Professional and Occupational Qualifications

Each EU country has professions that are restricted by law to individuals holding certain national professional qualifications.

These are known as regulated professions.

Except for certain specified professions (see below), a general system exists for mutual recognition of qualifications.

The general system allows a professional qualified in one member state to pursue that profession in another member state without having to qualify again.

However, where standards of training for a profession are much higher in the second member state, the individual may need additional training before being considered fully qualified.

The general system follows two European Directives: Directive 89/48/EEC and Directive 92/51/EEC:

•    Directive 89/48/EEC covers regulated professions requiring at least three years (or an equivalent duration part-time) at a university or higher education establishment plus any professional training required to practise the profession

•    Directive 92/51/EEC covers education and training for professions regulated below degree level. This directive has a number of levels of recognition ranging from post-secondary courses of less than three years to short vocational courses or an assessment of an individual’s skills and abilities.

The UK NARIC works with a range of professional bodies in the UK and overseas providing official guidance on the equivalent UK level of overseas qualifications.

This benchmarking information can then be used as a starting point for measuring specific professional requirements.

In the UK, employers and admitting institutions are autonomous. Therefore, they have the right to make the final decision on any overseas applications. If you or an organisation has any questions about the assessment we issue you then contact NARIC at: www.naric.org.uk

In the meantime we recommend you contact the relevant professional organisation for assistance.

Specified professions

Specific directives cover some other professions. They include medical professions, architects, teachers and lawyers.