European Countries that have adhered to the
so-called “Bologna Process” have also committed to produce, alongside their own
higher education qualifications, an extra document known as the Diploma
Supplement (DS). The DS is not a further qualification, but a particular certification
produced following a template which was agreed upon by the three principal
international organizations of European breadth (The Council of Europe, UNESCO
– Europe region, European Union). The European DS model envisages that it be
drafted in two or more languages (the national language of the Country in
question and at least one commonly-spoken foreign language, such as English),
and that it provide a whole list of very detailed information. The information
is grouped into 8 categories, which run from the personal details of the
qualification holder, to the level of the qualification itself, the curriculum
(list of subjects and, if possible, their principal contents), the rights it
bestows (utilization for further studies or in the workplace), to the type of
issuing institution, and to an abbreviated description of the higher education
system it belongs to. Inasmuch as it reconstructs in an analytical, precise and
transparent way the educational itinerary that led to a specific qualification,
the DS is very useful tool and of great help for a correct evaluation of the
course and qualification it refers to. It is therefore believed that the DS can
facilitate the procedures of academic and professional qualification recognition.