The qualifications and learning opportunities data published to the Qualification Dataset Register (QDR), is now available on the European Data portal as open data. Previously, the QDR’s data content was only accessible via the Course Search function in Europass, allowing anyone to find qualifications and learning opportunities in Europe in a single space with a standardised and comparable visualisation. The publication of the data in the European Data portal will allow anyone to download entire learning opportunity or qualification datasets available in the QDR.  

What is the QDR?  

The Qualification Dataset Register (QDR) is a common European database allowing Member States, EQF and Europass countries to publish and share data from their national databases and registries of qualifications and learning opportunities. By gathering data from all countries in a single, comparable format, the QDR promotes the searchability and interoperability of education related information, and supports the recognition of learning in Europe. The European Learning Model (ELM) is the multilingual data model serving as a basis for the publication of information in the QDR. It includes all the existing EU level standards for learning and provides a single format for describing learning opportunities and qualifications.  

Want to learn more about the QDR? Read our QDR article to better understand the difference between learning opportunities and qualifications, and how these records are made available on Europass.  

Why make qualification and learning opportunities data available as Open Data?  

The growing need for cooperation and collaboration at the European level has increased the demand for sharing and accessing information on national qualification and learning opportunity datasets. The provision of a common standard, i.e. the ELM, to describe learning opportunities and qualifications was the first important step in this direction. Embracing open data principles for publishing learning-related data further enhances transparency, drives innovation, and facilitates collaboration among public sector organisations. By making data freely accessible and reusable, open data supports a more seamless and more comprehensive information exchange between different systems and services. Additionally, it empowers citizens and businesses to leverage valuable public information, fostering economic growth, informed decision-making, and the creation of innovative solutions to societal challenges. The European Legislation on Open Data provides the legal basis for sharing this data openly. 

In the context of qualification and learning opportunity data, this can allow for different types of research, or new tools to be developed on the basis of the available data, such as:  

Accessing the QDR data on the Open data portal 

You can access the available QDR data here. The data can be downloaded either per country, or per type of dataset. You can download the datasets either in TTL or JSON-LD format. In addition, a SPARQL endpoint is available, allowing you to query the parts of the datasets that you require. The endpoint also facilitates the linking of the data to other systems or datasets and can ease eventual integration efforts.  

Please note that the data available on the portal reflects that which has been published by Member States to the QDR. This means that data is not currently available for all countries, the coverage of learning opportunity and qualification data may differ from one country to another, and finally, the information included in each dataset may vary per country/ data provider.  

Should you have any further questions on the QDR datasets available in the European Data portal, please get in touch with: EMPL-ELM-SUPPORT@ec.europa.eu