CMIT Course News

Recognition of UK Qualifications in Ireland

Posted on by Seán O'Connor
Recognition of UK Qualifications in Ireland

Qualifications can be compared between the UK and Ireland. There are two primary ways to do this.

  1. Aligned qualifications: UK awards that have been formally aligned to the National Framework of Qualifications in Ireland (NFQ).
  2. A Rough Guide to Comparing Qualifications: There is a guide which can be used to draw broad comparisons between qualifications at various levels in the UK and Ireland.  This document is available at this link Qualifications Cross Boundaries.
Will recognition of Qualifications between Ireland and the UK be affected by Brexit?

Academic qualifications fall under the European Higher Education Area through the Lisbon Recognition Convention, which the UK is part of and which is not dependent on EU membership, so it is not affected by Brexit. This means that there will be no change to academic recognition in general, including certificates, diplomas and degrees. As result there is recognition of UK qualification in Ireland.

 Irish Qualifications Recognition in Europe

The graphic below shows the 8 European Qualification Framework levels and how they map to the 10 Irish National Framework of Qualification levels. For example: NFQ level 6 equates to an EQF level 5.

Irish Qualifications Recognition

Europass

Europass is a service which operates in Europe with the aim of making sure that learners skills and qualifications are recognised and understood throughout Europe. There are a number of services available including:

  • The Europass CV
  • The Europass Mobility
  • The Europass Language Passport
  • The Europass Supplement
  • The Europass Diploma Supplement
Europass and QQI Awards

QQI provide Europass Certificate Supplements for QQI Major Awards. These supplements are available to download on the QQI website. These supplements contain information on the learning outcomes of the qualification and the qualifications itself (level, credits etc.).  Full details on the services available from Europass are available on their website.

Certificate Supplements can be accessed and downloaded from the QQI website.