quickly into work. A public consultation on amendments to regulations to the Education Act were conducted and the regulation was changed and put into effect in 2020.
Bodies responsible
- Ministry of Education and Research (KD)
- Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT)
Target groups
Other
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 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.
European and international dimensions of VET
This thematic category covers both European and international cooperation in initial and continuing VET, aimed at promoting EU VET systems as a European education and training area and making it a reference for learners in neighbouring countries and across the globe.
Expanding opportunities and increasing participation of VET learners, young and adult, and staff in international mobility for learning and work, including apprenticeship and virtual and blended mobility, account for most initiatives in this thematic category.
Apart from established and financially supported EU cooperation, VET opens up to cooperation and promotion of European values and national practices beyond the EU, which is becoming a trend. This thematic category also encompasses internationalisation strategies, transnational cooperation projects and initiatives – including those where joint VET programmes, examinations and qualifications are developed – and participation in international skills competitions that promote the image of VET. Using international qualifications – awarded by legally established international bodies or by a national body acting on behalf of an international body – in the national VET systems and recognising them towards national qualifications is also in focus.
This thematic sub-category applies to using in a country, qualifications awarded by a legally established international body (association, organisation, sector or company) or by a national body acting on behalf of an international body. International qualifications are used in more than one country and include learning outcomes assessed with reference to standards established by an international body (Council Recommendation on the European qualifications framework for lifelong learning, 2017). Some examples include the Microsoft or Cisco certificates in the ICT sector, the European e-competence framework for ICT professionals, and International Welders Federation qualifications (Cedefop, 2018).
Subsystem
Further reading
Country
Type of development
Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Validation of skills for refugees and migrants: Norway. 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/28782