Quality evidence for learning-outcomes-based qualifications

The revised qualifications framework recommendation provides the immediate reference point for consideration of learning-outcomes-based qualifications in 2017. For the applicable requirement, a standard is effective only when its terms lead to consistent decisions without displacing professional judgement or applicable law. The unit of review should correspond to the full reach of the decision, including significant differences in provision and population.

In the context of learning-outcomes-based qualifications, the revised 2017 Recommendation on the European Qualifications Framework retains eight learning-outcome-based reference levels and strengthens attention to transparency, quality assurance and comparison. It supports the presentation of level information but does not replace national qualifications or recognition decisions. Institutions should ensure that published references are authorised, current and connected to the complete qualification record.

When examining learning-outcomes-based qualifications, the applicable expectation should be capable of consistent application. Conformity should not be inferred from a policy document alone; operating records and outcomes should show that the stated arrangements are in use. Operational definitions should be precise enough to support consistent consequential decisions and explain justified variation.

Applicable scope

As regards learning-outcomes-based qualifications, the formal status of the revised qualifications framework recommendation should be preserved in any public account. The instrument should be used to identify the intended direction, the actors addressed and the implementation measures that remain necessary.

Within the scope under review, the intended substantive result should remain the starting point for review. For learning-outcomes-based qualifications, learners should receive accurate information about the status, level, content and recognition of learning before committing time or money across jurisdictions. The existence of an approved measure or completed activity is not evidence of educational effect.

• State the legal and academic status of the offer.
• Preserve verifiable records.
• Provide support suited to mobile learners.
• Monitor partner and jurisdictional risks.
• Identify the authority responsible for each decision.

Implementation and evidence

For the control, the subject should be examined as a connected system of policy, people, resources, decisions and evidence. When examining learning-outcomes-based qualifications, transfer points should be tested because responsibility and information may be lost between otherwise sound functions. Any condition preventing complete assurance should appear with the evidence on which the judgement relies.

A narrow control applied to the relevant process may create false assurance. In the present context, jurisdictional uncertainty in complaints, unclear awarding responsibility and claims that overstate recognition or transferability may produce acceptable aggregate reporting while individual learners remain exposed to material disadvantage. When examining learning-outcomes-based qualifications, a sample confined to compliant cases cannot establish the reliability of the control.

Assurance of the control should draw on more than one form of evidence. Useful records include cross-border agreements and responsibility maps, documented credit and recognition decisions, outcomes for mobile and non-mobile learners, clear identification of providers and awarding bodies, and complaint and appeal routes. For decisions concerning learning-outcomes-based qualifications, policy and records should be tested against actual practice, including evidence from learners where appropriate. A positive example may illustrate operation, but it cannot demonstrate coverage or consistency.

• Which evidence establishes operation?
• Where do exceptions occur?
• What outcome is intended?
• Who controls each stage?
• What action is required by the finding?

Assessment of conformity

For the matter, the reviewer should map the complete process, identify the intended result and responsible authority at each stage, and test normal cases together with exceptions. The conclusion should differentiate an individual error from evidence of a wider control weakness. As regards learning-outcomes-based qualifications, the review record should preserve exceptions capable of showing a weakness in design, implementation or coverage.

Assurance concerning learning-outcomes-based qualifications should be expressed at the level established by the evidence.

Proportionality in relation to the applicable requirement does not mean reduced protection for learners exposed to greater risk. For learning-outcomes-based qualifications, transparency supports fair decision-making but does not make qualifications automatically equivalent. The basis and intended use of recognition should be explicit in each consequential decision. The volume of documentation is not a measure of conformity. Relevance, integrity and coverage are more important than the number of records produced. Each exception should record its basis, authorisation, duration and review date.

Records relating to the matter should preserve both the conclusion and its limits. For decisions concerning learning-outcomes-based qualifications, a changed evidential position should be applied to the affected scope, including prior decisions that may no longer be reliable. Where reliance has occurred, correction may require review of affected decisions as well as amendment of published information.

Public reporting on the control should distinguish established fact, analytical judgement and planned action.

Neither one indicator nor one control can establish the complete position on the control. A conclusion concerning learning-outcomes-based qualifications should be revised when stronger evidence materially changes the assessment of implementation, outcome or risk.