Profiles of Partners in

ECVET Mobility Partnerships

The ECVET Mobility Partnership must bring together competent institutions that can:

Identify and agree on learning outcomes (preferably in units) that can be achieved during mobility.

Prepare for mobility.

Deliver training and learning activities during mobility

Assess learning outcomes achieved during mobility.

Validate and recognise the learner’s credit on return to the home institution.

In many cases the sending organisation, that is the institution or the company, hasthe competence for most or even all of these functions. But in other cases, there is a need for cooperation with other bodies such as chambers of commerce or regional authorities.

An ECVET partnership is always based on mutual trust. Even if a full exchange of information concerning vocational education and training systems and of qualifications imparted by the partners is not needed for a successful ECVET mobility to take place, it canstill help to build mutual trust if the partners have a common understanding of their requisite education and training systems.

In such a situation, certain information, facts, and knowledge should to be exchanged between the partners concerning the qualifications and systems in the countries. It is a good idea to establish a profile of each partner:

Understanding the relevant general prevailing conditions within the various VET systems.

Comprehending the characteristics of different courses and qualifications.

Identifying joint vocational curricula contents as common ground for units of learning outcomes.

Mapping joint content can be mapped based on relevant work-related training and learning opportunities available in a certain workplace.

This tool assists in gathering this profile information from your partners, and in informing your partners about your own national systems and your own profile.

This is carried out in two steps

Step 1: Analysis of general prevailing conditions

Step 2: Identification and description of work tasks or work processes

NOTE 1! The main aim of ECVET is not to export your own qualifications or assessment structures abroad, but to trust in and rely on the structures already existing in other countries, and then transfer those learning outcomes as units of learning outcomes and possibly credits back to your own home system.

NOTE 2!The tool is not a necessary requirement to carry out ECVET, but rather a way for a partnership to reach amutual understanding, if that is deemed necessary by both parties. You can also take a lighter or more in-depth approach to filling in this tool.

STEP 1: Analysis of general prevailing conditions

ECVET requires the confidence of those involved that the training and learning process takes place in a proper manner and that the learning outcomes are properly assessed and documented.

In order to instilthis confidence and avoid incorrect interpretations, it is useful to clarify the various general conditions prevailing within the different vocational education and training systems in advance. Such an analysis of general prevailing conditions can also form the foundation for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concluded between the partner institutions.

Structure of the qualification / Partner A (home organisation or relevant competent institution) / Partner B (hosting organisation or relevant competent institution)
What is the official title of the qualification?
Which legal framework regulates the qualification and training programme?
Does a modular structure exist? Are any partial qualifications examined and certified?
What is the ratio between theoretical and practical vocational training?
What working life positions, jobs, or further learning opportunities doesthe qualification prepare the student for?
At which learning venues does the training take place and to what degree?
Does a National Qualifications Framework exist? Is it referenced to EQF?
If yes, to which reference level is the qualification the units are based on aligned? And which EQF level?
Does the qualification provide access to the next level of training? If yes, to which level does it provide access?
Is there a Europass Certificate Supplement available for your qualification(s)?
Does a national credit points system exist? If yes, describe the general nature of the system, and particularly on what basis are credit points allocated to units/qualifications (for example, work load).
The training programme, assessment, and quality assurance / Partner A (home organisation or relevant competent institution) / Partner B (hosting organisation or relevant competent institution)
What are the access requirements to the programme?
What pre-qualification do the trainees have?
How much scope do you have to implement local adjustments or changes:
In the stipulation of the curriculum?
In the development of training materials?
How much flexibility do the curriculum and the training programme have, for example, in terms of optional studies?
Which qualification do training staff have?
What typesof examinations are carried out:
During learning, at the course end, or both?
Unit- or module-based?
Holistic and comprehensive?
Practical or theoretical?
Who develops the examination requirements/questions?
Who conducts examinations and in accordance with which rules?
What qualifications do examiners have?
How is assessment documented?
Which quality management instruments are applied, in general and specifically for assessment?
Do your students fill in the Europass CV before going abroad?

STEP 2: Identification and description of work tasks or work processes

The aim of the following central questions is to provide a greater understanding of the hosting partner’s profile regarding the possible or potential work tasks and work processes that are can be carried out in the host country. The target is, at a general and not individual level, to identify work tasks/processes which can serve as the basis for later development of units of learning outcomes for mobility periods.

Which general opportunities for vocational training exist in your occupational sector?

What are the characteristic work tasks in certain fields of activity?

At which workplaces/learning venues are the work tasks carried out?

Which tools, methods, and organisational forms are used?

Which communication requirements exist within the context of the work task/work process?

Which basic skills (language, IT and so on) are of particular significance tothe sector?

The hosting partner:

Work task?
At what workplace or learning venue?
Which tools, working methods, or forms of work are used?
What previous know-how and knowledge is needed?
Communication and language requirements?
Other basic skill requirements? / Potential task 1… / Potential task 2…

Please duplicate the above to describe further work tasks or processes.

Please, note that the work tasks identified in the above table could serve as the basis of the definition of learning outcomes and also as units of learning outcomes. The expected learning outcomes again form the basis for the Learning Agreement (LA).

NOTE! For a successful mobility, in addition to the above mentioned issues, it isimportant to share knowledge about such matters as:

What structures for mentoring and tutoring arein place?

What possibilities for different examination procedures are available (observation and appraisal, portfolio, practical task, test, questionnaire and so on)?

And who will perform the assessment?

What abilities doesthe assessor have for also picking up on non-planned or surprising learning outcomes?

Are there possibilities forassessingmore informal or non-formal learning outcomes such as language skills, social skills, or intercultural skills?