News Releases
Report on Work 2008-2009, 20 July 2010
The Authority published a report which contains an overview of the work of the Authority over 2008 and 2009 much of which has been undertaken in partnership with national stakeholders across the education and training system. This is the fourth biennial report to be published.
Group D – Policies and Criteria for the Alignment with the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) of the Awards of certain International Sectoral Certifying Bodies, 08 June 2010
In June 2010, the Authority published a document entitled “Group D – Draft Policies and Criteria for the Alignment with the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) of the Awards of certain International Sectoral Certifying Bodies”. The Policies and Criteria are intended to provide the opportunity for international sectoral awards, such as those made in the ICT sector e.g. ECDL and Oracle certification, to be aligned with the Irish NFQ. Implementation arrangements will be put in place shortly and the policies will be piloted with a small number of international sectoral certifying bodies over the coming months.
The Conference Report, 04 June 2010
The Conference Report for the International Qualifications Frameworks Conference held in April 2010 was published today.
Further details are available from this link.
Authority response to the Framework Implementation and Impact Study, 01 June 2010
The Authority has finalised its formal response to the Framework Implementation and Impact Study and its recommendations. This response sets out the main areas in which work is already underway, such as on learning outcomes and the recognition of qualifications, and those areas in which specific or additional efforts are now required to meet priority needs, such as in relation to the labour market, standards development, the recognition of prior learning and a re-visiting of progression and the effective comparability of awards at Levels 4-6. The follow-up actions and considerations are outlined in the Authority response.
Further details are available from this link.
Review by the Higher Education Authority and National Qualifications Authority of Ireland of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in relation to the commencement of its degree-awarding powers, 16 April 2010
The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland has requested the Minister for Education and Skills to approve bye-laws to commence their statutory degree-awarding powers. In this regard, the Minister has requested the HEA and NQAI jointly to review the RCSI in relation to the commencement of its degree-awarding powers and to advise the Minister on the matter.
Further details are available from this link.
Qualifications Frameworks Conference, 15 April 2010
The National Qualifications Authority of Ireland and the Higher Education Authority are jointly organising a conference, as part of the national Bologna Expert programme, entitled:
National Qualifications Frameworks and the European Overarching Frameworks: Supporting Lifelong Learning in European Education and Training.
The conference will take place in Dublin Castle on 15 April 2010.
Further details are available from this link.
28 March 2010 “The Compatibility of Qualifications in Ireland and New Zealand”
We are very pleased to announce the conclusion in March 2010 of a joint project which set out to improve the basis on which Ireland and New Zealand recognise each other’s qualifications. The project, which was undertaken by the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI) and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), involved comparing the national qualifications frameworks of the two countries.
Further details are available from this link.
Group D – Draft Policies and Criteria for the Alignment with the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) of the Awards of certain International Sectoral Certifying Bodies
The Authority has published a consultation document entitled “Group D – Draft Policies and Criteria for the Alignment with the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) of the Awards of certain International Sectoral Certifying Bodies”. The Policies and Criteria are intended to provide the opportunity for international sectoral awards, such as those made in the ICT sector e.g. ECDL and Oracle certification, to be aligned with the Irish NFQ.
Further details are available from this link.
1 March 2010, Internationalisation Register
From 1 March 2010, the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland, on behalf of the Department of Education and Science, administers the Internationalisation Register, which lists the education and training programmes approved for the purpose of access to employment by students who are citizens from outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland.
From that date, all applications for inclusion of a course on the register will be processed by the NQAI. Further details are available from this link.
22 February 2010, SECCOMPAT - EQF and Compatibility of the Sectoral Qualifications between Countries
The National Qualifications Authority of Ireland was a partner in a Leonardo da Vinci project under the EU Lifelong Learning Programme Key Activity 1. The project, which was titled "SECCOMPAT - EQF and Compatibility of the Sectoral Qualifications between Countries" explored how the EQF can assist with the comparison of sectoral qualifications between partner countries. The SECCOMPAT project concluded in January 2010 and the final report on the project is available here.
Interactive Fan, 20 February 2010
View our new Interactive Fan Diagram in Flash Format
25th January 2010, The University sector Framework Implementation Network was established in December 2007
It has just published a report on the first phase of its activities titled University awards and the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ): Issues around the Design of Programmes and the Use and Assessment of Learning Outcomes.
