National qualifications frameworks (NQF) are currently emerging all across Europe and also in many non-European Countries stimulated by the recommendation for a European Qualifications Framework (EQF). Although it is obvious that the European Qualifications Framework is a qualifications framework and not a competence framework (European Commission 2008, 5), research and most of the development work have focused on the questions how to structure skills and competences (Rychen and Sagalnik 2001, Winterton et al. 2006). Beside the enormous material available for different typologies of skills and competences, there is almost no literature on typologies of qualifications. Only very recently the notion of qualifications seems to be back in focus (Markowitsch und Luomi-Messerer 2008, 54). This is striking in so far as qualifications frameworks are above all a means to structure qualifications. When looking at existing or recently developed frameworks it becomes obvious that the level structure, which certainly is in focus, is not sufficient to structure qualifications and has to be supplemented by additional orders. For this purpose very rudimental typologies of qualifications have been introduced on national level. The most common way of structuring qualifications in addition to the level structure seems to be its ‘size’ (i.e. the workload involved to achieve the qualification). This approach is followed in the new English and Irish qualifications framework: In the English Framework there are three “sizes” of qualifications: Awards (1 to 12 credits), Certificates (13 to 36 credits) and Diplomas (37 credits or more). The Irish qualifications framework distinguishes amongst others between ‘major’ and ‘minor award types’. In other NQF qualifications are structured according to (educational) sectors. Taking its starting point from the definition of qualifications in the recommendation for a EQF the paper summarizes existing experiences on national level with typologies of qualifications, discusses the need and different approaches to structure qualifications and prepares the ground for the development of European typology of qualifications.

Research literature and policy documents on the European Qualifications Framworks and various existing national qualifications frameworks are analysed.

The paper shows the necessity for a typology of qualifications on European and international level and ways how such a typology might look like.