Comparing and recognising VET qualifications
The recognition of vocational education and training (VET) qualifications acquired abroad is becoming increasingly important in Europe. Skills mobility, labour market integration and access to further learning depend on transparent and reliable ways of understanding what foreign VET qualifications mean in practice. Yet comparing VET qualifications remains complex, as qualifications differ across countries in terms of occupational profiles, learning outcomes, institutional contexts, assessment arrangements and links to labour markets.
The Cedefop project Comparing and recognising VET qualifications aims to support the development of a user-oriented methodology for the recognition of foreign VET qualifications. It addresses recognition for employment and further learning purposes and is relevant for recognition services, competent authorities, education and training providers, and employers. The project is linked to wider European priorities on skills portability and mobility, including the Union of Skills and the Skills Portability Initiative.
The project is organised in three phases:
- In 2026–2027, existing international, European and national recognition frameworks, methodologies and tools are reviewed.
- In 2027–2028, national practices for recognising foreign VET qualifications across Europe will be analysed, including common approaches, challenges and innovative solutions.
- In 2028–2029, the evidence gathered will be used to develop and validate a practical methodology to support the understanding, comparison and recognition of foreign VET qualifications.
The project builds directly on earlier Cedefop projects on the comparison and analysis of VET qualifications coordinated by 3s. Cedefop carried out a pilot study comparing ten VET qualifications across ten European countries and developed and tested methodologies for analysing similarities and differences in qualification content and profiles (2015–17). This methodology was further tested internationally in cooperation with ETF and UNESCO, comparing selected qualifications across 26 countries worldwide (2017–19). Furthermore, 3s explored – contracted by Cedefop — methodologies for the in-depth analysis and comparison of qualifications based on learning outcomes, further strengthening the evidence base for mutual learning and policy development (2019–21).
The overall project is coordinated by ICF. 3s contributes as a project partner, together with Ockham IPS, the Danish Technological Institute and Tavistock Institut Germany. The team is involved across all three project phases. Karin Luomi-Messerer leads the third work assignment and contributes as work assignment lead across the project. Monika Auzinger is also part of the 3s team; Julia Fellinger and Daniel Unterweger contribute to country research in Austria and Germany in the second work assignment.
Project: Comparing and recognising VET qualifications
Contact: Karin Luomi-Messerer
Client: Cedefop
Duration: 05/2026-05/2029
