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Recognition of Foreign Post-secondary Vocational Education

Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR)

ETF International Conference

Skills Dimension of Migration: Perspectives from the ETF Partner Countries

2015-09-16

Sebastian Steele

Heni Hatamzadeh

Eng

• The Swedish Council for Higher Education is a government agency whose responsibilities span across the education sector.

• 230 employees

• Stockholm and Visby

• UHR’s mission statement is to meet the needs of individuals, the education sector, government agencies and organisations with support in the selection of educational opportunities and entering the job market and development through international cooperation.

The Council- UHR

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Department for Recognition of Foreign Qualifications

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• Analysis and statistics

• Entrance requirements for higher education

• Admission to higher education

• International cooperation

• Study information

• System administration

• Evaluation and recognition of foreign qualifications/ENIC-NARIC Sweden

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UHR’s assignments and areas of work

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Department for Recognition of Foreign Qualifications

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Performs three kinds of evaluation

• Foreign Secondary Education - the evaluation is for individuals who have completed

foreign secondary education and want to pursue higher

education at a Swedish higher education institution.

• Foreign Post-secondary Vocational Education - the evaluation is for individuals who have completed a

foreign post-secondary vocational education and want to

apply for a job.

• Foreign Tertiary Education - the evaluation is for individuals who have completed a

higher education and want to apply for a job.

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Recognition of Foreign Qualifications

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Department for Recognition of Foreign Qualifications

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In an evaluation, the unit for recognition of Foreign

Post-secondary Vocational Education

• examines the focus of the qualification, i.e. what the

qualification leads to.

• ensures that the qualification is equivalent to post-

secondary vocational education in Sweden.

• examines the documentation and assesses its

authenticity.

• checks that the education provider is recognised in

the country in which the qualification was awarded.

• issues a statement that shows the equivalent level of

qualification in Swedish higher vocational education.

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Recognition of Foreign Post-secondary Vocational Education

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Recognition of Foreign Qualifications

Online Application

Paper Application

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Department of Qualifications Recognition

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• A completed online application

• A Scanned and uploaded copy of certificate

or other proof of a completed qualification

• A Scanned and uploaded copy of the

transcript, with a list of the courses

included

• Swedish identity card from the Swedish Tax

Agency (a certified copy of passport for

EU/EEC citizens).

• A completed and signed application form

• A copy of a certificate or other proof of a

completed qualification

• A copy of (transcript) where a list of the

courses is included

• Swedish identity card from the Swedish

Tax Agency (a certified copy of passport

for EU/EEC citizens).

Application- Necessary enclosures for a statement

Eng

The Statement

• is intended as guidance for employers.

• states whether the foreign qualification is equivalent to the level of a Swedish Diploma or Advanced Diploma in Higher Vocational Education.

• describes the focus of the qualification and any specialisation.

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Recognition of Foreign Post-secondary Vocational Education

Department for Recognition of Foreign Qualifications

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Department of Qualifications Recognition

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The Statement in Swedish and Translation

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Department of Qualifications Recognition

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Recognition of Foreign Post-secondary Vocational Education

• Our study of the effect of a statement on the labour market shows:

• That individuals with a statement from UHR are more successful on the labour market.

• That individuals with a statement from UHR often have a job that have higher requirements.

• That many individuals have considered that the statement has been of great help.

• That many employers feel “safe” that a foreign qualification has been verified by a Swedish authority.

For more information on the study please visit(in Swedish): http://www.uhr.se/sv/Framjande-och-analys/Utvardering-av-effekten-och-anvandningen-av-utlatanden-Effektprojektet/

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Recognition of Foreign Post-secondary Vocational Education

Recognition without the necessary documents

• Depending on the type of education, we can sometimes do an evaluation without all the necessary documents.

• In order for this to work, we need to have had extensive information of the education system and similar types of education in that country.

• It is not a regular statement but rather a statement which explains our process and how we were able to issue a statement without the necessary documents.

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Department for Recognition of Foreign Qualifications

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Measures that would facilitate our evaluation

• Short term: Availability when we need to contact institutions, education providers, ministries etc.

- Helpful to reduce our queue time.

- Helpful when we need to confirm accreditation.

- Helpful for assuring the validity of a qualification.

• Long term: The development of a qualifications framework in target countries would facilitate an evaluation.

-Helpful to compare credentials from different parts of the world.

Recognition of Foreign Post-secondary Vocational Education

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Department for Recognition of Foreign Qualifications

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Recognition of Foreign Post-secondary Vocational Education

Country statistics – 2015

Most cases from:

1. Syria

2. Eritrea

3. Iraq

4. Germany

5. Iran

6. Poland

7. Great Britain

8. Hungary

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General Statistics

Foreign Higher Vocational Education

Cases 2014 January – August:

1 083 cases

Cases 2015 January – August

1 670 cases

Cases overall in the department

2014 January – August:

11 947 cases

2015 January- August

15 555 cases

Department for Recognition of Foreign Qualifications

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Recognition of Foreign Post-secondary Vocational Education

Contact information and links Hengameh Hatamzadeh heni.hatamzadeh@uhr.se Sebastian Steele sebastian.steele@uhr.se

Our website www.uhr.se Link to our application website https://utbildningsbedomning-en.uhr.se/

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Department for Recognition of Foreign Qualifications