Building the European map of qualifications – Latest NQF developments

The workshop offered a platform for policy-makers, stakeholders, experts, and researchers to engage in discussions on the latest NQF developments and trends across countries participating in the EQF process. Cedefop presented the key findings of its policy brief ‘Building the European map of qualifications’, aiming to collect reflections and ideas on the upcoming 2024 update of the European inventory of NQFs. The event was an opportunity to exchange views on the progress made in the EQF process over the past 2 years, and discuss success factors, persisting challenges and future priorities.

The European qualifications framework (EQF) was adopted in 2008 and revised in 2017. It has significantly contributed to increasing transparency, comparability and portability of qualifications across Europe. It has also triggered the development of learning-outcomes-based national qualifications frameworks (NQFs) in most of the 41 countries participating in the EQF process. Countries are working towards improving the way NQFs are included as main features of education and training policies, and increasing their awareness and use. Countries have reported considerable progress in opening up frameworks to qualifications awarded outside formal education and training. According to them, NQFs most often have a positive impact on promoting transparency of qualifications and the use of learning outcomes.

This event triggered an overall discussion on both the significant progress that has been made in the EQF process so far, and the future priorities, based on the experiences of national-level developments. Key topics addressed reflected the increasing use of NQFs by citizens, the development of inclusive frameworks, and ways to capture the NQF impact. The workshop adopted a visionary and global-oriented perspective, looking ahead to the future.

The event engaged policy-makers, researchers, experts, and stakeholders involved in developing and implementing regional and national qualifications frameworks.