Public consultation – the Professional Qualifications Act

Policy development
Regulation/Legislation
Norway
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Timeline
  • 2020Legislative process
  • 2021Completed
ID number
38816

Background

A brief overview of the context and rationale of the policy development, explaining why it is implemented or why it is important.

The purpose of the act relating to recognition of professional qualifications (the Professional Qualifications Act) is to allow professionals who are nationals of an EEA State or Switzerland to exercise their profession in Norway under the same conditions as professionals who obtained their professional qualifications in Norway. The government has suggested changes to the act and the suggestions were sent on a public consultation round in 2020.

Objectives

Goals and objectives of the policy development.

The objective of the changes is to make it easier to foreign vocational qualifications to be recognised in Norway. This is intended to enable more people to use their qualifications in Norway.

Description

What/How/Who/For whom/When of the policy development in detail, explaining its activities and annual progress, main actors and target groups.

The suggested changes relate not only to formal education but also include a comprehensive review of what people can do when it is being considered whether they can practice their profession in Norway. Additionally, some of the principles in the act and associated regulations shall also apply to individuals with professional qualifications from third countries.

A set of principles were suggested:

  1. the approval principle: when processing applications, emphasis must be on the overall professional qualifications and not just the formal education. If the sum of the comprehensive professional qualifications is not significantly different from the requirements in Norway, approval should be granted;
  2. compensatory measures: when an applicant lacks the necessary qualifications for approval, the applicant should be informed of measures such as a trial period, aptitude test or supplementary education where such offers are available;
  3. partial admission: when an applicant's qualifications cover parts of the tasks an approval gives the right to perform, approval may be granted for this part of the profession;
  4. timing for assessment of language requirements: as a general rule, language requirements are not set in the approval process, but before the person in question is about to start working. The applicant can thus find out whether they qualify for professional practice while language training is still continuing.

The suggested changes relate not only to formal education but also include a comprehensive review of what people can do when it is being considered whether they can practice their profession in Norway. Additionally, some of the principles in the act and associated regulations shall also apply to individuals with professional qualifications from third countries.

A set of principles were suggested:

  1. the approval principle: when processing applications, emphasis must be on the overall professional qualifications and not just the formal education. If the sum of the comprehensive professional qualifications is not significantly different from the requirements in Norway, approval should be granted;
  2. compensatory measures: when an applicant lacks the necessary qualifications for approval, the applicant should be informed of measures such as a trial period, aptitude test or supplementary education where such offers are available;
  3. partial admission: when an applicant's qualifications cover parts of the tasks an approval gives the right to perform, approval may be granted for this part of the profession;
  4. timing for assessment of language requirements: as a general rule, language requirements are not set in the approval process, but before the person in question is about to start working. The applicant can thus find out whether they qualify for professional practice while language training is still continuing.
2020
Legislative process

The suggested changes were under a public consultation round until August 2020 when all those affected were invited to send their comments.

2021
Completed

The public consultation ended and the suggestions were being processed in the act.

Bodies responsible

This section lists main bodies that are responsible for the implementation of the policy development or for its specific parts or activities, as indicated in the regulatory acts. The responsibilities are usually explained in its description.
  • Ministry of Education and Research (KD)

Target groups

Those who are positively and directly affected by the measures of the policy development; those on the list are specifically defined in the EU VET policy documents. A policy development can be addressed to one or several target groups.

Learners

  • Adult learners

Other

Skilled workers

Thematic categories

Thematic categories capture main aspects of the decision-making and operation of national VET and LLL systems. These broad areas represent key elements that all VET and LLL systems have to different extents and in different combinations, and which come into focus depending on the EU and national priorities. Thematic categories are further divided into thematic sub-categories. Based on their description, policy developments can be assigned to one or several 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.

Learners' possibilities of accumulation, validation and recognition of learning outcomes acquired non-formally and informally

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. 

Subsystem

Part of the vocational education and training and lifelong learning systems the policy development applies to.
IVET
CVET

Further reading

Sources for further reading where readers can find more information on policy developments: links to official documents, dedicated websites, project pages. Some sources may only be available in national languages.
Link to the Professional Qualifications Act
Link to the public consultation on the Professional Qualifications Act

Country

Norway

Type of development

Policy developments are divided into three types: strategy/action plan; regulation/legislation; and practical measure/initiative.
Regulation/Legislation
Cite as

Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2026). Public consultation – the Professional Qualifications Act: Norway. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2026). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2025 update) [Online tool].

https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/38816