Europass

What is Europass?

Europass is a recent initiative which aims to help people make their skills and qualifications clearly and easily understood in Europe, thus facilitating the mobility of both learners and workers. The Europass documents have been designed in such a way as to help people chronicle their skills and competences in a coherent manner, whether they are planning to enroll in an education or training programme, looking for a job, or getting experience abroad.

Europass documents make it easier for employers to understand the qualifications and competences of job-seekers from other EU Member States and also help education, training and guidance practitioners to advise people about the most suitable learning paths and opportunities.

Benefits of Europass

• It will help citizens to convey their qualifications and competences in an effective way
• It provides a comprehensive tool for users based on an accessible electronic format
• It enables people with diverse backgrounds and experiences to gain access to opportunities for learning and employment throughout Europe, particularly by helping people to move between countries or across employment sectors
• It will promote strong links between education and training, business and industry, ensuring the continuing relevance and adequate appreciation of competences and qualifications
• Europass is an open system that supports European policy developments related to the transparency of competences and qualifications

Europass Documents

Curriculum Vitae (CV) are used by many people as a tool to promote themselves and to describe their academic, training and professional accomplishments when applying for a job, further study etc. As many different CV formats are available and used by people in various countries, the Europass CV has been developed so that there is a standard CV format people can use to detail their qualifications and skills in a straightforward and understandable manner. The Europass CV can be completed in 26 different languages and other Europass documents can be attached to it.

The Europass Language Passport allows you to describe and detail your language skills and competences. It is a self-assessment document where you can detail your language proficiency regardless of whether that proficiency was attained formally or informally. The Europass Language Passport uses the six European levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF) to record the level of language proficiency in a standardised format.

The Europass Mobility is a personal document, which is used to record an organised period of time (a mobility experience) that a person spends in another European country for the purpose of learning or training. It might be helpful to you if you are undertaking any of the following:

• a work placement in a company abroad
• a student undertaking a term abroad as part of a higher education programme
• a worker undertaking a voluntary placement in an NGO

The Europass Mobility is monitored by two partner organisations, one in the country of origin and the other in the host country. Partners might range from universities, schools and training centres to companies etc. The Europass Mobility document is completed by the home and host organisations. It contains information regarding the individual, the purpose and duration of the mobility experience, the training and skills acquired abroad etc.

The Europass Certificate Supplement is provided to people who hold a vocational education and training award. The Certificate Supplement provides additional information regarding the award which is not available on the official certificate such as the skills and competences acquired, the level of the certificate, and entry requirements and access opportunities to the next level of education etc. This makes it more easily understood, especially for employers and institutions outside the issuing country. The information contained on the Europass Certificate Supplement is provided in a standardised format and is supplied by the relevant awarding body which makes the award.

In Ireland the Europass Certificate Supplement is issued by the Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC).

The Europass Diploma Supplement is issued to graduates of higher education institutions along with their degree or diploma. The Diploma Supplement provides additional information regarding the award which is not available on the official certificate such as the skills and competences acquired, the level of the qualification and the results gained, and entry requirements and access opportunities to the next level of education etc. This makes it more easily understood, especially for employers and institutions outside the issuing country. The Europass Diploma Supplement was developed jointly by UNESCO and the Council of Europe.

The Europass Diploma Supplement is issued by the higher education institution which awards the diploma or degree.