22
Qualifications Framework in the European context [Coles 2006]
An instrument for the development and classification of qualifications according to a set of criteria for levels of learning achieved. This set of criteria may be implicit in the qualifications descriptors
themselves or made explicit in the form of a set of level descriptors. The scope of frameworks may be comprehensive of all learning achievement and pathways or may be confined to a particular
sector for example initial education, adult education and training or an occupational area. Some frameworks may have more design elements and a tighter structure than others; some may have a
legal basis whereas others represent a consensus of views of social partners. All qualifications frameworks, however, establish a basis for improving the quality, accessibility, linkages and public or
labor market recognition of qualifications within a country and internationally.
The criteria for the qualification levels and qualification types are expressed as learning outcomes that is, the expression of what the graduate the qualification holder knows, can do, and can apply in
context such as the workplace or further learning. The use of learning outcomes, often a paradigm shift for many education systems, requires qualifications to change from an internal institutional
perspective of learning inputs to externally benchmarked statements of the outcomes to be achieved by graduates. The shift to learning outcomes is about transparency of qualifications that is, transparency
about what is taught and also that assessment matches the promise of the agreed qualification criteria.
The shift to learning outcomes-based qualifications, a key feature of a qualifications framework, puts assessment front and center. This does not negate the importance of quality teaching and learning, but
it does allow different pathways to achieving a qualification which may not be based on formal learning. Recognition of an individual’s existing capability for applying knowledge and skills gained in the non-
formal and informal spheres can be assessed against the learning outcomes and lead to the issuing of a qualification. Mechanisms for formally assessing these capabilities, most notably referred to recognition
of prior learning RPL, maximize the existing human resources available for the workforce and reduce pressure on education systems for formal learning. Accumulating credit through RPL and other formal
credit arrangements facilitates pathways into and through the qualification system and is often one of structural aspects of a national qualifications framework.
Accompanying the implementation of learning outcome-based qualifications is the requirement for external benchmarks. Qualifications are the culmination of a body of knowledge and skills developed for
a purpose, usually for employment but also for further learning that ultimately leads to employment. Hence the external benchmarks for qualifications are the standards for undertaking an occupation or
occupational standards, also referred to as competency standards or professional standards. Occupational standards are agreed by the nation’s industry stakeholders such as employer peak bodies,
professional associations and labor unions and are informed by international standards reached by mutual agreements by countries’ occupational agencies.
3.2.1 Quality assurance
An essential aspect of a qualifications system, and the foundation for implementation of a national qualifications framework, is quality assurance which provides confidence in the qualifications issued.
External quality assurance arrangements, robust enough to satisfy stakeholders and social partners, are essential if confidence and trust in qualifications is to be established. Successful implementation of a
national qualifications framework is underpinned by robust quality assurance arrangements to provide credibility for the qualifications in the framework and users’ confidence in qualifications awarded.
Credibility and confidence are important both nationally and internationally if the qualifications are to be recognized as having value. Quality assurance must cover the approval processes of the programs of
study leading to qualifications often referred to as accreditation, approval of providers authorized to deliver, assess and issue the qualifications often referred to as accreditation or registration.
23 The international overview accompanying this report looks at both the quality assurance processes put
in place for higher education institutions and the quality assurance standards against which approval of programs of study and the providers that deliver them are assessed. Together the processes and the
standards form the educational quality assurance arrangements required for a national qualifications system based on a qualifications framework.
Quality assurance arrangements are at different stages of development around the world as is the case with the varying stages of development and implementation of qualifications frameworks. However,
there is general consistency in how quality assurance is operationalized around the world in countries with qualifications frameworks as the four countries studied illustrate.
Collectively these examples highlight the different levels of maturity of national qualification systems, the similarity in arrangements but also the contrast in approaches. What is evident in these four
examples is that they have moved beyond the use of collegiate and internal peer-based quality improvement methodologies for their quality assurance although this remains an important additional
tool for continuous improvement used by some, for instance New Zealand and for others newer to external quality assurance like Hong Kong see Table-9.
In summary, if qualifications are to be valued by the holders of qualifications the graduates, the labor market employers of both professional and skilled human resources and labor unions, governments
and the community and have credibility internationally, a country needs a set of standards for its qualifications that are nationally acceptable and can be translated internationally. To establish the
value, credibility and stakeholder trust, the qualifications framework must be situated within a qualifications system. The component parts of a qualifications system necessary to implement a
qualifications framework are illustrated by those already in place and are well documented.
Around the world, higher education tends to be characterized by a demarcation between the older established universities which traditionally are autonomous educational institutions, usually with the
authority to approve their own programs of study, and newer higher education providers some of which have been granted university status. The former usually have a strong tradition of research, are often
ranked highly in the prestigious international ranking tables and commonly attract the best national students as well as international students.
The established universities are typically small in number in any country and work cooperatively to maintain the quality of education and research amongst their collegiate membership. The latter,
because of their short histories, are rarely granted self-approval and monitoring status and are subject to external quality assurance by government-sponsored agencies. This distinction is so in the case study
countries and it influences the quality assurance arrangements in these countries.
3.2.2 Levels in the qualifications framework
