The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has established a National Qualifications Authority (NQA). A federal decree to establish the Authority was issued by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in late 2010. The authority will be affiliated to the Cabinet, have independent legal status and full legal capacity to act in accordance with the Federal Decree No. 1 for the year 2010.

The establishment of the NQA is a response to the vision for learning in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and articulated through a range of Federal and Emirate strategies. To meet this vision, a project "called the Qualifications Framework Project" was initiated in 2006 by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, "to create an open and inclusive environment in which every individual's learning is valued and recognised, leading to a highly knowledgeable and skilled society in a competitive world".

The Board of the National Qualifications Authority (NQA) approved the QFEmirates on the 20th February 2012. The QFEmirates is the first national qualifications framework for the UAE.  NQA is implementing the Framework in cooperation with relevant entities and entrusted bodies. We are very pleased to receive any feedback based on experience of using the handbook. Please send this feedback to qfemirates@nqa.gov.ae

Download QFEmirates Handbook
Download QFEmirates Summary

The federal decree gives effect to:

• the establishment of a National Qualifications Authority (NQA) for the UAE, to cover education and training, including vocational education and training, in the UAE, and its relationship with the economy and labour market
   
• the development of a national qualifications framework for the UAE

   

• identifying appropriate national mechanisms covering vocational education and training and development of related systems and processes
   
• development of a range of quality assurance processes to assure quality of outcomes of education and training and in particular vocational education and training, and its relationship with the labour market in the UAE