The goals of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), in force since the 1st of October of 2010, are:

● To integrate and articulate, within a single framework, the qualifications produced within the different subsystems of education and training - basic, secondary and higher education, and regardless of the access routes.

● To value and consider skills acquired in non-formal and informal learning contexts.

● To improve the readability, transparency and comparability of qualifications in the education and training system and in the labour market.

The European Qualifications Framework (EQF) was established in 2008 by a Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council, in the meantime repealed in 2017 by a Council Recommendation, and aims in particular to:

● Make qualifications clearer and more comprehensible between different systems.

● Promote citizens' mobility.

● Facilitate lifelong learning.

The National Agency for Qualification and Vocational Education, I.P. (ANQEP), is the National Coordination Point for the implementation of the EQF, in articulation with the Directorate General of Higher Education (DGES) with regard to levels 5 to 8 of the structure of the NQF.

The qualifications of the NQF and the EQF obtained in Higher Education also correspond to the qualifications of the Qualifications Framework of the European Higher Education Area (QF-EHEA), since, as a participant of that Area, Portugal has committed itself to making the necessary alignment.

Thus, the implementation of the QF-EHEA had begun in 2005, with the launching of the bases for the implementation of the Bologna Process, accompanied by a set of general legal reforms of the Portuguese higher education system, until its final implementation in the 2009-2010 school year.

A generic qualifications framework was then established, organized into three cycles of study, and a short cycle linked to or within the 1st cycle, as well as generic qualification descriptors for each cycle, based on acquired competences, as well as the structure of the 1st and 2nd cycles of studies in terms of ECTS credit intervals.

The referencing process of the NQF for Higher Education in Portugal to the QF-EHEA was completed in 2011, following a report which was certified by the Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Higher Education.

The referencing process of all levels of the Portuguese NQF to the EQF levels was also completed in 2011, after submission and approval of the referencing report by the EQF Advisory Group.

Thus, the referencing report consists of two documents:

● One establishing the referencing of levels 1 to 5 of the NQF to the EQF;

● Another one that refers to the qualifications promoted in Higher Education - levels 5 to 8 of the NQF, to the EQF, and which correspond to the referencing to the QF-EHEA.

The referencing of the national qualification levels to the EQF levels will allow all certificates and diplomas issued to include an explicit EQF level reference, which should be ensured in higher education by the Diploma Supplement.