Quality, a requirement for generating trust in qualifications

To be of any value, a qualification must be trusted. Whether a certificate or diploma can be used for employment or further education largely depends on the learning outcomes acquired by the individual who has completed a programme and passed the required exams. Systematic quality assurance arrangements underpin trust. Education and training institutions which lack quality assurance arrangements risk finding themselves in the company of fake 'qualifications'. Trust is also fundamental to ongoing implementation of qualifications frameworks across Europe. Qualifications frameworks aim to make it easier for individuals to use qualifications across institutional and national borders. This requires describing qualifications as learning outcomes. Systematic quality assurance makes it possible to judge whether there is real value attached to the paper presented by a candidate.