1. EUROWELD European Certification for Welding Personnel Eligible Period : December 2002 – November 2004 Project co-financed by the Programme Leonardo da Vinci Agreement nr: 2002 - 4552 Company Network Seminar EMCC – Cedefop “The role of competence and qualifications development in fostering workforce mobility” Thessaloniki, 9 – 10 November 2006

2. EUROWELD background: EWF – European Welding Federation Network involving 28 European countries represented by its National Welding Institutes National industrial needs and interests - Awareness of the importance of current competence in the field of welding. - Need of harmonising the qualification and certification of welding personnel EUROWELD Goal: accomplishment of a harmonised Welding Certification system implemented in EWF members countries

3. EUROWELD Consortium: P1 : ISQ – Instituto de Soldadura e Qualidade (PT) P2 : EWF – European Federation for Welding, Joining and Cutting (PT) P3 : IBS – Belgisch Instituut voor Lastechniek (BE) P4 : VCL – Vervolmakingscentrum voor lassers (BE) P5 : MHTE – Magyar Hegesztéstechnikai Egyesulés (HU) P6 : Mátrai Hegesztéstechnikai Kft. (HU) P7 : R&M – GYGV Multiszerviz Kft. (HU) P8 : GBM (IT) P9 : IIS – Istituto Italiano della Saldatura (IT) P10 : HARPEX (PL) P11 : IS – Instytut Spawalnictwa (PL) P12 : Izotechnik (PL) P13 : Bombardier Transportation Portugal, SA (PT) P14 : Balfour Bealty (UK) P15 : Rolls – Royce (UK) P16 : Transco (UK) P17 : TWI Ltd. (UK)

4. Project Main Goal: Accomplishment of a harmonised Welding Certification System for welding personnel (Engineers, Technologists, Specialists and Practitioners) implemented in EWF member countries. This system aimed to be commonly recognised and implemented according to the developed guidelines, promoting the mobility of welding professionals.

5. Project Main Goal: Key-words vs Key-ideas - Harmonised Certification System = equally recognised competences - Welding personnel = Sectoral technological area - Implementation in EWF member countries = not regional or national, but European implementation (28 countries) - Commonly recognised and implemented = establishment of criteria, procedures and guidelines to facilitate mutual recognition - Promoting the mobility of Welding personnel = accredited degrees are recognised under a common quality assurance framework

6.  Achieved Specific Objectives Identification of the national certification systems, in each partner country. Definition of the harmonised certification system to be implemented Definition of the curriculums to the courses of Certified European Welding Engineer, Technologist, Specialist and Practitioner Definition of rules and procedures for the management of the European certification system of welding personnel in welding and related areas Definition of the evaluation system through a database of exam questions Overview of the Project:

7. Methodology and contribution of the transnational work: Identification of the national certification systems (done at national level) Development of guidelines for the certification of welding personnel Analysis of differences and similarities between the identified certification systems Definition of the Certification System Database of Examination Questions and Answers (development, revision and translation) Development of an online platform to access to the examination database allowing the generation of exams Management Activities Dissemination Activities Implementation of the Certification System – performance of pilot exams

8. Link with European Qualification Framework: EWF guideline - “Certification Scheme for European Welding Engineers, European Welding Technologists, European Welding Specialists and European Welding Practitioners” Quality assurance fundamental to sucessfull establisment, implementation and maintenance of European Qualifications Development of criteria, procedures and guidelines facilitating the mutual transparency and recognition of competences Definition of the curriculums for the courses of Certified European Welding Engineer (CEWE), Technologist (CEWT), Specialist (CEWS) and Practitioner (CEWP) Definition of rules and procedures for the management of the European certification system of welding personnel in welding Definition of the evaluation system through a common database of exam questions EUROWELD Outcomes EQF Key-ideas

9. EUROWELD in practice: Guidelines and Examination content* ModulesThematic issues Total Teaching hours EWEEWT Welding processes and equipment199272 Materials and their behaviour during welding2610474 Construction and design126440 Fabrication and applications engineering117052 Total68330238 * Guidelines were developed to Engineer, Technologist, Specialist and Practitioner; Examination system was developed to Engineer and Technologist, only;

10. EUROWELD in practice: * Guidelines were developed to Engineer, Technologist, Specialist and Practitioner; Examination system was developed only to Engineer and Technologist, only; Access to Examination Application User registration

11. EUROWELD in practice: Questions identified in terms of: - ‘Level’ (IWE, IWT, IWS, IWP, IWIP or IW); - ‘Module’ (1 to 4); - ‘Subject’; - ‘Difficulty’ (1 to 3); - ‘Part’ (1 or 3); - ‘Scope’ (YES – Question with Scope; NO – Question without Scope); Questions – Create new The user can create new questions in the Application

12. EUROWELD in practice: Standard Question Details QUESTIONS – Validation Process – List of Draft Questions

13. Basic Rules/Definitions for the Harmonised Examination Matrix: - Multiple Choice Examination: 1 – Question 4 – Answers 1 to 4 – Correct Answers for IWE level, for other levels only 1 answer is correct - Time allocated to answer each question – 60 seconds - Minimum number of questions per examination on each module: - 1 Question per subject - 1 Question per each recommended training hour - The final amount of questions shall be always an entire number - 50% of the harmonised examination questions should be level 2; 25% should be level 1 and the remaining 25% should be level 3

14. Harmonised Examination – Exams Generation: Selection of desired Level, Module and Part Summary of the exam that the user is about to create

15. Harmonised Examination – Exams Management: Generation of Exams

16. Harmonised Examination – Exams Management: Exam Evaluation Sheet

17. Overview of the Project: Exams Evaluation Data – Results

18. Potentialities of the Harmonised Examination system: - Evaluation of competences at an European level, according to common guidelines and equal examination rules - Assessment in terms of thematic subjects, levels, difficulty degrees - Assessment per national results - Upgrading with new topics, questions, expertise domains (inclusive adaptation to other technological areas) Updating and maintenance of European Qualifications Promotion of mutual transparency and common recongnition of competences in a sectoral technological area Use of equal criteria, procedures and guidelines

19. Contribution to training and mobility policies in the sector: The guarantee of a quality system in the implementation of the harmonised certification system, based on general rules defined by EWF, according to the requirements established by ISO IEC 17024-2003. The methodology used to guarantee the real European harmonisation and the large geographical intervention areas - differentiation factors to be considered. The harmonisation of the Certification System to be implemented at a European scale, assuring a transparency of competences and recognition of skills. The development of a central Examination database which can act as basis for the evaluation of E-learning training programs, turning the theoretical examination more flexible and creating conditions to the mobility of welding personnel. The upgrading of the harmonised evaluation system with new questions and answers will allow following the technological advance assuring the improvement of competences and encouraging life-long learning.

20. The future:  Further implementation of the Examination Database in all the EWF countries, promoting the Mobility of personnel  Assessment of results per country and course category, at an European level, aiming at assessing sectoral competences and forthcoming needs  Update of the database and transferability of the concept to other technological environments, On going task! In a near future!Whenever relevant!

21. For further information: siescala@isq.pt