The survey is part of Cedefop’s ongoing study on Microcredentials for labour market education and training examining how these credentials are structured, delivered, and recognised across sectors, with a focus on microcredentials offered by private training providers, professional bodies, sectoral organisations, and public employment services. In some countries and regions, this may also include certain (partial) programmes offered by publicly funded education and training providers that may also offer formal programmes. Microcredentials take many forms — including digital badges, nanodegrees, partial qualifications, and module certificates — but all aim to document and validate learning that happens outside formal education systems.
Why focus on microcredentials?
While formal qualifications remain essential, microcredentials offer:
- flexibility to learn at one’s own pace and in smaller units
- targeted training that meets emerging labour market needs
- recognition of skills gained outside formal education and training systems
- inclusive pathways for individuals with limited access to traditional education
Microcredentials are often seen as a way to build personalised learning pathways, allowing individuals to accumulate learning outcomes over time based on their needs and career goals. For employers, they provide a practical way to train staff in specific areas or signal competence in fast-changing fields such as digitalisation or green technologies.
However, their growing diversity raises important questions about standards, quality assurance, recognition, and their role in social inclusion. The stakeholder survey will help address these challenges and support the development of a more transparent, effective microcredential landscape in Europe, improving our understanding of how microcredentials function across countries, sectors, and contexts — especially when they are not formally labelled as such.
Microcredentials are also central to advancing the EU’s Union of Skills vision for an inclusive, flexible, and demand-driven learning across Europe.
The survey: share your expertise
To support this evidence base, CEDEFOP invites experts and stakeholders to contribute to a European stakeholder group survey, which will remain open until 27 June. The survey aims to:
- explore the diversity of microcredentials, focusing on their profile and function outside formal education and training
- emphasise the role of quality assurance and recognition in building trust and value for learners, employers, and systems
- Identify key conditions and elements for developing a European ecosystem of microcredentials
Whether you work with microcredentials regularly or are familiar with a single initiative, your input is essential. By participating, you will help shed light on the practical dimensions of microcredentials and support efforts to make skills more visible, portable, and inclusive.
Take the survey: Microcredentials for labour market education and training
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