- 2021Pilot
- 2022Implementation
Background
Validation of prior learning (Validation des Acquis de l’Expérience, VAE) is the third way to obtain certification alongside initial training and continuing training; it was introduced in France by the Social Modernisation Act of 17 January 2002.
Any person involved in working life is entitled to have their experience validated throughout their life, in order to promote their integration or professional development. Validation of prior learning is a lever for access to qualification available to all without any age, status, nationality, level of qualification conditions. All the qualifications included in the national directory of vocational certifications (Répertoire national des certifications professionnelles, RNCP), i.e. approximately 2 700 certifications, can be obtained through VAE.
VAE supports continuing professional training and is a tool for promotion and career development. VAE falls within the framework of the European Council recommendation of 20 December 2012 on the validation of non-formal and informal learning and within the framework of the European skills strategy for sustainable competitiveness, social equity and resilience.
However, in recent years, it has been observed that there is insufficient successful participation in VAE, and this is something that needs to change through its modernisation.
Objectives
VAE must become more attractive for job seekers as well as for employees undergoing professional retraining. One of the objectives of the renovation of VAE is to combat recruitment tensions in the labour market, i.e. in the health and social care, early childhood, and social economy sectors.
One main goal is to increase the number of beneficiaries, by targeting 100 000 beneficiaries per year by 2027. It is important to note that the results in 2021 showed 30 000 beneficiaries. Additionally, we aim at an increase of the candidates' success rate.
Furthermore, the right of prior learning validation is expected to be strengthened with regard to the following key points:
Requirements for benefiting from the VAE
The law provides universal access to VAE. Any person, and no longer only people involved in working life, are able to benefit from the validation scheme. The validation system is open to any experience allowing this way all skills directly related to the qualification concerned to be taken under consideration. For example, caregivers are now able to use VAE to demonstrate the skills they have acquired in assisting family members with personal and general health care. Work placement periods (internships) are taken into account over the period of experience, and the minimum of one year for the requested duration of experience has been removed.
Possibility of acquiring a skills block from a qualification
VAE will no longer be aimed solely at acquiring full qualification. It will be possible to acquire one or more skills blocks from a vocational qualification.
Duration of VAE leave
In order to give employee candidates the time needed to prepare for their validation test, the maximum duration of the VAE leave has been increased to 48 hours, instead of 24.
Description
The minister delegated for vocational training announced an ambitious reform at the end of 2022.
Law No 2022-1598 of 21 December 2022 on emergency measures relating to the functioning of the labour market includes several provisions that reform VAE along three lines:
- simplification: facilitating the admissibility stage, shortening routes and harmonising funding rules;
- making validation paths more secure: the law individualises and strengthens the support provided to candidates, giving them the opportunity to take additional training during the validation process and to benefit from a longer period of absence to prepare for sessions before the jury;
- a national public service in the form of a digital platform that concentrates information for users and organises the various stages in the VAE process.
Since 2021 several pilots have been launched, in particular by the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Professional Integration, in order to transform the validation of prior learning (Validation des acquis de l'expérience, VAE). The methodology used for this reform is an agile method, based on iterations between field trials with the public and evaluation of the effects produced.
The first REVA pilot (Reconnaître et valider l'expérience) aimed at simplifying VAE: for four months, under the impetus of the labour ministry and in cooperation with the public employment service (Pôle emploi), REVA offered 200 people with experience in the personal services to individuals sector the opportunity to obtain a diploma in this field (i.e. Family life assistant, Dependency care assistant).
From 2022, this measure is part of the national implementation plan for the VET Recommendation, and more specifically relates to Actions, ‘Bridges between different forms of lifelong learning’ and ‘Modularisation of training pathways’ under 'Reinforcing the individualisation of training paths and the fluidity of lifelong learning'.
Adoption of Law No 2022-1598 of 21 December 2022 on emergency measures relating to the functioning of the labour market with a view to full employment foresees the creation of a public VAE service (Groupement d’intérêt public, GIP). The State, the regions, the Employment Centre (Pôle emploi), the national agency for adult vocational training (AFPA), skills operators (OPCOs) and ‘Transitions pro’ associations are ex officio members of the GIP. The mission of the GIP is to guide and support candidates by providing them personalised guidance, promote VAE, lead and coordinate players and ensure statistical monitoring. The provisions of the same law make it possible to set up a digital one-stop shop, in the form of an online portal for the procedures of VAE candidates.
The law also foresees the continuation and expansion of the pilot project REVA with a second round named REVA 2 from September 2022 to June 2023. REVA 2 started in September 2022 supported by the Ministry of Labour. The aim of REVA 2 is to further simplify and speed up the certification of professional skills through VAE. The pilot focuses on the following professional sectors: dependence; health and care, and early childhood. REVA 2 helps beneficiaries by providing personalised support; funding for support entirely paid for and managed by the support provider; and a simplified process. REVA 2 also makes it possible for employee candidates to obtain the certifications targeted in six to eight months, while continuing to work and carry out their usual activities. The objective of this second pilot was also to support the preparation of the implementing decrees of the law mentioned above.
Bodies responsible
- Ministry of Labour, Employment and Professional Integration (until 2022)
- Ministry of Labour, Full Employment and Inclusion
- Delegate Minister for VET under the education and labour ministers
Target groups
Learners
- Adult learners
- Unemployed and jobseekers
- Persons in employment, including those at risk of unemployment
- Low-skilled/qualified persons
Entities providing VET
- VET providers (all kinds)
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 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