EQF and DQR: the eight levels explained simply

Education systems differ. A German master craftsman, a French technical college diploma and an Irish bachelor's degree cannot be compared directly. Qualifications frameworks create a common language: they describe levels by what someone knows and can do and assign qualifications to these levels.

The European Qualifications Framework is the common reference point. It goes back to a 2008 recommendation and was revised by the Council Recommendation of 22 May 2017. Member States reference their national frameworks to the EQF. Germany developed the German Qualifications Framework (DQR) for this, jointly supported by the federal government and the states.

The EQF describes each of its eight levels in three categories: knowledge, skills, and responsibility and autonomy. The DQR is structured differently, into professional competence (knowledge and skills) and personal competence (social competence and autonomy). Both describe learning outcomes — what someone can do at the end — not how long or where they learned.

The DQR sums up each level in a guiding sentence. Level 1 describes competences for meeting simple requirements in a clear and stable learning or work area under guidance. Level 8 describes competences for gaining research insights in an academic discipline or for developing innovative solutions and procedures in a professional field.

The overview shows the DQR levels in simplified form with typical examples. Binding is the assignment the federal government and states have adopted for individual qualifications; the current list is published on the DQR website.

Perhaps the DQR's most important message: vocational and academic education can be on the same level. A master craftsman and a bachelor's graduate are both on level 6 — not because they learned the same, but because their learning outcomes have a comparable level of demand. Since the 2020 amendment of the Vocational Training Act, certain advanced vocational qualifications therefore carry the titles Bachelor Professional and Master Professional.

Equivalent does not mean, however, that one qualification automatically grants everything the other opens. A DQR level does not confer a right to admission to a degree programme or to a particular salary. Access rules remain in higher education, vocational training and collective bargaining law.

In everyday life you mainly meet the level on certificates and Europass documents: many degree certificates and certificate supplements state the DQR and EQF level. When applying abroad, this helps place a qualification.

For training providers the level is a mandatory element of micro-credentials where applicable, and part of the European Learning Model for European digital credentials. Describing courses and credentials with learning outcomes and level makes them connectable — for credit, competence passports and staff development.

Assignment to the DQR is not made by an individual school, university or chamber but in a joint procedure of the federal government, the states and the social partners. The basis is a comparison of a qualification's learning outcomes with the level descriptors. Assigned qualifications are published in a list that is continuously updated.

For non-formal training — such as courses by private providers or internal training — there is so far no general assignment in Germany. Anyone describing such offers can use the level descriptors as a guide and state the intended level as a self-assessment, but should not present it as an official assignment.