Qualifications framework causes concern

The European Commission published its draft legislation for a European Qualifications Framework (EQF) at the beginning of September, after a lively round of consultation. But universities remain concerned that too big a gap exists between the proposed EQF and the qualification structure that is being developed under the Bologna process of higher education reform.

The EQF is intended to provide a common language to describe qualifications, from the beginning of school to the end of university and in other forms of education such as vocational training and adult education. It will be voluntary and will not require governments to change national qualifications structures, where they have them. Instead it is intended to act as a translation structure, making different national qualifications comprehensible across Europe.

The Commission argues that this will promote access to education and training, particularly when people move between EU member states. The idea has been a favourite of EU governments, who have pushed it along as part of the Lisbon Agenda for growth and jobs.

The core of the EQF is a set of eight reference levels describing in general terms what a learner knows, understands and is able to do. This emphasis on learning outcomes is in contrast with traditional approaches to defining qualifications, which tend to emphasise inputs such as the length of a learning experience or the type of institution attended. These frequently mean different things in different countries. This outcomes approach is intended to allow the EQF to make a better match between education and training provision and the needs of the labour market, and to put a value on learning acquired outside formal education systems.

Higher education falls under levels 5 to 8 of the EQF: level 5 matches what is known as the higher education short cycle, which is usually linked to a bachelor degree. Level 6 equates with a completed bachelor degree, level 7 with a masters degree, level 8 with a doctorate.

But while these levels line up with the three cycles of higher education established under the Bologna process, the definitions used in the EQF are not an exact match. Despite complaints from the universities that differences would cause problems in the future, the Commission has stuck to its argument that its own definitions are required in order to accommodate vocational and other forms of education at an advanced level. This is "absolutely vital if the EQF is to be a truly lifelong learning framework", the Commission says.

This tension between the demands of the different constituencies can also be seen in the European Parliament, which perceives EQF as primarily about classifying the outcomes of vocational training, with the validation of non-formal and informal learning processes a further high priority. MEPs pressed during the consultation for simplification of the reference levels, to give a clear hierarchy of qualifications with unambiguous distinctions between them, the better to serve this mission relative to vocational training.

These debates are set to continue during the political process, which the Commission hopes will be complete by the end of 2007. If this goes to plan, member states will be encouraged to apply EQF to their national qualifications systems by 2009.

The European Commission published its draft legislation for a European Qualifications Framework (EQF) at the beginning of September, after a lively round of consultation. But universities remain concerned that too big a gap exists between the proposed EQF and the qualification structure that is being developed under the Bologna process of higher education reform.