Validation of non-formal and informal learning outcomes (LOs) is linked to mechanisms that are in place in formal education. Intensive work has been underway in Poland for several years to introduce changes in these areas. This involves not only the development of a system for validation, certification and transfer of LOs and, consequently, of qualifications, but also the revision and standardisation of terminology. The 2030 Integrated Skills Strategy is expected to contribute to more effective assessment, validation and certification of LOs, regardless of the setting in which they have been achieved. The document also addresses the development of guidance for validation and recognition of prior learning (RPL) at the national, regional and local levels.
Integrated Qualifications System
The Act on the Integrated Qualifications System (ustawa o Zintegrowanym Systemie Kwalifikacji) came into force on 15 January 2016. The main instruments of the Integrated Qualifications System (IQS) include:
-
the 8-level Polish Qualifications Framework providing information on knowledge, skills and social competences; and
The Act defines concepts such as qualifications, full qualifications, partial qualifications, market qualifications, sectoral qualifications, craft qualifications and regulated qualifications, and processes related to the recognition of qualifications such as validation and certification. This will also increase the transparency and comparability of skills acquired outside school.
The IQS aims to:
-
assure quality of the qualifications awarded;
-
ensure recognition of LOs achieved in non-formal and informal education;
-
enable the accumulation and recognition of achievements / credits;
-
provide information on the qualifications available in Poland;
-
enable comparison of qualifications acquired in Poland and other EU countries.
The Minister of National Education is responsible for the coordination of the IQS.
As the vocational education and training system is now more open to learning in non-school settings (which is relevant, in particular, to adult education and training), effective mechanisms are being developed for the validation of learning outcomes achieved by adults, also through non-formal and informal learning.
Polish Qualifications Framework and the Integrated Qualifications Register
The Polish Qualifications Framework (PQF) describes 8 levels of qualifications identified in Poland, which are referenced to the corresponding levels of the European Qualifications Framework, as defined in Annex II to the Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008. Qualifications in the PQF are defined in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences.
The PQF assigns levels to full qualifications. Such qualifications are confirmed by a certificate or diploma. The levels of the PQF and corresponding certificates and diplomas are described in the table below.
|
Qualifications and corresponding levels in the Polish Qualifications Framework |
|
|---|---|
|
Qualification levels |
Certificates and diplomas confirming a given level of qualifications |
|
Level I |
|
|
Level II |
|
|
Level III |
|
|
Level IV |
|
|
Level V |
|
|
Level VI |
|
|
Level VII |
|
|
Level VIII |
|
Source: Based on the Act of 22 December 2015 on the Integrated Qualifications System (ustawa o Zintegrowanym Systemie Kwalifikacjiz dnia 22 grudnia 2015 r.), and the Integrated Qualifications System portal (accessed in September 2024).
Integrated Qualifications Register
The Integrated Qualifications Register (IQR) is a public register that gathers information on all qualifications included in the Integrated Qualifications System (IQS), independently of other registers and catalogues created in Poland for individual ministries, branches, professions and institutions. The IQR was established in 2016 by the Act of 22 December 2015 on the Integrated Qualifications System (ustawa z dnia 22 grudnia 2015 r. o Zintegrowanym Systemie Kwalifikacji) and is one of main elements of the system. The IQR provides information on whether a given qualification is a full or partial qualification, the specific requirements to be fulfilled to acquire the qualification, and the institutions authorised to award it.
The IQR includes qualifications for which quality will be assured through specific procedures and monitored by the institution establishing a given qualification. Validation of qualifications is an integral part of the formal education system (see Table 5). Currently, the IQR contains 18,900 qualifications. All full qualifications awarded in formal education are included in the IQR on a mandatory basis; market or regulated and partial qualifications awarded in higher education (for example, post-graduate qualifications) are listed in the IQR on a voluntary basis, when certain requirements are fulfilled (Act on the Integrated Qualifications System and the IQS portal, accessed in September 2024).
The IQR also has a liaising function for institutions which cooperate within the framework of the IQR. The IQR is kept by the Educational Research Institute (Instytut Badań Edukacyjnych), which ensures that the data gathered is complete and up to date.
Validation
Validation is an important mechanism within the Integrated Qualifications System (IQS). The term ‘validation’ was introduced by the Act on the Integrated Qualifications System (ustawa z dnia 22 grudnia 2015 r. o Zintegrowanym Systemie Kwalifikacji). This is a process of checking whether a person applying for the award of a particular qualification has achieved – regardless of the learning path – a specific part or all of the learning outcomes (LOs) required for a given qualification.
Validation helps learners to verify information on the skills that are necessary to obtain a given qualification or its specific part and a certificate which is recognisable in EU countries, and provides employers with reliable confirmation of employees’ or job applicants’ skills.(Integrated Qualifications Register, accessed in September 2024).
Further details about the validation process in Poland are available in the following publication: Budzewski, M. (2024). European inventory on validation of non-formal and informal learning 2023 update: Poland. European Commission and Cedefop (accessed in September 2024).
The validation process consists of the following elements:
-
identification of LOs: identifying and analysing the knowledge, skills and social competences that the applicant has acquired;
-
documentation of LOs: collecting evidence of the achievement of selected LOs (e.g. certificates, practical placement certificates, examples of work, video recordings, references, a description of the job / work performed by the applicant, etc.);
-
assessment: checking through appropriate methods whether the applicant has achieved specific LOs, and validation of the assessed LOs.
When the outcome of the validation process is favourable, the applicant receives a certificate confirming that he/she has acquired a qualification listed in the IQS. Certification is a process through which a person who has obtained a positive outcome in the validation process and applies for the award of a particular qualification obtains a document conferring the qualification from the authorised certifying entity. It should be noted that only certifying entities may issue certificates with the graphic symbol of the PQF and the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). The EQF symbol increases the recognition and credibility of a certificate, also on the international labour market.
Validation is a complex undertaking that requires content-related and organisational preparation. Poland does not have yet a single coherent system for the validation of LOs achieved in non-formal and informal learning, but the work to improve validation procedures and tools is underway. Between 2021 and 2023 the Educational Research Institute published studies on the development of validation tools and scenarios and tools for 17 market qualifications.
Existing mechanisms in this area are applied in various sectors and related to various validation practices and processes. Some of them have been in place for many years, other are innovations adopted from abroad, and still other have been introduced on a pilot basis.
Extramural examinations
Extramural or external exams (which adults take as externals) are one of the methods of validating LOs achieved outside the formal education system. They enable the validation of LOs achieved by adults who choose to prepare independently for exams at the level of a primary or post-primary school; such exams cover the requirements laid down in the national core curriculum for general education. An extramural exam also enables an exam taker to obtain a vocational qualification certificate for a given qualification or a vocational diploma if he/she obtained vocational qualification certificates for all qualifications required in a given occupation and has completed education at a required level. Such vocational exams are conducted by the Regional Examination Boards. It is worth noting that an extramural vocational exam is not conducted for all occupations for which pupils are trained in the school education system. The occupations that are not covered by such exams are listed in the legislation (Regulation of the Minister of National Education of 30 August 2019 on extramural exams / Rozporządzenie Ministra Edukacji Narodowej z dnia 30 sierpnia 2019 r. w sprawie egzaminów eksternistycznych).