Educational and Professional Qualifications Framework

Overview

This repository provides comprehensive documentation and implementation guidance for the European Educational and Professional Qualifications digital credentials framework. It encompasses sectorial rulebooks, sectorial EAA catalogues, data models, implementation toolkits, and compliance information for creating interoperable systems that respect European values of privacy, institutional autonomy, and cross-border mobility for students and professionals.

Repository Structure

This repository is organised into several key sections:

• eIDAS roles: Outlines the key roles within the European digital identity framework under eIDAS, detailing their definitions, functions, types of attestations issued, regulatory references, and compliance requirements.

• Trust models: Outlines trust models accepted for Education and Professional qualifcations (Classical PKI & Decentralised PKI using EBSI).

• Governance in Education and Professional Qualifications: Understanding existing governance(s)

• eIDAS scenarios: Outlines the four trust models for electronic attestation of attributes (EAAs) within the European Digital Ecosystem, explaining how EBSI enhances traditional PKI approaches.

• Bridge between Classical PKI and dPKI using EBSI: How the trust models of classical PKI and dPKI are combined to enable and support the governance of education and professional qualifications

• Governance implementation: the EAA-based authorisation model: Defines a structured framework for education and professional qualifications' governance, managing authorisations and recognition within educational, professional, and quality assurance domains.

• Sectorial rulebook: The core framework that establishes standardised approaches for managing digital educational and professional credentials within the European Union.

• Education and professional qualifications Business Blueprint - BBP: The DC4EU WP5 Business Blueprint is a strategic document developed to guide the integration and adoption of digital credentials across the European Union, enhancing the digital transformation of education and professional qualifications. This blueprint aligns with the European Commission’s 2030 Digital Education Action Plan, focusing on interoperability, accessibility, quality assurance, sustainability, and stakeholder engagement.

• Sectorial EAA catalogue: Contains all data models and schemas agreed at sectorial level for Education and Professional Qualifications, including formal education, quality assurance regimes, and non-foundational ID.

• EAA Characterisation: Characterisation of an Electronic Attestation of Attributes (EAA).

• Deployment and Testing Scenarios Results Library (DTSRL): Comprehensive repository of validated deployment scenarios, user journeys, implementation toolkits, and piloting frameworks for digital credentials implementation across European institutions.

• Elements: Elements produced/provided by DC4EU to facilitate adoption. Includes data model converters, gateways, reports.

• Compliance: Information about EBSI and EUDI Wallet compliance tests to ensure interoperability with other issuer, verifier, and wallet solutions.

DTSRL - Deployment and Testing Scenarios Results Library - During project development

The DTSRL serves as the central knowledge base for implementing digital credentials in practice. It contains:

Core DTSRL Components

• User journeys: Provided user journeys to demonstrate cross-border interaction, ready-to-go infrastructure, and foundation to extend/provide more user journeys and/or EAAs.

• • Pilot1 user journeys
• • Pilot2 user journeys
• • Pilot3 user journeys

• Scenarios: Complete scenario definitions that detail the elements each piloting agent must provide to characterise, execute, and monitor user journeys in alignment with governance, technical, and reporting requirements.

• • Pilot1 scenarios
• • Pilot2 scenarios
• • Pilot3 scenarios

• Piloting: Operational framework for piloting agents including progress tracking, SPOC coordination, and implementation validation across the DC4EU Large Scale Pilot.

• Toolkits: Implementation resources including technical architecture, component descriptions, workflows (RFCs), and specific use cases to help develop user journeys for both Classical PKI and Decentralised PKI approaches.

The DTSRL provides practical, validated implementation patterns based on real deployments across 20+ European institutions, supporting both Pilot 1 (Classical PKI unsng CRLs + SD-JWT) and Pilot 2 (Classical PKI uing CRLs + Decentralised PKI using Verifiable Data Registers + W3C VC) approaches.

Key Features

This framework brings together European educational and professinal qualifications priorities:

• Respects member state sovereignty in education
• Maintains institutional independence
• Protects student privacy
• Supports educational mobility
• Links to quality frameworks
• Creates trusted credentials
• Enables automatic recognition
• Supports lifelong learning
• Records formal and informal learning
• Works across European borders

Getting Started

For new users, we recommend starting with:

1. Review the Governance in Education and Professional Qualifications: to understand types of governance and legal regimes at cross-border level
2. Review the Sectorial Rulebook to understand the framework principles
3. Learn about the eIDAS scenarios to understand the trust models
4. Explore the Authorisation Model to understand how trust chains work
5. Identify your Role(s) within the ecosystem
6. Explore the DTSRL for practical implementation guidance:
   • Review User journeys to understand standard processes
   • Study Scenarios from existing piloting agents
   • Access Toolkits for technical implementation resources
   • Understand the Piloting framework for participation
7. Explore the Elements section to identify provided solutions to faciliate adoption with existing services
8. Check the Compliance requirements for interoperability information

Implementation Pathways

For Educational Institutions

Start with the DTSRL to access proven implementation patterns from peer institutions across Europe. The library provides step-by-step guidance for both technical implementation and governance compliance.

For Technology Providers

Review the Toolkits section for technical specifications, API documentation, and integration guidance supporting both Classical PKI and Decentralised PKI approaches.

For Policy Makers and Governance Bodies

Explore the Governance section and Sectorial Rulebook to understand the regulatory framework and authorisation models.

Projects Using This Framework

• DC4EU: Digital Credentials for Europe (Grant Agreement 101102611)
• [Other projects to be added as they adopt the framework]

License and Notice

Copyright © 2025 DC4EU under EUPL-2.0 License

The content of this repository, except in those sections where explicitly announced otherwise, belongs to DC4EU under EUPL-2.0 licence.

For complete license details, see License Information