ECVET - Application to mobility projects

ECVET: a tool designed to promote the transparency of qualifications and lifelong learning
ECVET is a European system of accumulation (capitalisation) and transfer of credits designed for vocational education and training in Europe. It enables the attesting and recording of the learning achievement/learning outcomes of an individual engaged in a learning pathway leading to a qualification, a vocational diploma or certificate in terms of units.
ECVET is associated with other transparency tools as EQF. ECVET allocates credit points to units in terms of learning outcomes to specify knowledge, skills and competence. The transparency is functional to the mutual trust between the competent bodies and other actors; thereby the certifications should be issued according to EUROPASS devices and the bodies should use the quality criteria suggested by CQAF and EQARF. ECVET is a device aiming to promote the transparency of qualifications and to facilitate the mobility of people undertaking training by the validation of the outcomes of lifelong learning.
According to a mutual reversibility perspective the University, the vocational training and other training bodies play an important role in the lifelong learning.

ECVET and units
ECVET is a concrete device intended to facilitate transfer and accumulation (capitalisation) of learning outcomes. Learning outcome is what an individual should know, understand and/or be able to do after a training programme . The learning outcomes of whole or part of the learning activities can be carried out within a module, training programme, courses, etc. but in ECVET the benchmark is the unit. A unit is a set of knowledge, skills and competence which constitute a part of a qualification. A unit can be the smallest part of a qualification - obtained in a formal, non formal and informal context - that can be assessed, validated and, possibly, certified. A unit can be specific to a single qualification or common to several qualifications. In the vocational training a unit should refer to a key-activity of a qualification.

ECVET and credit points
ECVET credit points are suggested as an additional source of information in numerical form. Being associated both with qualifications and units, ECVET credit points give a simple representation of the relative value of a unit of learning outcomes in relation to the whole qualification. They illustrate the proportion of the unit to the qualification. They also facilitate the transfer of learning outcomes in a concrete way by providing a common reference at European level between qualifications systems.
The credit is the unit of measure enabling and easing the comparison between training paths; it express the volume of learning outcomes (knowledge, skill, competence).
In spite of the complexity of the formative scenario allocating credit points to qualifications and units seems to be the only method employed by the competent bodies.
In the ECTS academic system the credit on average could be associated to the learning outcomes achieved by an individual in 25 hours (lessons, laboratory, individual study). The amount of notional learning activities and workload necessary for a learner to attain the set of learning outcomes can represent a criterion. Not all European countries agree on this criterion.

ECVET and methods for allocating credit points
Several methods are possible for determining the number of credit points to be allocated to a qualification and to units. The number of credits can be determined on the base of different criteria. For example, the contents of a qualification in terms of range and/or volume of knowledge, skills and wider competences to be acquired; the notional average length of a training programme, the workload necessary for a learner to attain the set of learning outcomes in a formal context, the effort made by a learner in a informal learning context. The choice of the method is not definitive even if several indications were provided.
The competent body at institutional level fixes the number of credit points to be allocated to a qualification (and the relating certificate) and then to units.
VET providers allocate the credit points; the recognition is a decision taken at national level by the competent bodies responsible of the qualification or its implementation.
ECVET is a tool developed under the subsidiarity area since it allocates and recognizes credit points to a whole or part of a training path carried out according to common standards which meet the specific local and national markets' needs.
It is a matter of principle that credit points allocated to a qualification may comprise a certain number of points from different levels. Thereby the competent body should fix the EQF-level of the qualification.
Credit points may be used to allow a learner to move from a learning system to another, or from a qualification to another; therefore the unit recognition can entail further integrations. In order to overcome the difficulties a key device (Memorandum of Understanding) between the parties in charge of issuing the qualification should be defined. Also a Learning Agreement should be drawn up between the sending and the host organisation. The sending and receiving institutions should set up what procedures and processes are followed to ensure fair validation and recognition. The allocation of credits to informal and non formal learning represents a critical matter which should be deepened.

ECVET and formal, non formal and informal learning
The unit doesn't always match with the formative unit. A VET provider may design training programmes and studies corresponding to KSC required for a whole qualification and for each unit. Formative units can be associated to units according to different modalities: one to one, one to many, many to many. They have different length, procedures and activities: laboratory, face-to-face lessons, study, practise. Formative units belong to the subsidiarity area since they depend on the users type, the educational and local context.
It's not necessary to know the formative units when allocating the credit points but they can facilitate the understanding and valorisation of the units.
In order to enable the recognition of the learning outcomes of the lifelong learning ECVET should facilitate the validation and transfer of non formal and informal learning. Such goal was not completely achieved since the informal learning doesn't use comparable units of measure and the non formal learning doesn't have a method to describe the jobs.

ECVET: benefits of credit system
One of the main obstacles to attracting more interest in mobility within the framework of initial and continuing vocational training is the difficulty in identifying and validating learning outcomes acquired during a stay in another country. ECVET facilitates and promotes the mobility. ECVET is a tool representing a benefit for VET trainers and providers, authorities since it enables to better compare the learning outcomes acquired in different countries.
The actors are:
- competent authorities responsible for ECVET implementation as well as the design of the assessment and validation procedures, the transfer and recognition of learning outcomes; they have to issue the qualifications in terms of learning outcomes (knowledge, skills and competences) and allocate credit points.
ECVET is based on the voluntary participation of the Member States and of the institutions responsible for the vocational training
- bodies performing the transfer of learning outcomes; the process can be described like a transaction: one body or institution assesses certain learning outcomes achieved and awards credits to the learner; the learner's credit is registered in a personal transcript of record; the second awarding body validates (accepts) the credits as a valid record of the learner's achievement and recognises them for the award of the qualification. ECVET promotes the mutual trust and cooperation between the competent bodies and other actors involved in the transfer and validation of learning outcomes.
ECVET represents a benefit for:
- students who can fully benefit from periods of transnational mobility and to enrich their professional skills
- institutions in charge of promoting the mobility of people who can exploit easy and understandable tools
- training organizations assessing the possible access of students coming from other national and international education systems.

ECVET for mutual trust and cooperation
ECVET was designed to develop the mutual trust between the competent bodies and other actors in training and qualifications systems. Allocating and recognizing the credits will improve the regional, national and international mobility as well as the valorisation of the competences. The training paths should meet common quality standards and the credit should be referred to a systemic context. It's necessary a methodological framework, agreements and common principles to foster the dialogue between the providers, common methods for assessing and validating learning, setting training objectives, determining the number and contents of units and the number of credits, implementing training programmes.
The ECVET implementation entails the sharing of base concepts between the institutions.

ECVET and ECTS
In order to better understand the transfer of credits in the VET system it is worth to refer to the academic context. Some solutions can be applied to the VET context even if the non formal and informal learning are irrelevant to the academic system.
ECTS was introduced within the framework of Erasmus, now part of the Socrates programme. It is a credit system facilitating the recognition of periods of study abroad. The system sets up the modalities to allocate and recognize the credits but it also has to identify the units, their value, the agreements between the institutions.
ECVET and ECTS are different systems and therefore it's not possible to transfer all the solutions adopted in the academic system. The training institutions have a different plausibility and the recent VET training offer cannot be compared to the academic one. Thereby the Universities can autonomously issue the certificates while the training organisations cannot do it.
Nevertheless some methods can be transferred:
- identification of a method enabling to compare the training paths, the modules, the units
- identification of possible unit of measurement and choice of the most appropriate
- student's workload consisting of the time required to complete all planned learning activities; the credit is a possible tool to compare the paths and it's not functional to assess the learning
- recognition of the credit as a benchmark
- awareness that the mutual trust is based on the transparency of qualifications and the quality
- allocation of credits depends on the assessment of learning outcomes; it doesn't only depend on the attendance of the training programme
- planning of a method to acquire intermediate certificates and vocational qualifications.



Annex 1

Commission Staff Working Document - European Credit system for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET), Brussels, 31.10.2006 - SEC (2006) 1431

1. Learning outcomes transfer process




2. How are ECVET credit points allocated




3. The implementation of ECVET
The application which is described below is given as an example, following the chronology of the principal stages.

Stage 1: the establishment of partnerships
In order to facilitate the implementation of ECVET, VET providers and/or competent bodies at the relevant level could establish partnership agreements or memoranda of understanding (MoU). During this phase of initialization, the memoranda of understanding could contribute to creating the climate of trust which is necessary for insuring the durability of the system, its operational characteristic and the effective credit transfer.
In the MoU, partners could specify: correspondence between qualifications (units and credit points) and/or learning outcomes concerned by transfer. The EQF levels could contribute to the establishment of the correspondence; the assessment, transfer and validation processes (units or parts of units); the specifications for quality assurance.
The key point of the MoU is that the learning outcomes for which credits are awarded by on or the other of the partners can be recognised irrefutably. Partnership agreements could be established between different authorities or organisations according to the type and desired degree of co-operation. Thus, MoU could be established between bodies responsible for qualifications (ministries, branches…) and/or networks of VET providers (Chambers of Commerce) and/or VET providers or other stakeholders in VET (training centres, schools, firms…). A model memorandum of understanding could be developed at European level.

Stage 2: the learning agreement
It could be necessary to draw up an individual learning agreement for each person, notably in the formal learning context. This document would specify the learning outcomes expected at the end of a period of mobility (units or parts of units) and the associated points of credit. This individual learning agreement should be drawn up between the person and the two partners. A model learning agreement could be developed at European level.

Stage 3: award ECVET credits
ECVET credits are awarded (units or parts of units and associated ECVET credit points) after the assessment of the learning outcomes. Credits are recorded in a transcript of record which gives details on the knowledge, skills and competence which are acquired; the credit points which are associated with the achieved learning outcomes.

Stage 4: Transfer, validation and accumulation of credits
In accordance with the MoU and the learning agreement, credits should be transferred, then validated by the sending organisation and recognised for obtaining the qualification concerned, by accumulation, according to the rules.

M.o.U. example
In SESAMO project the simulation of a training period abroad was carried out by the following couples of countries: Italy and Estonia, France and Greece, Netherlands and UK.
The experiences have highlighted strengths and weaknesses; useful instruments, check lists or tasks to be performed by the coordinators and the users are described in the Guides.
In the following part some examples of M.o.U. are listed.
M.o.U project, Italy/Estonia, Netherlands/UK and annex, France/Greece.