National qualifications reforms are often associated with the setting up of legal structures and new bodies that are intended to manage and drive forward the implementation of reforms, and offer new ways for stakeholders to engage with reforms. In almost all countries the modernisation of education and training systems has a legal anchor point that clarifies what needs to happen to achieve a specific purpose. Sometimes the law simply sets out in broad terms the policy goals and the timescales for their enactment, while other laws are framed in terms of technical detail. Some legal structures set out the roles and responsibilities of new bodies to work in the qualifications system. The bodies that are set up can be a high-level representative committee or a new agency with an employee cadre that carries out tasks associated with the qualifications system. For example qualifications accreditation, checking that quality assurance arrangements are implemented or examining how educational and qualifications standards are defined.

Eight partner countries have provided specific information to the ETF about their legal and institutional structures (present and future), and information about 10 other countries and territories has been derived from their contributions to this publication.

The ETF NQF project has led to discussions within partner countries about how their qualifications systems can be improved and about the potential role of an NQF in facilitating this improvement. The current situation in each of the countries is different; all countries are at the beginning of the development process, and some are not, at this time, considering the introduction of an NQF.