Academic guidance

The duties of the centres specialising in adult qualifications, known as Qualifica Centres (as established by Ordinance No 62/2022, 31 January), in its current wording, includes guidance. This includes analysing the candidate's profile, assessing their life path and professional experience, identifying qualification objectives, diagnosing needs and proposing the most appropriate qualification pathway for the candidate and the needs of the labour market. It also includes monitoring individual qualification pathways, which involves monitoring candidates' path to obtaining the qualification, regardless of whether it takes place in Qualifica Centres or an external training body. They also ensure that candidates receive an adequate and timely response, in order to encourage them to return to the qualification path or minimise any drop-outs.

Within the "Personal, social and learning competences” module of the EFA Courses (education and training courses) "life themes" are developed, which represent significant issues for the trainees of each group. These life themes should include issues directly related to the professional domain, such as retraining or professional development, entrepreneurship or others that are most important for the group of trainees on each course.

Psychological counselling

In Portugal, psychological counselling or psycho-pedagogical support is designed for children and young people who attend compulsory education and is provided by the psychology and guidance services (SPO) or psychologists placed in school clusters and non-clustered schools.

Career guidance

As part of the Institute for Education, Quality and Evaluation (Instituto da Educação, Qualidade e Avaliação - EduQA, I. P, (former ANQEP)’s mission, the lifelong guidance framework was developed to be implemented by centres specialised in adult qualification, which are called Qualifica Centres (Ordinance No 62/2022, 31 January, in its current wording) and are based in different bodies, such as schools, and focus on adult qualification that entails both recognition, validation and certification of competences and certified training, according to the candidates’ profiles and individual needs. To this end, it is essential to consolidate the information and guidance schemes for adults and young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET).

The "Methodological Guide for the Application of the Lifelong Guidance Framework" supports staff who specialise in guidance, recognition and validation of competences (Técnico de Orientação, Reconhecimento e Validação de Competências – TORVC), functioning as a key tool that for the centres' activities.

Tools used at these stages by the centres include the Qualifica Passport, which is a digital tool that records the training/skills/qualifications acquired by the individual throughout their life, as well as simulating possible pathway or organising others, done or to be done, depending on the qualifications the individual can acquire and the academic and/or professional progress that can be achieved.