Private education providers and public providers outside the Ministry of Children and Education, the Ministry of Culture or the Ministry of Education and Research can apply to have qualifications placed in the qualifications framework.
Such inclusion in the qualifications framework takes place through a level assessment of the education conducted by the Danish Accreditation Institution. Being included in the qualifications framework does not entail public recognition of the qualification and therefore does not mean that holders of the qualification are entitled to admission or credit transfer to publicly recognised education programmes.
Background
The scheme was introduced in 2019 by an amendment to the Accreditation Act. The background is that both Denmark and the EU want to strengthen lifelong learning and increase transparency in the provision of legitimate education outside the control of public authorities. The level assessment clarifies the level of the private qualifications etc. This gives publicly recognised educational institutions a better basis for deciding on applications for admission and credit transfer, and employers get a better basis for assessing the overall qualifications of job applicants.
The Coordination Committee for the Qualifications Framework has adopted principles and procedures for the level assessment and inclusion of qualifications in the Qualifications Framework. This has been done in collaboration with the Accreditation Institution and after a broad consultation of stakeholders in private and publicly recognised education.
Principles and procedures for level assessment and inclusion
Applications for inclusion in the qualifications framework are processed in two stages. In the first stage, the Accreditation Institution assesses whether the education provider meets the requirements with regard to:
- Purpose of the education
- Learning objectives
- How long the programme has been running
- Teaching evaluation
- Assessment of learning outcomes
- Qualification certificate.
If the requirements are fulfilled, the Accreditation Institution carries out the actual level assessment in the second stage, with the assistance of external experts. The level assessment is based on the following criteria:
- Comparison of the learning objectives of the applicant's programme with the qualifications framework's learning outcome descriptors
- The professional qualifications of the teachers
- Whether the teaching evaluation supports the students' opportunities to achieve the programme's overall learning outcome goals.
Applicants pay for level assessment and inclusion in the qualifications framework.
Find out more
On the Danish Accreditation Institution's website you can find more information about the principles and procedures for assigning levels and download a guide to the application process: