ANNEX

GLOSSARY

Automatic mutual recognition of a qualification: the right for holders of a qualification of a certain level that has been issued by one Member State to be considered for entry to a higher education programme in the next level in any other Member State, without having to go through any separate recognition procedure. This shall not prejudice the right of a higher education institution or the competent authorities to set specific evaluation and admission criteria for a specific programme. It does not prejudice the right to check, if the qualification is authentic and, in case of an upper secondary education and training qualification, if it really gives access to higher education in the Member State of issuance or, in duly justified cases, if the granted qualification meets the requirements for accessing a specific higher education programme in the receiving Member State.

Automatic mutual recognition of the outcomes of a learning period abroad: at higher education level, the right to have the learning outcomes of a learning period recognised: as agreed beforehand in a learning agreement and confirmed in the Transcript of Records, in line with the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS). Concretely, it means applying the rule set out in the 2015 ECTS Users' Guide that states that: ‘[a]ll credits gained during the period of study abroad or during the virtual mobility – as agreed in the Learning Agreement and confirmed by the Transcript of Records – should be transferred without delay and counted towards the students' degree without any additional work or assessment of the student’. At upper secondary level, the right to have the learning outcomes from a learning period abroad in one Member State recognised in the country of origin, provided that the learning outcomes are broadly in line with those in the national curricula of the country of origin. This shall not prejudice the right of an education and training institution to set specific requirements in advance of a period of learning mobility, or to check that those requirements have been fulfilled on return from a period of learning mobility.

Blockchain: a way of enabling information to be recorded and shared by a community. Each member of the community maintains his or her own copy of the information. Entries are permanent, transparent and searchable. Each update is a new ‘block’ added to the end of a ‘chain’.

Certificate Supplement: a document attached to a vocational education and training or professional certificate issued by the competent authorities or bodies, in order to make it easier for third persons – particularly in another country – to understand the learning outcomes acquired by the holder of the qualification, as well as the nature, level, context, content and status of the education and training completed and skills acquired.

Course Catalogue: described in the ECTS Users' Guide (2015) as ‘[t]he Course Catalogue includes detailed, user-friendly and up-to-date information on the institution's learning environment (general information on the institution, its resources and services, as well as academic information on its programmes and individual educational components) that should be available to students before entering and throughout their studies to help them to make the right choices and use their time most efficiently. The Course Catalogue should be published on the institution's website, indicating the course/subject titles in the national language (or regional language, if relevant) and in English, so that all interested parties can easily access it. The institution is free to decide the format of the Catalogue, as well as the sequencing of the information. It should be published sufficiently in advance for prospective students to make their choices’.

Competent authority: an individual or organisation that has the legally delegated or invested authority, capacity or power to perform a designated function.

Credential Evaluator: a person who evaluates qualifications or makes decisions on their recognition.

Diploma Supplement: a document attached to a higher education diploma issued by the competent authorities or bodies, in order to make it easier for third persons – particularly in another country – to understand the learning outcomes acquired by the holder of the qualification, as well as the nature, level, context, content and status of the education and training completed and skills acquired.

European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes: endorsed by Education Ministers of the European Higher Education Area in 2015, its objective is to improve quality assurance of joint programmes by setting standards and removing obstacles to their recognition.

European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET): a technical framework for the transfer, recognition and, where appropriate, accumulation of individuals' learning outcomes with a view to achieving a qualification. The European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training relies on the description of qualifications in units of learning outcomes, on transfer, recognition and accumulation processes, and on a series of complementary documents, such as memoranda of understanding and learning agreements.

European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS): described in the ECTS Users' Guide (2015) as ‘[a] learner-centred system for credit accumulation and transfer, based on the principle of transparency of learning, teaching and assessment processes. Its objective is to facilitate planning, delivery and evaluation of study programmes and student mobility by recognising learning achievements and qualifications and periods of learning’.

European Higher Education Area Qualifications Framework (EHEA QF): overarching framework for qualifications within the 48-country European Higher Education Area. It comprises four cycles (short cycle, Bachelor, Master, doctoral studies), including, within national contexts, intermediate qualifications, generic descriptors for each cycle based on learning outcomes and competences, and credit ranges in the first and second cycle.

European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR): a register of quality assurance agencies, listing those that have demonstrated their substantial compliance with a common set of principles for quality assurance in Europe. These principles are set out in the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG).

European Quality Assurance in Vocational Education and Training (EQAVET): a community of practice which brings together Member States, social partners and the European Commission to develop and improve quality assurance in vocational education and training.

European Qualifications Framework (EQF): translation tool that aids communication and comparison between qualifications systems in Europe. Its eight common European reference levels are described in terms of learning outcomes: knowledge, skills and responsibility and autonomy. This allows any national qualifications systems, national qualifications frameworks and qualifications in Europe to relate to the European Qualifications Framework levels. Learners, graduates, providers and employers can use these levels to understand and compare qualifications awarded in different countries and by different education and training systems.

Learning Agreement: in higher education, defined in the ECTS Users' Guide (2015) as ‘[a] formalised agreement of the three parties involved in mobility – the student, the sending institution and the receiving institution or organisation/enterprise – to facilitate the organisation of credit mobility and its recognition. The agreement is to be signed by the three parties before the start of the mobility period and it is intended to give the student the confirmation that the credits he/she successfully achieves during the mobility period will be recognised’. In upper secondary education and training, an agreement of the three parties involved in mobility – the pupil/trainee, or his/her family, the sending institution and the receiving institution or organisation/enterprise – to facilitate the organisation of the learning period and its recognition. All three parties signing the Learning Agreement commit to comply with all the agreed arrangements, thereby ensuring that the pupil/trainee will receive the recognition for the learning period or learning outcomes without any further requirements.

Learning outcomes: statements of what a learner knows, understands and is able to do on completion of a learning process, which are defined in terms of knowledge, skills and competences.

National qualifications framework: an instrument for the classification of qualifications according to a set of criteria for specified levels of learning achieved, which aims to integrate and coordinate national qualifications subsystems and improve the transparency, access, progression and quality of qualifications in relation to the labour market and civil society.

Higher education institution: any type of higher education institution which, in accordance with national law or practice, offers recognised degrees or other recognised tertiary level qualifications, whatever such establishment may be called, as well as any other type of higher education institution which is recognised by the national authorities as belonging to its higher education system.

Qualification: a formal outcome of an assessment and validation process which is obtained when a competent authority or body determines that an individual has achieved learning outcomes to given standards.

Recognition of prior learning: the recognition of learning outcomes, whether from formal education and training or non-formal or informal learning, which were acquired before requesting validation (1).

Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG): a set of standards and guidelines for internal and external quality assurance in higher education, developed within the Bologna Process. They provide guidance on areas which are vital for successful quality provision and learning environments in higher education. The Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area should be considered in a broader context that includes qualification frameworks, the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System and the Diploma Supplement, all of which contribute to promoting transparency and mutual trust in the European Higher Education Area.

Transcript of Records: defined in the ECTS Users' Guide (2015) as ‘[a]n up-to-date record of the students' progress in their studies: the educational components they have taken, the number of European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System points they have achieved, and the grades they have been awarded. It is a vital document for recording progress and for recognising learning achievements, including for student mobility. Most institutions produce the Transcript of Records from their institutional databases’.

(1)  Council Recommendation of 20 December 2012 on the validation of non-formal and informal learning (OJ C 398, 22.12.2012, p. 1).