There is a broad consensus that employability and lifelong learning in Europe need to be fostered by transparency as well as by the transfer and recognition of qualifications held by individual citizens. The development of the ECVET, the EQF and corresponding NQFs cannot be discussed without taking into account the shift from input orientation to a learning outcomes approach. Therefore there is a need to develop and elaborate adequate methods to describe qualifications in terms of learning outcomes. With the VQTS model, a learning outcomes approach focussing on work related descriptions of competences and their acquisition has been developed. The VQTS model and, in particular, the description of competences in relation to the work context can support the understanding between the world of education and the world of work. The main focus of the first VQTS project was on transnational mobility. However, the VQTS model can be used for different purposes where the transparency of competence profiles is highly important – for example transferring and recognising competences acquired within the official VET system as well as competences achieved through non-formal or informal learning, developing qualifications/curricula, enhancing the visibility of differences in qualifications (in the context of the EQF/NQF implementation). The aim of this paper is to explore the application of the VQTS model for making the overlapping areas of the competence profiles of VET and HE qualifications visible, for developing solutions how to overcome problems on the interface between VET and HE, and for establishing new forms of partnerships between VET and practice oriented HE providers (e.g. for tuning and adjusting curricula, for defining competence profiles for the admission into training programmes/courses, for the recognition of competences etc. to promote progression from VET to HE).