What is the IQS?

The IQS, or the Integrated Qualifications System, describes, organises and collects various qualifications in one, commonly available register – the Integrated Qualifications Register. With its aim of increasing the level of human capital in Poland, it allows you to confirm your own skills or those of your employees in the Polish or international labour market.

On January 15, 2016, the Act on the Integrated Qualifications System came into force. The solutions introduced by the Integrated Qualifications System are a response to changes in the labour market and the economy. As the experiences of other European countries show, introducing a system based on a qualifications framework increases the number of people interested in having their competences formally recognised, as well as in improving their qualifications. Everyone will benefit from this: employees – people working in the country as well as abroad, employers, trade unions, as well as various industry organisations.  

The dynamic changes in the Polish labour market mean that both employees and employers have to be increasingly flexible. Therefore, to avoid professional stagnation or even exclusion from the labour market, employees must attain new qualifications, and employers – seek candidates with specific sets of competences.

Qualifications, however, are not just a school certificate or a master’s degree. We acquire knowledge, skills and social competences in various places: at schools and universities, but also in the workplace, from courses provided by various training companies, or by learning at home. This means that we very often have the competences being sought after in the labour market, but we cannot officially confirm this to an employer.

In such cases, the Integrated Qualifications System can help, a systemic solution offering the opportunity to formally verify skills and knowledge acquired through self-learning and provide universal access to an ordered list of qualifications in the market with their clearly defined descriptions. The full list of qualifications functioning within the IQS is available in a public database – the Integrated Qualifications Register. Well-described qualifications provide information on the scope of knowledge and skills persons must have if they want to confirm their competences, or what employers can expect from job candidates in their company.

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