National qualifications system

The national qualifications system includes, by definition, all aspects of a country's activity related to the recognition of learning and other mechanisms that combine education and training with the job market and civil society. It should include the development and implementation of institutional devices and processes for quality assurance, assessment and qualifications awarded. It can be made up of different subsystems and include the National Qualifications Framework and National Qualifications Catalogue (CNQ) as tools that help structure such qualifications.

In Portugal, the National Qualifications System (Sistema Nacional de Qualificações - SNQ) began with the Council of Ministers Resolution No 173/2007, 7 November. In the same year, among others, it defined objectives such as promoting upper secondary level education as a minimum qualification for the population and the investment in dual certification, both via the increase in VET provision and the recognition, validation and certification of formal, informal and non-formal learning competences.

In terms of adults, it aims to further develop a system for improving adult qualifications, using various tools, particularly the mechanisms for the recognition, validation and certification of competences acquired throughout life in formal, informal and non-formal contexts and for vocationally oriented training that the workforce can attend. 

As part of the implementation of national education and training policies, the SNQ (Decree-Law No 396/2007, 31 December, as last amended by Decree-Law No 14/2017, 26 January) includes a set of structures and mechanisms that ensure the relevance of education and training to personal development and for the modernisation of enterprises and the economy.

For these aims to be operational and regulated, the SNQ boasts the following structures:

• public bodies (please check subchapter 7.1 Distribution of responsibilities)
• bodies and structures with responsibilities in education and vocational training policy funding
• specialised adult qualification centres, currently called Qualifica Centres
• a network of training bodies, made up of a) basic and upper secondary education establishments; b) vocational training centres and vocational retraining centres managed directly by IEFP, I.P. or via protocols; c) private training bodies certified by Directorate General for Employment and Labour Relations (Direção-Geral do Emprego e das Relações de Trabalho - DGERT); d) training bodies that are part of other ministries or other legal persons governed by public law; e) private and cooperative schools with parallel teaching or recognition of public interest; f) public and private vocational schools; f) bodies with certified training structures in the private sector
• a network of 18 Sector Councils for Qualifications (Conselhos Setoriais para a Qualificação - CSQ), which functions as a platform for technical-consultative discussion and reflection. Divided into sectors and following a set of structural/delimitation principles, they contribute to identifying the essential qualifications for competitive and modern production and the personal and social development of individuals. Each CSQ is made up of:
  • specialists appointed by the government department that oversees the sector of activity covered by the CSQ
  • regulatory bodies for access to and the exercise of professions and professional activities
  • social partners
  • direct management professional training centres and IEFP, I.P. invested vocational training centres
  • public, private and cooperative educational establishments (including vocational schools, training bodies and Qualifica Centres, particularly those with sectoral or regional specialisation)
  • technological, innovation and research and development centres
  • top companies and business groups
  • competitiveness clusters
  • prestigious national and international independent experts, among others who support in the processes of updating and developing the catalogue.

The system is made operational and regulated by:

• The National Qualifications Catalogue (Catálogo Nacional de Qualificações - CNQ) which is concerned with the strategic management of the non-higher education qualifications necessary and critical for the competitiveness and modernisation of companies and the productive sector, as well as for individuals’ personal and social development. The CNQ aims to ensure greater coordination between the competences required for the country’s socioeconomic development and the training provision available within the SNQ. The CNQ offers dual certification and includes a professional profile, a skills framework and a training framework, which includes both academic and vocational components. It also comprises short- and medium-term pathways, consisting of sets of competence units and/or training units designed to develop or update skills relevant to the labour market. A review of the CNQ is currently being finalised, introducing a learning outcomes-based approach to the design of the frameworks, in line with the recommendations of the European Union and the trends followed by the qualifications systems of the Member States.  The cycle of implementing the new catalogue and the gradual transition of the provision of qualifications and short and medium duration pathways began progressively from 2025 on.
• The National Qualifications Framework (Quadro Nacional de Qualificações - QNQ), which is regulated by Ordinance No 782/2009, 23 July,  classifies the qualifications produced in the education and training system according to a set of areas , defining the structure of the qualification levels, including access requirements and the corresponding school qualification. The QNQ includes eight  qualification levels covering qualifications at the various levels of the education and training system, regardless of the access routes (basic, upper-secondary, higher education, vocational training and processes of recognition, validation and certification of competences - RVCC). The QNQ also adheres to the principles of the European Qualification Framework (EQF) in relation to the description of national qualifications in terms of learning outcomes for each qualification level, expressed in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes. In addition to the clarity and transparency that it gives the entire system and the coordination of operators’ activity at national and European level, it is a key factor in the transition to an education and training system geared towards knowledge, competences and attitudes that determine and demonstrate the competences associated with each qualification level.
• The National Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (regulated by Ordinance No 47/2017, 1 February) attributes credit to dual certification qualifications within the QNQ and included in the CNQ. It does the same with other certified training not included in the Catalogue, provided that it is registered with the Information and Management System of the Education and Training Provision (Sistema de Informação e Gestão da Oferta Educativa e Formativa – SIGO) and complies with the current quality assurance criteria. The credit points of a qualification and its constituent units are obtained when trainees achieve the learning outcomes or demonstrate the competences these units refer to, i.e., when they obtain certification in the respective qualification units. This system permits the accumulation and transfer of credit, in accordance with the principles of the European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET), by promoting mobility within Europe.
• The Qualifica Passport is a personal electronic, non-transferable and optional document that contains the individual record of competences acquired and training attended by citizens, throughout their life, which are referred to in the National Qualifications Catalogue. It also includes of vocational training courses not included in the National Qualifications Catalogue, which presupposes successful completion. It allows the holder to identify areas where they can acquire and/or refine competences that improve their qualification pathway, as well as offering employers a more immediate evaluation of a candidate’s suitability for a specific job.

Information and management system of the education and training provision (SIGO)

Other structural mechanisms were created to ensure the system is supervised, monitored, assessed and regulated, such as the Information and Management System of the Education and Training Provision (SIGO). This is a computer platform accessible to system operators and coordinators that includes educational and vocational qualifications provision divided between the different bodies. This constitutes significant progression in terms of the clarity of available provision, administrative simplification and the use of the platform to launch, supervise, monitor and manage provision.

SIGO is designed to meet the information needs of schools, training centres, services of the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation of the Institute for Employment and Vocational Training (IEFP, I.P.), which also use the information system for needs associated with their specific mission.

Statistical data of the national qualifications system

Based on the impact of the measures created via the National Qualifications System (SNQ), it is important to examine a set of statistical indicators.

National qualifications catalogue and sector councils for qualifications

In 2008, when it was launched, the National Qualification Catalogue (CNQ) included 238 qualifications, 60 of which had reference frameworks for the recognition, validation and certification of professional competences (RVCC).

Considering the data updated in 2025, the CNQ includes 372 qualifications: 104 Level 2 qualifications, 183 Level 4 qualifications and 85 Level 5 qualifications. 

The CNQ also includes a set of 47 short and medium-length courses related to different programmes or emerging areas of intervention, such as: 

• Young + Digital Programme, which focusses on digital skills;
• Portuguese as Host Language, which is geared towards citizens whose mother tongue is not Portuguese and/or who do not have basic, intermediate or advanced skills in Portuguese;
• Digital Skills Certificate Programme, which aims to boost the Portuguese population’s digital skills;
• Train Driver, which is designed to help individuals obtain and renew locomotive and train licences;
• the Qualification for Internationalisation Programme, which aims to train human resources in internationalisation and international trade;
• the "Valorizar Social" Programme, which aims to increase management and digital skills as a factor for inclusion, as well as boosting the transformation and adaptation of social institutions to today's world and the new challenges that they face on a daily basis;
• Green Skills & Jobs, which provides vocational training and retraining for the unemployed and workers in companies and other employers that are directly or indirectly affected by increases in energy costs, and for the unemployed, job retention and creation by speeding up the transition and energy efficiency;
• Sales and Services - Contact Centre is a programme that seeks to acquire skills linked to the principles of non-face-to-face service and the use of tools for communicating with customers;
• Taxi driver qualification offering access to the profession of driver of light passenger vehicles for public transport, known as the Taxi Driver Certificate (CMT);
• The ‘Personal Assistant to Support Independent Living for People with Disabilities or inpairments’ programme;
• The ‘Health Care Assistant’ programme consists of knowing how to provide hygiene and well-being care to patients, doing all the prevention and control of infections using basic health care;
• Sports Coach: this course aims to develop the skills required for formal and structured support in helping students and student-athletes balance their academic and sporting careers;
• Driving examiner – Initial training: this course aims to develop the skills required to assess the ability, knowledge, aptitude and behaviour of Category B driving licence applicants, so that they can drive on public roads independently and safely, in accordance with legal requirements and safety standards. 

In this process of renewal and updating of reference frameworks, the role of the sector councils for qualifications (Conselhos Setoriais para a Qualificação - CSQ) is essential.