As of November 2023, the ECTE formally offers institutional accreditation of micro-credential providers (MCP) as a distinct accreditation activity. This activity has been externally reviewed and approved by EQAR and falls within the scope of the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG). Micro-credential providers accredited by ECTE will be listed in the DEQAR.ECTE MCP accreditation should not be confused with ECTE institutional and programme accreditation.
If you are not quite sure about what micro-credentials are, here is a brief presentation video.
For a more thorough introduction, consider ICETE Academy courses on micro-credentials, such as: The Micro-credential Revolution, Becoming a Micro-credential Provider, Designing Micro-credentials, or the specific ECTE course Micro-credential provider Orientation.
This page contains all necessary information, forms, tools and links related to ECTE accreditation of Micro-credential Providers.
Guidelines and information
- Micro-credential Providers Standards and Guidelines. This core docume
nt includes the criteria, procedures and standards for being accredited as a Micro-Credential Provider. - EQA for MPC. The External Quality assurance for Micro-credential Providers Policy applies ESG 2 (External Quality Assurance – EQA), ESG 3.4 (thematic analysis), ESG 3.6 and ESG 3.5 (Resources), to ECTE’s micro-credential provider accreditation activity (MCP accreditation). This document is to be read in conjunction with ECTE’s general internal quality assurance policy (see Part 4 of Introducing the ECTE) and other ECTE policies and guidelines.
- Micro-credential Provider fees: see ECTE Fees
- MCP Directory. The Micro-credential Provider Directory will list all providers that have been successfully accredited. The MCP directory will be active from Winter 2023.
Application forms
- Micro-credential Provider Eligibility Check, to be used by candidate providers to verify whether they are bone fide cases for MCP accreditation
- Micro-credential Provider Application, to be used by providers to initiate the MCP accreditation process once the eligibility check has been passed.
Tools
- Guidelines for Producing Self-Evaluation Reports (including MCP-SER with template)
- Micro-credential Design Template, to be used as a tool to design micro-credentials
- Micro-credential Certificate Template, to be used in summarising the information needed on micro-credential certificates.
- For an introduction to micro-credentials consider the ICETE Academy course The Micro-credential Revolution
- If you are planning to pursue MCP accreditation with the ECTE, you will be required to complete the Micro-credential provider Orientation course as part of your orientation.
- Review Report – Micro-Credential Provider, to be used by VET panels in producing reports following reviews.
Feedback and monitoring forms
- Preliminary feedback on ECTE MCP accreditation methodologies
- MCP Stakeholder Satisfaction Survey
- Integrative MCP Compliance Report to be used by providers after one complete cycle of delivery of at least 3 micro-credentials.
- MCP Annual Progress Report to be used by MCP providers in yearly reporting.