Study on the (potential) role of qualifications frameworks in supporting mobility of workers and learners. GHK, Brussels, 2011. Pages: 121.

This joint EU-Australia study is the result of a collaboration between the European Commission, DG EAC, and the Australian Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. These institutions contracted experts to carry out an analysis of qualifications frameworks aiming to produce a single study feeding into the related policy dialogue. The study aimed to collect existing evidence on the role of qualifications frameworks in supporting mobility of workers and learners; identify the existing obstacles in qualifications recognition and limitations of qualifications frameworks; as well as to outline the opportunities for linkages between the European Qualifications Framework and the Australian Qualifications Framework.

For this purpose, the expert team applied a qualitative, exploratory and forward looking approach, relying on data from nine countries (Australia and select EU member states). The nine-chapter report includes a wide range of topics on qualifications frameworks, including the overview of the policy contexts in the EU and in Australia; main trends in the mobility of students and workers and their implications for qualification recognition; the overview of national policies focused on attracting foreign students and workers; as well as other issues relevant for the EU-Australia cooperation in the related field.

European Commission