A recognised certificate of your learning outcome

As a professional, do you want to be able to provide reliable evidence of the knowledge and skills you have acquired? Microcredentials, digital proof of the learning outcome achieved, are being recognised for more and more courses and training programmes. With edubadges, the visual digital certificates used to award microcredentials, you can then clearly show what concrete knowledge you have gained or specific skills you have mastered.

Why is this of interest to professionals?

Microcredentials allow you to continue developing flexibly, without the need for protracted training. They are recognised proof of the knowledge and skills you have acquired during a short learning programme, which you can share with employers or educational institutions. This can make it easier to transfer from one job to another and to switch between courses. 

How does this benefit employers?

A microcredential is a seal of quality that provides insight and assurance regarding the learning objectives achieved by the participant. Employers and educational institutions can verify the microcredentials and edubadges and trust that the professional has actually acquired the knowledge or skills. They can rest assured that the education received is of a high level and meets European quality standards. 

How do you receive an edubadge?

  • Check the online catalogue to see which courses award an edubadge.
  • Once you have met all the criteria and achieved the learning outcome, you will receive an email to claim your edubadge.
  • You can claim your edubadge in your backpack. Go to www.edubadges.nl and click on “Open your backpack”.
  • You’ll need an eduID to create a backpack. If you don’t have one yet, click on “Create directly”. 
  • Do you work for a Dutch knowledge institution, and do you have an institution account? If so, link your eduID to your institution. That is how your identity is verified.
  • If you don’t work for a Dutch knowledge institution but do have a Dutch bank account, you can also verify your identity via your bank (iDIN).
  • Once you’ve logged in to your Backpack using your eduID, your edubadge will be ready for you to claim. 
  • Once you’ve claimed your edubadge, you can also share it on LinkedIn. Open ‘my backpack’, make the edubadge private, share the link on your CV and add it to your LinkedIn.
Microcredentials and edubadges

Quality assured

Microcredentials can vary in length and intensity, but they are mainly intended for short-term education (less than six months), with the study load per course ranging from 84 to 840 hours (comparable to 3 to 30 ECTS). The learning outcomes are demonstrated by, for example, an exam, presentation or report. They comply with national agreements that have been coordinated with other educational institutions in the Netherlands. This way, they are nationally registered, traceable and verifiable. 

An edubadge with or without a microcredential

Sometimes a course or training is not associated with a microcredential, but with an edubadge. This type of education falls outside the formal microcredentials, because it is not officially recognised according to the set quality standards. Nevertheless, you can use such an edubadge to demonstrate that you have gained specific knowledge or skills. To demonstrate the difference, there are 'microcredentials' (edubadges with microcredential) and 'edubadges' (edubadges without microcredential).

What are microcredentials?

Visit YouTube to add English subtitles to the video.

See also