Learning outcomes:
The EQF levels are not necessarily related to any specific qualifications or education programmes, but they indicate the extent, to which a learner has acquired relevant knowledge, skills and competences during their learning.
In this case, it is unimportant how the particular level has been achieved, i.e. whether the learner has participated in a formal or informal/non-formal learning, in vocational or general education programme, as the emphasis is placed on learning outcomes.
Learning outcomes are applied to describe the EQF levels because the comparison and explanation of qualifications awarded in various national education systems on the basis of educational process features, e.g. duration, would be inappropriate, since the national education systems and their contexts are quite different.
In terms of the EQF, learning outcomes are defined as statements of what a learner knows, understands and is able to do after a certain period of learning. Learning outcomes are expressed in three categories or dimensions: knowledge, skills and competence.