European Area of Recognition

Glossary

Term	Definitions
Academic recognition	Approval of courses, qualifications, or diplomas from one (domestic or foreign) higher education institution by another for the purpose of student admission to further studies. Academic recognition can also be sought for an academic career at a second institution and in some cases for access to other employment activities on the labour market (academic recognition for professional purposes). As regards the European Higher Education Area, three main levels of recognition can be considered, as well as the instruments attached to them (as suggested by the Lisbon Convention and the Bologna Declaration): (i) recognition of qualifications, including prior learning and professional experience, allowing entry or re-entry into higher education; (ii) recognition of short study periods in relation to student mobility, having as the main instrument the ECTS (European Credit Transfer System); (iii) recognition of full degrees, having as the main instrument the Diploma Supplement.
Academic recognition	Source: Vlăsceanu L., et al., Quality Assurance and Accreditation: A Glossary of Basic Terms and Definitions, Papers on Higher Education, UNESCO-CEPES 2004.
Access	Certain qualifications convey the holder with the right to access specific qualifications/courses/programmes at a particular education level within the education system in which the qualification was taken. For instance a first cycle degree usually provides access to second cycle studies.
Access	Source: Lokhoff, J. et al., A guide to formulating degree programme profiles. Including programme competences and programme learning outcomes. Bilbao, Groningen, The Hague 2010.
Accreditation	The process by which a (non-)governmental or private body evaluates the quality of a higher education institution as a whole or of a specific educational programme in order to formally recognise it as having met certain pre-determined minimal criteria or standards. The result of this process is usually the awarding of a status (a yes/no decision), of recognition, and sometimes of a license to operate within a time-limited validity. The process can imply initial and periodic self-study and evaluation by external peers.
Accreditation	Source: Vlăsceanu L., et al., Quality Assurance and Accreditation: A Glossary of Basic Terms and Definitions, Papers on Higher Education, UNESCO-CEPES 2004.
Accreditation Mills	“Accreditation mill” refers to a non-recognised educational accreditation organisation providing accreditation and quality assurance without having an authorisation to do so. In many cases accreditation mills are closely associated with diploma mills.
Accreditation Mills	Source: Council for Higher Education Accreditation – Section on Degree Mills (website).
Accreditation of prior certificated learning (APCL)	A process, through which previously assessed and certificated learning is considered and, as appropriate, recognised for academic purposes.
Accreditation of prior certificated learning (APCL)	Source: Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, Guidelines on the accreditation of prior learning, 2004.
Accreditation of prior experiential learning (APEL)	A process through which learning achieved outside education or training systems is assessed and, as appropriate, recognised for academic purposes.
Accreditation of prior experiential learning (APEL)	Source: Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, Guidelines on the accreditation of prior learning, 2004.
Accreditation of prior learning (APL)	A process for accessing and, as appropriate, recognising prior experiential learning or prior certificated learning for academic purposes. This recognition may give the learning a credit-value in a credit-based structure and allow it to be counted towards the completion of a programme of study and the award(s) or qualifications associated with it. The term 'accreditation of prior learning' is used in these Guidelines to encapsulate the range of activity and approaches used formally to acknowledge and establish publicly that some reasonably substantial and significant element of learning has taken place. Such learning may have been recognised previously by an education provider; described as 'prior certificated learning' or it may have been achieved by reflecting upon experiences outside the formal education and training systems; described as 'prior experiential learning'.
Accreditation of prior learning (APL)	Source: Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, Guidelines on the accreditation of prior learning, 2004.
Accreditation organisation	A designated competent authority which is legally entitled to accredit an institution, programme or module of study within the context of a national education system.
Accreditation organisation	Source: Lokhoff, J. et al., A guide to formulating degree programme profiles. Including programme competences and programme learning outcomes. Bilbao, Groningen, The Hague 2010.
Alternative Recognition	Alternative recognition may include:
	(i) recognition of the foreign qualification as comparable to a qualification of the host country, but not to that indicated by the applicant;
	(ii) partial recognition of the foreign qualification;
	(iii) full or partial recognition of the foreign qualification subject to the applicant successfully taking additional examinations or aptitude tests;
	(iv) full or partial recognition of the foreign qualification at the end of a probationary period, possibly subject to specified conditions.
	Source: Council of Europe/ UNESCO, Revised recommendation on criteria and procedures for the assessment of foreign qualifications, 2010.
Apostille of the Hague	An Apostille is a certificate that authenticates the origin of a public documents. Apostilles can only be issued for documents issues in one country party to the Apostille Convention (signed in 1961 in The Hague, hence the name) and that are to be used in another country which is also a party to the Convention.
	N.B.: The Apostille only confirms the authenticity of the signature. It does not confirm anything of the educational contents of the document.
	Source: The Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), The ABCs of Apostilles. How to ensure that your public documents will be recognised abroad, 2010.
Assessment methods	The total range of methods used to evaluate the learner’s achievement in a course unit or module. Typically, these methods include written, oral, laboratory, practical tests/examinations, projects, performances and portfolios. The evaluations may be used to enable the learners to evaluate their own progress and improve on previous performance (formative assessment) or by the institution to judge whether the learner has achieved the learning outcomes of the course unit or module (summative assessment).
Assessment methods	Source: Lokhoff, J. et al., A guide to formulating degree programme profiles. Including programme competences and programme learning outcomes. Bilbao, Groningen, The Hague 2010.
Awarding body	Body issuing qualifications (certificates, diplomas or titles) that formally recognises the learning outcomes (knowledge, skills and/or competences) of an individual, following an assessment and validation procedure.
Awarding body	Source: CEDEFOP, Glossary. Quality in education and training, 2011.
Awarding institution	A university or other higher education institution which awards degrees, diplomas, certificates or credits at tertiary level.
Awarding institution	Source: Lokhoff, J. et al., A guide to formulating degree programme profiles. Including programme competences and programme learning outcomes. Bilbao, Groningen, The Hague 2010.
Background Paper (refugees)	In cases where refugees, persons in a refugee-like situation or others for good reason cannot document the qualifications they claim, competent recognition authorities are encouraged to create and use a “background paper” giving an overview of the qualifications or periods of study claimed with all available documents and supporting evidence.
	The “background paper” is intended to be a tool
	- for the competent recognition authorities to reconstruct the educational background of the refugee in order to facilitate the assessment;
	- for the refugee to affirm his or her academic achievements towards other evaluating bodies, like higher education institutions and employers, in order to gain access to further studies or appropriate employment.
	Source: Council of Europe/UNESCO, Recommendation on Criteria And Procedures for the Assessment of Foreign Qualifications, 2010.
Collaborative Arrangements	Collaborative arrangements, such as: franchising, twinning, joint degrees, whereby study programmes, or parts of a course of study, or other educational services of the awarding institution are provided by another partner institution;
Collaborative Arrangements	Source: Council of Europe/UNESCO, Code of Good Practice in the Provision of Transnational Education, 2007.
Competence	A dynamic combination of cognitive and metacognitive skills, knowledge and understanding, interpersonal, intellectual and practical skills, ethical values and attitudes. Fostering competences is the object of all educational programmes. Competences are developed in all course units and assessed at different stages of a programme. Some competences are subject-area related (specific to a field of study), others are generic (common to any degree course). It is normally the case that competence development proceeds in an integrated and cyclical manner throughout a programme.
Competence	Source: European Commission, ECTS Users’ Guide, 2009.
Competent authority	Person or organisation that has the legally delegated or invested authority, capacity, or power to perform a designated function.
Competent authority	Source: Lokhoff, J. et al., A guide to formulating degree programme profiles. Including programme competences and programme learning outcomes. Bilbao, Groningen, The Hague 2010.
Course unit	A self-contained, formally structured learning experience. It should have a coherent and explicit set of learning outcomes, expressed in terms of competences to be obtained, and appropriate assessment criteria. Course units can have different numbers of credits.
Course unit	Source: Lokhoff, J. et al., A guide to formulating degree programme profiles. Including programme competences and programme learning outcomes. Bilbao, Groningen, The Hague 2010.
Credential evaluation	Comparing and assessing foreign qualifications.
Credential evaluation	Source: Lokhoff, J. et al., A guide to formulating degree programme profiles. Including programme competences and programme learning outcomes. Bilbao, Groningen, The Hague 2010.
Credit	Quantified means of expressing the volume of learning based on the workload students need in order to achieve the expected outcomes of a learning process at a specified level.
Credit	Source: European Commission, ECTS Users’ Guide, 2009.
Credit system	A credit system makes it possible to divide a qualification into units or into partial objectives the objectives of a programme of vocational and educational training. Each unit is defined in terms of knowledge, skills and competences (KSC) and can be characterised by the relative level of the learning outcomes involved, which may be defined by a reference level and by its volume which may be expressed in points or other factors. Each unit may or may not be awarded separately.
Credit system	Source: European Commission, European Credit System for Vet – Technical Specifications. Report of the Credit Transfer Technical Working Group, 2005.
Degree Profile	A Degree Profile describes the specific characteristics of an educational programme or qualification in terms of learning outcomes and competences, following an agreed format.
Degree Profile	Source: Lokhoff, J. et al., A guide to formulating degree programme profiles. Including programme competences and programme learning outcomes. Bilbao, Groningen, The Hague 2010.
Degree programme	A prescribed study programme leading to a formal qualification awarded by a higher education institution.
Degree programme	Source: Lokhoff, J. et al., A guide to formulating degree programme profiles. Including programme competences and programme learning outcomes. Bilbao, Groningen, The Hague 2010.
Diploma Mill	A diploma or degree mill is an entity that sells postsecondary credentials without requiring appropriate academic achievement.
Diploma Mill	Source: World Education Services (website).
Diploma Supplement	The Diploma Supplement is an annex to the official degree/qualification designed to provide a description of the nature, level, context, content and status of the studies that were pursued and successfully completed by the holder of the degree/qualification. It is based on the model developed by the European Commission, Council of Europe and UNESCO/CEPES. The purpose of the supplement is to provide sufficient independent data to improve the international ‘transparency’ and fair academic and professional recognition of qualifications (diplomas, degrees, certificates etc).
Diploma Supplement	Source: European Commission, ECTS Users’ Guide, 2009.
Directive 2005/36/EC	European Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications aids mobility by obliging Member States to consider the qualifications acquired elsewhere in the Community to allow access to a regulated profession in their territory.
Directive 2005/36/EC	Source: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/qualifications/policy_developments/legislation_en.htm
Distance learning	Education and training imparted at a distance through communication media: books, radio, TV, telephone, correspondence, computer or video.
Distance learning	Source: CEDEFOP, Terminology of European education and training policy. A selection of 100 key terms, 2008.
Dublin descriptors	The Dublin Descriptors provide very general statements of typical expectations of achievements and abilities associated with awards that represent the end of a Bologna cycle. General level descriptors have been developed for the ‘short cycle within the first cycle’ and the first, second and third cycle. The descriptors consist of a set of criteria, phrased in terms of competence levels, which enables to distinguish in a broad and general manner between the different cycles. The following five sets of criteria are distinguished:
	The Dublin descriptors have been developed by an international group of experts, which has named itself the Joint Quality Initiative (JQI). The work of the JQI and Tuning is considered complementary by both parties.
	Source: European Commission, ECTS Users’ Guide, 2009.
European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)	ECTS is a learner-centred system for credit accumulation and transfer based on the transparency of learning outcomes and learning processes. It aims to facilitate planning, delivery, evaluation, recognition and validation of qualifications and units of learning as well as student mobility. ECTS is widely used in formal higher education and can be applied to other lifelong learning activities.
European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)	Source: European Commission, ECTS Users’ Guide, 2009.
European Credit system for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET)	Technical framework for transfer, recognition and, where appropriate, accumulation of individual learning outcomes to achieve a qualification. ECVET tools and methodology comprise the description of qualifications in units of learning outcomes with associated points, a transfer and accumulation process and complementary documents such as learning agreements, transcripts of records and ECVET Users guides.
	Source: CEDEFOP, Glossary. Quality in education and training, 2011.
European Qualification Framework (EQF)	The European Qualifications Framework (EQF) acts as a translation device to make national qualifications more readable across Europe, promoting workers' and learners' mobility between countries and facilitating their lifelong learning. The EQF aims to relate different countries' national qualifications systems to a common European reference framework. Individuals and employers will be able to use the EQF to better understand and compare the qualifications levels of different countries and different education and training systems.
	Source: EU-EQF website: http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/doc44_en.htm)
	See also topic “Qualifications Frameworks” on page 35.
Flexible learning paths	A flexible learning path refers to any situation in which the graduate has obtained a qualification in a way that is not the standard learning path followed by the mainstream student. The flexibility of the learning path may be:
	- access and admission to the programme not based on the standard requirements in terms of entrance qualifications (e.g. a secondary school leaving certificate);
	- exemptions of part of the programme based on a previous obtained qualification or period of study;
	- exemptions of part of the programme, or the whole programme, based on non-formal or informal learning;
	- credit transfer during the programme (e.g. via exchange programmes).
	- distance learning.
	Source: Rauhvargers, A. and A. Rusakova, Improving recognition in the European Higher Education Area: an analysis of national action plans. Council of Europe 2010.
Formal Learning	Learning typically provided by an education or training institution, structured (in terms of learning objectives, learning time or learning support) and leading to certification. Formal learning is intentional from the learner’s perspective.
Formal Learning	Source: European Commission, ECTS Users’ Guide, 2009.
Formal rights (attached to a foreign qualification in home country)	Formal rights obtained through a qualification may, for example, be the right to access to higher education (i.e. the right to be considered for participation in higher education), the right to access to doctoral studies, the right to use a given title or the right to apply for professional recognition.
	Source: Council of Europe/UNESCO, Revised recommendation on Criteria And Procedures for the Assessment of Foreign Qualifications, 2010.
Generic competences	Generic Competences are also called transferable skills or general academic skills. They are general to any degree programme and can be transferred from one context to another.
Generic competences	Source: Lokhoff, J. et al., A guide to formulating degree programme profiles. Including programme competences and programme learning outcomes. Bilbao, Groningen, The Hague 2010.
Grades	Grades describe the quality of learning achievements and rate the performance of a student at a particular level.
Grades	Source: European Commission, ECTS Users’ Guide, 2009.
Informal learning	Learning resulting from daily life activities related to work, family or leisure. It is not structured (in terms of learning objectives, learning time or learning support) and typically does not lead to certification. Informal learning may be intentional but in most cases it is non-intentional (or “incidental”/random).
Informal learning	Source: European Commission, ECTS Users’ Guide, 2009.
Joint degrees	A joint degree should be understood as referring to a higher education qualification issued jointly by at least two or more higher education institutions or jointly by one or more higher education institutions and other awarding bodies, on the basis of a study programme developed and/or provided jointly by the higher education institutions, possibly also in cooperation with other institutions. A joint degree may be issued as:
	a. a joint diploma in addition to one or more national diplomas,
	b. a joint diploma issued by the institutions offering the study programme in question without being accompanied by any national diploma
	c. one or more national diplomas issued officially as the only attestation of the joint qualification in question.
	Source: Council of Europe/UNESCO-CEPES, Recommendation on the Recognition of Joint Degrees, 2004.
Joint programme	A joint programme is a programme offered jointly by different higher education institutions irrespective of the degree (joint, multiple and double) awarded.
Joint programme	Source: ECA, Principles for accreditation procedures regarding joint programmes, 2007.
Learner	An individual engaged in a learning process (formal, non-formal or informal learning).
Learner	Source: European Commission, ECTS Users’ Guide, 2009.
Learning outcome	Statements of what a learner is expected to know, understand and be able to do after successful completion of a process of learning.
Learning outcome	Source: European Commission, ECTS Users’ Guide, 2009.
Licencing / licensure of an institution	The term “licensing” may be slightly differently defined in different countries. In general, however, licensing is considered to be the approval to conduct business as an educational institution. Licensing is not equated to accreditation and does not necessarily require demonstration of quality or ability to meet performance standards.
Licencing / licensure of an institution	Source: Vlăsceanu L., et al., Quality Assurance and Accreditation: A Glossary of Basic Terms and Definitions, Papers on Higher Education, UNESCO-CEPES 2004.
Level (cycle) descriptors	Generic statements of the broad expected outcomes of each of the three cycles. A good example of general cycle (level) descriptors are the so-called Dublin Descriptors, which have served as one of the foundations for the Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher Education Area.
Level (cycle) descriptors	Source: European Commission, ECTS Users’ Guide, 2009.
Life-long learning	All learning activity undertaken throughout life, which results in improving knowledge, knowhow, skills, competences and/or qualifications for personal, social and/or professional reasons.
Life-long learning	Source: CEDEFOP, Glossary. Quality in education and training, 2011.
Module	The term module has different meanings in different countries. In some it means a course unit; in others a module is a group of course units. In ECTS Users Guide module is defined as a course unit in a system in which each course unit carries the same number of credits
	or a multiple thereof.
	Source: European Commission, ECTS Users’ Guide, 2009.
National Qualifications Framework	An instrument for the development and classification of qualifications (e.g. at national or sectoral level) according to a set of criteria (e.g. using descriptors) applicable to specified levels of learning outcomes.
National Qualifications Framework	Source: Added value of National Qualifications Frameworks in implementing the EQF http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/doc/eqf/note2_en.pdf
National register	Official national listing of state recognised programmes/ institutions/ qualifications/ professions.
National register	Source: Lokhoff, J. et al., A guide to formulating degree programme profiles. Including programme competences and programme learning outcomes. Bilbao, Groningen, The Hague 2010.
Non formal learning	Learning that is not provided by an education or training institution and typically does not lead to certification. It is, however, structured (in terms of learning objectives, learning time or learning support). Non-formal learning is intentional from the learner’s perspective.
Non formal learning	Source: European Commission, ECTS Users’ Guide, 2009.
Non recognised but legitimate institutions	A Non-recognised but legitimate institution refers to those which are not formally recognised by the national authorities officially responsible for the accreditation and the educational provision in a given system, but may offer genuine study programmes which may be of comparable level to other formally recognised programmes.
Non recognised but legitimate institutions	Source: Bergan S. And E.S. Hunt (eds.), Developing attitudes to recognition: substantial differences in an age of globalisation. Council of Europe 2009.
Non-collaborative arrangements	Non-collaborative arrangements, such as branch campuses, off-shore institutions, corporate or international institutions, whereby study programmes, or parts of a course of study, or other educational services are provided directly by an awarding institution.
Non-collaborative arrangements	Council of Europe/UNESCO- CEPES, Code of Good Practice in the Provision of Transnational Education, 2007.
Non-traditional learning	Non-traditional learning encompasses all skills, knowledge and competences acquired outside the traditional classroom setting, through other types of learning activities in a non-formal context and may lead to a set of relevant learning outcomes comparable to learning outcomes achieved the traditional way. It may be considered the overarching term for various forms of learning including informal and non-formal learning.
Non-traditional learning	Source: European Commission, ECTS Users’ Guide, 2009.
Partial Recognition	Partial recognition could take the form of accepting part of the credits of the foreign qualification. The applicant would then have the opportunity to enrol into the programme that is required by the competent recognition authority for access to the desired activity and receive exemptions for the amount of credits accepted by the competent recognition authority.
Partial Recognition	Source: Rauhvargers, A. and A. Rusakova, Improving recognition in the European Higher Education Area: an analysis of national action plans. Council of Europe 2010.
Professional recognition - de facto	Refers to situations of unregulated recognition for professional purposes, such as where no national legal authorisation to practice a particular profession exists or is required. This is the most problematic area of professional recognition .
Professional recognition - de facto	Source: Council of Europe/UNESCO-CEPES, Outline Structure for the Diploma Supplement (glossary), 2007.
Professional recognition - de jure	Refers to the recognition of the right to work in a specific country in a regulated profession (e.g. medical doctor) in the European Union or European Economic Area. These situations are subject to the European Union Directive 2005/36/EC whereby if a citizen is a fully qualified professional in one Member State, he or she has a right to exercise that profession and be recognised as a professional in another Member State.
Professional recognition - de jure	Source: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/qualifications/policy_developments/legislation_en.htm
Qualification	Any degree, diploma or other certificate issued by a competent authority attesting the successful completion of a recognised programme of study.
Qualification	Source: European Commission, ECTS Users’ Guide, 2009.
Qualification descriptors	Generic statements of the outcomes of study. They provide clear points of reference that describe the main outcomes of a qualification often with reference to national levels.
Qualification descriptors	Source: Bologna Working Group on Qualifications Frameworks, A Framework for Qualifications of The European Higher Education Area, 2005.
Qualifications Framework for the European Higher Education Area (QF-EHEA)	The QF – EHEA is an overarching framework for qualifications in the European higher education area, comprising three cycles (including, within national contexts, the possibility of intermediate qualifications), generic descriptors for each cycle (Dublin Descriptors) based on learning outcomes and competences, and credit ranges in the first and second cycles. The overarching framework sets the parameters for each Bologna country to develop its own national framework.
	QF EHEA is also known as the Bologna Qualifications Framework.
	See also: Dublin Descriptors and Qualification Frameworks
	Source: www.ehea.info
Quality assurance	The process or set of processes adopted nationally and institutionally to ensure the quality of educational programmes and qualifications awarded.
Quality assurance	Source: European Commission, ECTS Users’ Guide, 2009.
Recognition centres	NARIC ENIC: European Network of Information Centres in the European Region. A network under the European Council and UNESCO.
	NARIC: National Recognition Information Centres in the European Union. A network under the European Commission.
	Network of national centres providing information, advice and assessment of foreign qualifications. Created to help improve the academic recognition of international awards and facilitating the integration of national education systems.
	Source: Lokhoff, J. et al., A guide to formulating degree programme profiles. Including programme competences and programme learning outcomes. Bilbao, Groningen, The Hague 2010.
Recognition of non-formal and informal learning	The process through which an institution certifies that the learning outcomes achieved and assessed in another context (non-formal or informal learning) satisfy (some or all) requirements of a particular programme, its component or qualification.
Recognition of non-formal and informal learning	Source: European Commission, ECTS Users’ Guide, 2009.
Recognition of Prior Learning	A method of assessment that considers whether a learner can demonstrate that they can meet the assessment requirements for a unit through knowledge, understanding or skills they already possess and do not need to develop through a course of learning.
Recognition of Prior Learning	Source: Qualifications and Curriculum Authority: Qualifications and Credit Framework Glossary (website).
Regulated professions	A profession is said to be regulated when access and exercise is subject to the possession of a specific professional qualification.
Regulated professions	Source: European Website on regulated professions: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/qualifications/regprof/index.cfm?fuseaction=regProf.home
Self-Certification Report	Reports of the countries participating in the Bologna Process that carried out self-certification exercises to verify the compatibility with the overarching framework of qualifications of the European Higher Education Area. It details information regarding the flexible learning paths and learning outcomes in the higher education systems.
Self-Certification Report	The self-certification reports are published on this website: http://www.enic-naric.net/index.aspx?s=n&r=ena&d=qf
Skills	A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into general/generic and subject specific skills.
Skills	Source: Lokhoff, J. et al., A guide to formulating degree programme profiles. Including programme competences and programme learning outcomes. Bilbao, Groningen, The Hague 2010.
Subject benchmark statement	Subject benchmark statements set out expectations about standards of degrees in a range of subject areas. They describe what gives a discipline its coherence and identity, and define what can be expected of a graduate in terms of the abilities and skills needed to develop understanding or competence in the subject.
Subject benchmark statement	Source: The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, Subject benchmark statements (website).
Subject specific competences	Competences related to a specific subject area.
Subject specific competences	Source: Lokhoff, J. et al., A guide to formulating degree programme profiles. Including programme competences and programme learning outcomes. Bilbao, Groningen, The Hague 2010.
Substantial Differences	The term “substantial difference” clearly indicates that minor differences between qualifications do not provide sufficient reason for non-recognition. It takes into account the diversity of higher education systems and traditions and recognises that there are usually differences between corresponding qualifications in different education systems. Thus the existence of differences between qualifications alone does not provide sufficient reason for non-recognition.
Substantial Differences	Source: Bergan S. And E.S. Hunt (eds.), Developing attitudes to recognition: substantial differences in an age of globalisation. Council of Europe 2009.
Transcript	An official (e.g. certified) document which provides a complete summary of the student’s academic record at that institution(s)/leading to a qualification.
Transcript	Source: European Commission, ECTS Users’ Guide, 2009.
Transnational Education	All types and modes of delivery of higher education study programmes, or sets of courses of study, or educational services (including those of distance education) in which the learners are located in a country different from the one where the awarding institution is based. Such programmes may belong to the education system of a State different from the State in which it operates, or may operate independently of any national education system.
Transnational Education	Source: Council of Europe/UNESCO, Revised Code of Good Practice in the Provision of Transnational Education, 2007.
Transparency of qualifications	Degree of visibility and legibility of qualifications, their content and value on the (sectoral, regional, national or international) labour market and in education and training systems.
Transparency of qualifications	CEDEFOP, Glossary. Quality in education and training, 2011.
Tuning	Tuning Educational Structures in Europe is a university driven project which aims to offer a universal approach to implement the Bologna Process at higher education institutional and subject area level. The Tuning approach contains a methodology to (re-)design, develop, implement and evaluate study programmes for each of the Bologna cycles.
	The term “Tuning” emphasises the notion that universities are not looking to unify or harmonise their degree programs into a prescribed set of European curricula, but rather are looking for points of convergence and common understanding based on diversity and autonomy.
	Source: Lokhoff, J. et al., A guide to formulating degree programme profiles. Including programme competences and programme learning outcomes. Bilbao, Groningen, The Hague 2010.
Workload	Indication of the time students typically need to complete all learning activities (such as lectures, seminars, projects, practical work, self-study and examinations) required to achieve the expected learning outcomes.
Workload	Source: European Commission, ECTS Users’ Guide, 2009.