What is ECQA?

The ECQA is a not-for-profit association with headquarters in Austria, joining institutions and several thousands of professionals from all over Europe and abroad.

Main activities

The ECQA:

  • provides a worldwide unified certification schema for numerous professions

  • joins experts from the market and supports the definition and development of the knowledge (skill cards) required for job roles

  • defines and verifies quality criteria for training organisations and trainers to assure the same level of training all over the world.

  • centrally promotes all certified job roles.

Aims of the Association

  1. The activities of the Association will provide the organisation with certification and accreditation of new job roles (professions), training organisations, trainers and examination bodies and the co-operation of these entities on a regional, national and transnational level, in order to:

    • foster the accreditation, revision and release of new job roles (professions) to be accepted into the job pool to achieve a higher qualification in the international labour market using an accreditation, test and certification system

    • support regional and/or transnational skills assessment and testing by using a Europe-wide accreditation portal

    • provide the backbone for the accreditation of training organisations, trainers, examination bodies and certificate delivery for all members.

  2. The Association will, through its activities, promote and support the certification and accreditation process of job roles for businesses and higher education institutions on a regional, national and transnational level.

  3. The Association will support and validate new developments within the member network and beyond.

  4. The Association will facilitate the running of the skills assessment and test and accreditation portal for certification. Examination bodies will facilitate higher levels of training and trainers and better qualification for participants in Europe.

  5. The Association will disseminate all experiences amongst other European member states and other European partnerships. Individual trainees in particular will benefit from the outcome of the activities.

Find out more on the ECQA website