Accreditation of prior learning and experience (VAE)

The formal qualification you may obtain as a result of VAE may help you:

• get a new job;
• switch to a new position;
• advance in your present career;
• shorten the duration of the training you wish to undertake;
• make your professional and/or extra-professional experience count.

The VAE team at the Ministry of Education offers the following formal qualifications*:

• vocational capacity certificate (certificat de capacité professionnelle - CCP);
• vocational aptitude diploma (diplôme d’aptitude professionnelle - DAP);
• technician’s diploma (diplôme de technicien - DT);
  
• secondary school leaving diploma (diplôme de fin d’études secondaires de l’enseignement secondaire général);
• master craftsman's diploma (brevet de maîtrise de l'artisanat).

The formal qualifications (CCP, DAP and DT) that can be recognised under the VAE scheme may be viewed on the eSchoolBooks website.

Cross-border apprenticeships do not lead to a Luxembourgish vocational qualification, and therefore cannot be obtained via the VAE scheme.

The certificates awarded on successful completion of general secondary education that can be recognised under the VAE scheme may be viewed on the eSchoolBooks website.

The master craftsman's diplomas that can be recognised under the VAE scheme may be viewed on the website of the Chamber of Skilled Trades and Crafts.

Higher education diplomas cannot be obtained via the VAE scheme. Access requirements and procedure differ according to the level (BTS qualification, bachelor's degree, master's degree); they may be viewed on the INFPC website.

Only qualifications from which a first group of students has graduated through initial training may be accessible through the VAE process. This applies in respect of the Chamber of Skilled Trades and Crafts' reformed training programs and the new qualifications offered as initial training under the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth's vocational training scheme and general secondary education. If you have any doubts, you can contact the VAE team for more information.

* based on the Law of 19 December 2008, as amended, on the reform of vocational training

For details of the expectations and requirements of the various qualifications (the skills and knowledge you need to have), please consult the educational/training syllabuses for the available qualifications on the following websites:

• For the CCP, DAP and DT qualifications, use this link to the eSchoolBooks website. Then select CCP, DAP or DT and the trade or profession you are interested in, and right-click on grille horaire de formation.
• For the diploma awarded on successful completion of general secondary education, use this link to the eSchoolBooks website. Click on Enseignement secondaire général, then on the folder Classes supérieures. Then select the qualification you are interested in.
• For the master craftsman's diplomas, you will find further information on the website of the Chamber of Skilled Trades and Crafts.

With regard to languages: It is necessary to have a good command of the languages included in the educational syllabus for the qualification sought. For the master craftman's diploma, candidates may choose between German and French.

To find out which qualification best matches your experience, we strongly recommend that you:

1. request a prior appointment with the VAE team for an explanation of the procedure and an overview of the various qualifications;
2. use the guidance available from the Adult Training Service (SFA), which will provide support and help you define your career plan;
3. get information from the partners in the VAE scheme (Chamber of Commerce, Chamber of Employees, Chamber of Skilled Trades and Crafts, Chamber of Agriculture, INFPC, Maison de l’orientation) if you have any other questions.

 The staff of these services will be happy to listen to you and answer your questions.

There are two steps in applying for validation.

First step (15% of the procedure)

You must begin by filling in the first part of the application for validation; this is the application for admissibility:

• either online in your personal space on MyGuichet.lu;
• or by filling in the PDF form "Application for admissibility" (in French or in German) and either sending it to us by registered post or handing it in in person at the following address:
  • Ministère de l’Éducation nationale, de l’Enfance et la Jeunesse
    Service de la formation professionnelle
    Cellule VAE
    29, rue Aldringen
    L-2926 Luxembourg

In your application for admissibility you provide information about your experience and more specifically your professional experience, volunteering activities or private experience as well as about your educational or training background. In your application for admissibility, you indicate which formal qualification you hope to obtain by validating your previous experience. If you fill the form in by hand, write very clearly. Make sure you are both precise and succinct, and don't leave anything out.

You must produce documents in support of your declarations. These supporting documents may be of very different types. A list of documents to be provided is included in the form; it may also be viewed online on Guichet.lu. The documents will be examined carefully by the relevant department at the Ministry.

On the basis of the information and the supporting documents you provide, the VAE team will check if your experience allows you to claim VAE and if your application is admissible.

When you apply for admissibility, you will have to provide:

• various official documents, such as a copy of your employment contract or certificate of employment or pay slips providing proof of your paid employment;
• a certificate of affiliation to the social security scheme if you are self-employed;
• certificates issued by the president of any associations if you have done any volunteer work with an association;
• affidavits in respect of your private activities;
• photocopies of your certificates, diplomas or degrees, statements of marks, certificates proving successful completion of units or modules, VAE decisions, certificates of internships or certificates that you have successfully completed a training course;
• a copy of your identity document;
• a copy of the debit note: to apply for admissibility, you must transfer 25 euros into the post office account of the Administration de l'Enregistrement, des Domaines et de la TVA (IBAN: LU76 0019 5955 4404 7000; BIC: BCEELULL), indicating the following: "virement, validation des acquis de l’expérience (Rgd du 11 janvier 2010)" and your full name.

Documents in a language other than one of the official languages of the Grand Duchy (Luxembourgish, French or German) must be accompanied by a translation supplied by a sworn translator.

Be aware that the documents you submit with your application will not be returned. So for pay slips, employment contracts, diplomas, etc. send copies only.

Please take note of our policy on the protection of personal data  relating to the validation of prior learning and experience.

We advise you to be very careful about the quality of the information you provide.

The Ministry will examine your application for admissibility. It may request additional information. The VAE team at the Ministry may also ask you to produce the original documents.

Second step (85% of the procedure)

If your application for admissibility is accepted, you will need to complete the second part of the VAE procedure: the application for validation on the merits.

In this second step in the VAE procedure, you apply for validation on the merits of your application. You can download the form here:

• either in German: Antrag auf grundsätzliche Anerkennung (PDF);
  
• or in French: Demande de validation sur le fond (PDF).

Using its guided questionnaire, the application for validation on the merits should allow you to provide a detailed list and description of your skills, knowledge and capacities that match the requirements of the qualification you wish to obtain.

You may compile your application as a separate Word document, as long as you keep to the official structure for the application. Please provide information regarding

• your background (parcours) (P1, P2, P...)
• your previous employment (emplois) (E1, E2, E...)
• your activities (activités) (A1, A2, A...)

Validating your previous experience requires you to compile a narration of that experience. Sufficiently detailed descriptions provide proof of your knowledge, abilities and aptitudes. This will require you to go back in time and find situations that you should describe as precisely as you can, together with the conditions under which you have performed such tasks.

For the validation commission to assess in which context you have developed and used your experience and skills, you must provide detailed answers to the questions of the descriptive forms regarding your background (parcours) (P1, P2, P...), your previous employment (emplois) (E1, E2, E...) and your activities (activités) (A1, A2, A...).

To help you select appropriate activities to list, we advise you to closely study the training syllabus for the formal qualification you hope to obtain. You should structure your application for validation on the merits on the basis of this syllabus. You can find details of the training syllabuses in the above section on 'How to identify the right qualification'.

We advise you to be very careful about the quality of the information you provide. Make sure you are both precise and succinct.

In the section on 'Attachments', you are invited to supply all the documents (training certificates, photos, attestations, reports, etc.) that shed light on your previous experience and the skills you have acquired.

You can ask for help in compiling your application for validation on the merits. A form to request assistance for the second part of the application for validation is issued to every candidate whose application has been declared admissible.

We advise you to be very careful about the quality of the information you provide.

It is on the basis of this full range of information that the validation commission will assess your skills and compare them with the requirements of the relevant certificate, diploma or degree.

For the application for admissibility: no deadline for submission.

For the application for validation on the merits: you will be informed of the deadlines in the letter declaring your application admissible.

The deadlines for submitting an application for validation on the merits for the different validation sessions are:

• 28 February for the May/June session;
• 31 July for the October/November session.

You must comply with these dates. If the validation request on the merits is sent by post to the following address, the date of the postal stamp will be considered as proof:

Ministère de l’Éducation nationale, de l’Enfance et la Jeunesse
Service de la formation professionnelle
Cellule VAE
29, rue Aldringen
L-2926 Luxembourg

If you submit your application for validation on the merits within the specified deadlines, the Ministry passes your application on to the competent validation commission.

The Ministry will forward the decision to you within one month of receiving it from the validation commission.

For your request for assistance: You should express your wish to receive assistance:

• either via the MyGuichet.lu website;
• or by filling in the form sent to you with the notification that your application for admissibility has been accepted.

To guide you through the procedure, the VAE team at the Adult Training Service offers assistance* in the form of methodological guidance in compiling your application. Assistance may take the form of:

1. a group workshop or an information session organised by the VAE team;
2. one or more individual interviews with the assistant.

The assistance is spread over a number of face-to-face or phone interviews or exchanges of e-mails. Assistance is strongly recommended; it is available in French, German and Luxembourgish.

The VAE team will give you the name of an assistant, who will be your contact throughout the process of compiling your application. It's up to you to make contact and arrange an appointment; this marks the start of your period of assistance.

The person assisting you has the task of passing on techniques enabling you to analyse your professional practices and helping you find ways of formalising the skills you have acquired so that you are able to make your own choices about what to describe in your application. VAE is a purely personal procedure. You alone are responsible for your decisions and the documents you produce. It is important to remember that the assistant will not fill in the application for you, and will not create any content for inclusion in your application. The assistant will only guide your thinking about the skills you have acquired throughout your professional career and in your extra-professional and private activities by advising you how to summarise them in your application for validation on the merits.

In conclusion – it's your life, and your experience. So it's up to you to convince the commission by explaining your background in your own words to prove that you meet the requirements for the qualification you hope to obtain.

* Grand-Ducal Regulation of 15 December 2017 on assistance in the form of individual interviews for VAE applicants

Your application for validation is submitted to the members of the validation commission for analysis and a decision. Validation commissions meet twice a year, once in May/June and once in October/November.

Each commission has six members: two representatives of employers, two representatives of employees, and two representatives of the educational environment. There is a validation commission for each qualification. The commission compares the skills you describe and document in your application with the skills required to obtain the qualification sought.

The commission assesses your experience and skills and compares them with the requirements for obtaining the formal qualification sought, on the basis of the reference syllabus (framework programme).

If necessary, and if the validation commission so requests, the examination of the file may be followed by an interview or a test in a real-life or simulated situation.

The commission may then decide:

• to grant full validation;
• to grant partial validation: If the commission deems your skills insufficient, it may grant partial validation. You then have three years to acquire the skills you lack (through training or by gaining additional experience, for example);
• to reject your application: If the skills your list in your application do not match the framework programme for the qualification you wish to obtain.

To obtain full validation, you must prove that you are in full possession of the knowledge, aptitudes and skills listed in the framework programme for the formal qualification sought. This means it is important that you check your application really is complete before you submit it to the validation commission for assessment.