06.12.2014

The level descriptors of the NSK were developed in close connection with the eight levels of the EQF. They describe the activities required at each level for employment. Levels and their descriptor were approved by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.

NSK descriptors are cited in Appendix III.

The rules for referencing qualifications to qualification levels, which described in the Guidelines for Inclusion of Qualifications in the NSK (for more details see Chapter 9 Quality Assurance ).

The Czech government approved the Czech national referencing report in July 2011.  Since that date, all qualification standards submitted to the Ministry of Education are submitted in both Czech and English. These are then published on the NSK information system www.narodnikvalifikace.cz. An example of an approved standard can be found in Appendix IV, Example Qualification Standard. A list of vocational qualifications whose qualification standards are translated into English can be found in Appendix IX.

The National Referencing Report Czech Republic referenced the levels of NSK to the EQF.  Therefore qualifications contained in the NSK database can be compared with professional qualifications in other European countries. Comparison of qualification levels of the European countries that have already referenced their levels to the EQF is possible at the EQF portal (http://ec.europa.eu/eqf/compare_en.htm), where national referencing reports can be found and qualifications frameworks compared. In the future, after the databases of national registers of qualifications are connected to it, specific qualifications in a chosen country can be located and compared with the qualification and competences of applicants for study or employment. NSK connection to the EQF portal is currently under construction.

In addition to the national qualifications, the so-called international qualifications, i.e. qualifications that are valid and used in two or more states are developed in Europe and in the world. These qualifications are usually recognized within a sector (e.g. ITC sector), often created by a private company (e.g. Microsoft qualifications). It is up to each country to decide whether to include these international qualifications into their qualifications framework or not. The current arrangements do not allow qualifications to be referenced to the EQF directly, without referencing to the national qualifications frameworks first.

At the end of 2013 more than half of European countries referenced their NQF to the EQF. Only when the EQF is implemented in all EU countries it is possible to take stock of the development and possibly review the approach to the EQF at European and national levels.