National Qualifications Framework
Ireland
The National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI) was established in 2001 on a statutory basis under the 1999 Qualifications (Education and Training) Act. Its first task was to establish and maintain a national qualifications framework (NQF). The outline Framework was published in October 2003. It is described as "The single, nationally and internationally accepted entity, through which all learning achievements may be measured and related to each other in a coherent way and which defines the relationship between all education and training awards". (NQAI)
The NQF is outcomes based, that is to say that it is based on ten levels, each of which has a descriptor which set out that level's characteristic outcomes of learning in terms of type and breadth of knowledge, know-how and skill, and competences. Each level has one or more major award types, eg. Honours Bachelor Degree, and each award type has a separate descriptor. Major award types will be associated with a typical volume of outcomes, described in terms of a number of academic credits (eg. Honours Bachelor Degree, 180 or 240 ECTS credits). The NQF does not have a regulatory function; it aims to describe the types of awards or qualifications that exist and show how they relate to each other, to clarify entry and exit points and routes for progression to further levels and between sectors, and to maximise the opportunities for transfer of credit between qualifications. Such Frameworks are 'learner-centred' in that they serve primarily to assist 'learners' to plan and progress their learning.
- The Universities and the National Framework of Qualifications (IUA) (PDF, 306 KB)
- National Qualifications Authority of Ireland, 'Determinations Relating to the Outline National Framework of Qualifications (PDF, 7 MB)'.
UK
A 12 level Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) has been introduced in Scotland. More information on SCQF.
- The
national qualifications framework (NQF) for England, Wales and Northern Ireland
The framework for higher education qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Qualifications Frameworks in Europe
EU Commission Staff Working Document: 'Towards a European qualifications framework for lifelong learning (PDF, 375 KB)', 2005.
The development of qualifications frameworks at national and European level was formally introduced into the Bologna Process in the 2003 Berlin Communiqué (PDF) in the context of enhancing the possibilities for lifelong learning in higher education. Ministers called for qualifications frameworks "to encompass the wide range of flexible learning paths, opportunities and techniques and to make appropriate use of the ECTS credits", and stressed the need "to improve opportunities for all citizens, in accordance with their aspirations and abilities, to follow the lifelong learning paths into and within higher education".
The Bergen Communiqué (PDF) (2005) refers to the continuing development of qualifications frameworks as "an opportunity to embed lifelong learning in higher education", and calls for further progress towards creating opportunities for "flexible learning paths in higher education, including procedures for the recognition of prior learning".
Work began in 2004 on developing an overarching qualifications framework for the European Higher Education Area, which would promote greater transparency and mobility of qualifications by enabling national frameworks to be related to each other.