Vocational education and training - VET

The purpose is to consider the meaning of ‘occupational’ versus ‘vocational’ qualifications, and to illuminate understandings and implications of the conceptualisations of ‘occupational’, ‘vocational’, and ‘professional’ for the education and training system in South Africa. It is the intention that the NQF community will gain insight into the valuable lessons learned to date – for the benefit of all those seeking to develop clearer policy and understanding, and to enable education, training, development and work pathways to work for the people of South Africa.

The NQF online tool is a rich source of information on the qualifications frameworks and systems of the 41 countries participating in the European qualifications framework (EQF) process. Policy-makers, researchers, and the wider public can learn about the structure and scope of the NQFs, and get information on their implementation, impact and future priorities.

The NQF online tool presents, through an interactive map/grid, information on the state of play of the NQF of each country in 2018, 2020 and 2022. Information is organised in thematic categories, and can be compared for two countries (Country comparison). In addition, through the EQF users can compare qualification types between two countries (Qualification comparison), and have an ‘Overview’ of the main features of all NQFs across Europe.

The information displayed in the tool is collected biennially by Cedefop together with the European Commission and ETF, in cooperation with countries and the EQF national coordination points.

We hope the wealth of information presented will inspire and support all those interested in developing transparent and accessible education and training systems, and those navigating through the various European qualification types.

Detailed information on 2022 developments in the accession and pre-accession countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine) will be available in the second quarter of 2024.