The European Qualifications Framework
The European Qualifications Framework (EQF) is the basis for Switzerland’s own National Qualifications Framework for Vocational and Professional Qualifications (NQF VPQ) as well as for national qualification frameworks in other European countries. It serves as a frame of reference for all European countries and makes it possible to compare qualifications within Europe.
The EQF was developed by the European Union in 2008.
It is comprised of eight reference levels, each of which expresses learning outcomes on the basis of three descriptors: ‘Knowledge’, ‘Skills’ and ‘Competence’. With each level, qualification holders progressively take on greater responsibility and work more independently. Many European countries have used the EQF to develop their own NQFs. An up-to-date overview can be found on the EQF portal.
In order to enable comparison of qualifications referenced to different NQFs (i.e. because not all NQFs have the same number of reference levels), each NQF is referenced to the EQF. Here, European countries use pre-established criteria to determine which NQF reference level corresponds to which EQF reference level. This mapping of national qualification frameworks to the European one is facilitated by a document referred to as an EQF referencing report, which is presented to the EU’s EQF Advisory Group.
Switzerland successfully completed the process of referencing its NQF VPQ to the EQF when it presented its EQF Referencing Report in 2015. The eight levels of the NQF VPQ are perfectly aligned with all eight levels of the EQF. Therefore, the NQF VPQ reference level indicated in each certificate supplement (for upper-secondary level vocational qualifications) and diploma supplement (for tertiary-level professional qualifications) matches the corresponding level in the EQF.