Micro-credentials: what they are and what they must contain

The term comes from continuing education: people increasingly learn in short units — an online course in data analysis, a module on AI literacy, an add-on qualification at work. For a long time there was no shared understanding of what a record of such learning must contain so that others can make sense of it. In 2022 the European Union changed that with a Council Recommendation.

Under the Recommendation, a micro-credential is the record of the learning outcomes a learner has acquired following a small volume of learning. These learning outcomes have been assessed against transparent and clearly defined standards. Learning experiences leading to micro-credentials are designed to provide knowledge, skills and competences that respond to societal, personal, cultural or labour market needs. Micro-credentials are owned by the person who earned them, can be shared and are portable.

Important: a Council Recommendation is not a law. It obliges no one; it describes a common European approach that Member States, universities and education providers are encouraged to follow.

Annex I of the Recommendation sets out European standard elements. Some are mandatory, others optional. Anyone issuing micro-credentials should include all mandatory elements — then a university, an employer or an authority in another country can understand the record without asking.

Annex II sets out principles for design and issuance. Micro-credentials should be quality-assured, transparent about what they contain and developed for relevant needs. Assessment follows transparent criteria. They should be stackable, meaning they can be combined into larger qualifications, and recognised where they evidence equivalent learning outcomes.

Two principles concern technology directly: micro-credentials should be portable — the holder should be able to own, store and share them, for example via a digital wallet — and they should put the person who learns at the centre. For this the Recommendation points to Europass and its standards for digital credentials.

Not every certificate of attendance is a micro-credential. The difference lies in assessment and transparency: a certificate of attendance records presence; a micro-credential records assessed learning outcomes with level and workload.

For universities, micro-credentials are a way to open up continuing education: individual modules of a degree programme can be offered as stand-alone units and later credited towards a degree. For companies they make internal training visible and portable. For individuals they create a portfolio that shows more than a degree.

Micro-credentials are most useful when issued digitally and in machine-readable form. Under open standards such as W3C Verifiable Credentials or Open Badges 3.0 they contain all mandatory elements in structured form, are cryptographically signed and can be checked for authenticity without contacting the issuer. The European format for digital credentials builds on the same foundations.

Yes. The Recommendation does not limit micro-credentials to universities. Its definition of providers (point 5(b)) expressly lists education and training institutions and organisations, social partners, employers and industry, civil society organisations, public employment services, regional and national authorities, and other actors designing, delivering and issuing micro-credentials — for formal, non-formal and informal learning, without prejudice to regional and national legislation.

The recitals (point 4) already recommend that higher education institutions, VET institutions, adult learning providers and other providers of micro-credentials, including employers, cooperate. Under point 8(a), Member States are to support the design and issuance of micro-credentials by further providers; the text names companies, social partners, professional associations and private providers among others.

What this does not mean: the Recommendation is not legally binding, and "micro-credential" is not a protected term. According to the footnote to Annex I, using the European standard elements does not in itself imply official validation or recognition, but is a key enabler for it. Whether a company micro-credential is credited is decided by the body that receives it. This section is not legal advice.

The Recommendation requires micro-credentials to be subject to quality assurance and the type of assurance to be stated. At universities, the internal quality assurance that applies to degree programmes takes effect. With other providers it may be a certified quality management system, an external review or a documented internal procedure. Anyone checking a micro-credential should make sure this information is specific and not just "quality-assured".

Another feature is assessment. A micro-credential without assessment of learning outcomes is not one under the Recommendation. Good providers describe how assessment took place — test, project, presentation — and whether identity was verified during assessment.