Refer to structures designed at the national, regional (groups of nations), and/or international levels to guide planning, implementation, and maintenance of education and training systems, particularly higher education systems. The term, qualifications, refers to the categories and descriptions of the levels of educational and vocational qualifications (the quality or accomplishment that makes someone suitable for a particular job or activity). When combined into a framework, the qualifications enable understanding and comparisons among the different qualifications. Levels within Qualifications Frameworks are often described by learning outcomes, skills, and knowledge that are aligned with the levels.

Qualifications Frameworks are used to:

• Help create the conditions for consistency and transparency in educational and training systems operated within a nation, region, and/or globally.
• Enable employers and educational institutions to assess and recognize qualifications, which in turn facilitate mobility and transferability across education and training pathways.
• Enable individuals to learn the various levels of education and training which may be pertinent to their interests and plan their education and career pathways.
• Create quality assurance indicators used by third-party groups established by governments and industries to provide checks and balances to educational and training systems. These may include reviewing the levels of Qualifications Frameworks, the learning outcomes at each level, the standards-setting approaches, and evidence of learner outcomes. Key to checks and balances is the determination of each qualification level (for example, what is a level 1, 2, 3 or 4 and why?)

See Topic Brief: Qualifications Frameworks (QFs) | Learn & Work Ecosystem Library