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This document referencing the levels of the [Dutch National Qualifications Framework] NLQF to the levels of the [European Qualifications Framework] EQF needs to be considered as work in progress. In the Netherlands most types of qualifications are based on learning outcomes and this has been taken as a point of departure for the development of the NLQF. The 17 existing types of qualification have finally been merged in nine levels of learning: the entry level and levels 1 to 8 of the NLQF. Levels 1-8 are referenced to the eight levels in the EQF. This has been done by working with experts from the different educational sectors and the main stakeholders in education and by consultation with a wider public, including providers of education and training. The EQF has helped to stimulate this process and allowed the referencing process to be carried out in an efficient way. In the Netherlands, the NLQF was developed more or less at the same time as referencing it to the EQF. The referencing process started when the NLQF was almost complete. The classification of qualifications into the NLQF and referencing to the EQF took place under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education Culture and Sciences, which acted as the [national coordination point] NCP for the framework (the NCP-NLQF) at that time. The Dutch authorities will now carry out two years of field testing the classifications of the different types of qualification to ensure that they are at the right levels of the NLQF and to improve the procedures and criteria for getting access to the NLQF. In the meantime, finding out where the NCP-NLQF can be best positioned is required.

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