One diploma, skills understood across Europe

Graduates should be able to prove notonly the VET qualification they earned, but also the skills it represents,across borders and without repeated manual checks. ESCO makes those skillsunderstandable across languages and labour markets, while the EUDI Wallet modelpoints to learner-controlled sharing. The system complements, rather thanreplaces, national education records.

Challenge 1: Graduates carry the burden of diplomaverification

VET graduates carryqualifications into a labour market that can interpret unfamiliar certificatesdifferently across institutions and countries. Learners carry the resultingdelay and privacy burden, while issuers face repeated verification requests.

Challenge 2: Qualifications travel poorly betweensystems and borders

Aqualification that is clear to its issuing institution may still requireadditional checks when presented elsewhere, especially across borders, whileissuers face repeated verification requests.

Challenge 3: Skills lack a common language

Diplomatitles alone do not consistently expose comparable learning outcomes oroccupational skills across borders, making their underlying skills difficult tounderstand or reuse.

Challenge 4: Privacy and control

Traditional document-sharing candisclose more information than a verifier needs and leaves graduates withlimited control over how their records are reused.

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One credential, from diploma to employable skills

When a VET diploma is issued as averifiable credential, it makes a vocational qualification independentlyverifiable while connecting the skills represented by that qualification toESCO concepts at finer-grained, micro-credential level. This reduces repeatedauthenticity checks and helps a verifier understand what the learner hasachieved. For issuers, the result is a more efficient way to publish trustedevidence; for graduates and relying parties, it is faster verification withclearer, reusable skills information.

CERT: VET digital diplomas on Europe's trust layers

Led by ITB with Biyiud and Certifydoc, CERT completed a 2025 pilotfor verifiable VET credentials in Spain. ITB led the initiative; Biyiud andCertifydoc provided blockchain, digital-identity, legaltech and technicalsupport, including ESCO-linked content. The open-source walt.id platformprovides the project’s credential tooling, while EBSI supplies the underlyingtrust infrastructure for issuance and verification.

Student records and personal credential data are not stored on theEBSI ledger, and education registries are not replaced. The model follows theEU Digital Identity Wallet direction without claiming certification orconformance.