> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://experience-digital-transform.gitbook.io/experience-digital-transformation/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://experience-digital-transform.gitbook.io/experience-digital-transformation/dpi-for-education/learning-verifiable-credentials/specifications/5.-data-models.md). # 5. Data Models What information a learning credential contains. Build on W3C VC, Open Badges 3.0, CLR 2.0 and ELM rather than inventing fields. Detailed schemas come in Phase 2. ## 5.1 Main building blocks of a credential | Element | What it holds | Closest existing standard | | ------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Learning credential** | The credential itself | W3C VCDM 1.1 / 2.0; Open Badges 3.0 (AchievementCredential); ELM v3.2 (European Digital Credential); IETF SD-JWT VC and ISO mDoc as alternative formats | | **Achievement** | Name, type, learning outcomes, level, credits | Open Badges 3.0 Achievement; CLR 2.0 for records; ELM LearningAchievement and Qualification; vocabularies in [5.4](#54-controlled-vocabularies) (ISCED, qualification frameworks, credit systems) | | **Learner and issuer** | Who it is about, who issued it, and a reference to the trust-registry entry stating the issuer's scope of authority (see 4.3). A valid signature alone does not show that the issuer was authorised to make this claim. | W3C VCDM credentialSubject and issuer; issuer identifiers as W3C DIDs or X.509 certificates; Open Badges 3.0 Profile; ELM Person and Organisation; organisation identifiers in [5.4](#54-controlled-vocabularies) | | **Skills / competencies** | Links to skills and qualifications frameworks | 1EdTech CASE; ELM LearningOutcome; Open Badges 3.0 alignment; frameworks in [5.4](#54-controlled-vocabularies) (ESCO, O\*NET, SFIA, DigComp) | | **Status** | Valid, suspended or revoked | W3C Bitstring Status List; validity period (validUntil) for time-bound credentials such as enrolment (see 2.2) | | **Trust-registry entry** | An authorised issuer and what it may award | EBSI Trusted Issuers Registry and verifiable accreditations; national trusted lists of signing certificates (LVC-1); ELM Accreditation; national accreditation registers | | **Presentation** | What the learner shares with a verifier | W3C Verifiable Presentation; OpenID4VP; W3C Digital Credentials API; W3C VCALM | Each element above can be tagged as sector-mandatory, sector-optional or regional extension. In this pattern, a sector agrees the smallest set of fields every issuer must include, composes it with a base schema, and leaves the rest open to national or regional extension. One regional example is the European Union's DC4EU pilot, whose catalogue defines every credential type in this way. Its higher-education micro-credential entry, for instance, mandates learner identification, title, awarding body and country, award date, learning outcomes, workload and credit, level (and cycle, if applicable) of the learning experience leading to the micro-credential (EQF, QF-EHEA), if applicable, mode of participation, assessment type and quality assurance, and leaves everything else optional. Each catalogue entry names an "attribute schema provider" responsible for its evolution, which is the kind of ownership any shared catalogue needs. ## 5.2 Credential types The types below are illustrative, drawn from three existing sources in two regions and listed as each source defines them: the DC4EU Sectorial EAA Catalogue (the first fourteen rows), the California Career Passport (the next eight) and Europass (Mobility supplement). They overlap in places, for example DC4EU's Proof of enrollment and California's Enrollment Status, or the transcripts and California's Academic Record. They are not a complete or reference list: further sources are welcome, in particular from other regions and from global references such as the categories in the Global Convention on Higher Education and the Open Badges 3.0 achievement types. A merged list with a crosswalk between sources is planned for the next phase. The profile column shows where each type has been implemented or fits naturally; it does not limit a type to those profiles. | Type | Short definition | Supported in profile(s) | | --------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------- | | Higher-education diploma | Award of a degree at a stated level | LVC-1, 2, 3 | | Diploma supplement | Standardised description of the qualification and the programme completed | LVC-1, 3 | | Higher-education transcript of records | Course-level results with credits and grades | LVC-2, 3 | | Proof of enrolment | Current registration status at an institution | LVC-2, 3 | | Higher-education micro-credential | Short, assessed learning unit with learning outcomes, workload, level and QA reference | LVC-1, 2, 3 | | VET diploma | Award of a vocational qualification | LVC-1, 2, 3 | | VET certificate | Certificate for a vocational unit or programme | LVC-1, 2, 3 | | VET micro-credential | Short, assessed vocational learning unit with learning outcomes, workload, level and QA reference | LVC-1, 2, 3 | | Upper-secondary certificate | School-leaving certificate | LVC-1, 2, 3 | | Upper-secondary transcript | Subject-level results for the leaving examination | LVC-2, 3 | | Certificate of professional suitability | Qualification to practise a regulated profession | LVC-2, 3 | | Professional training certificate | Completion of a professional training programme | LVC-1, 2, 3 | | Continuing professional development | Completed CPD activity or credit | LVC-1, 2, 3 | | Accreditation of specialist training | Completed accredited specialist (e.g., medical) training | LVC-2, 3 | | Student ID | Attests that a learner has a current affiliation with an educational institution, for identification or access to student services | LVC-3 | | Enrollment Status | Confirms that a learner is registered or enrolled at an institution for a specified term and, where relevant, their enrollment level | LVC-3 | | Education Award Verification | Confirms that an institution awarded a learner a named degree, certificate, or other qualification, without disclosing the underlying academic record | LVC-3 | | Academic Record | Confirms an educational award and provides additional information about the programme or achievement needed for evaluation or recognition | LVC-3 | | Course Completion | Confirms that a learner completed a specified course or training unit, with applicable units or hours and an optional result | LVC-3 | | Skills and Competencies | Attests to skills or competencies a learner has demonstrated, including the basis for the issuer's assessment | LVC-3 | | Employment Verification | Confirms a person's employment or internship with an organisation, including their role and dates | LVC-3 | | Verified Experience Hours | Confirms hours completed in a specified work, clinical, apprenticeship, or volunteer activity | LVC-3 | | Mobility supplement | Records of the knowledge, skills and competence acquired by an individual during a structured learning experience in another country | LVC-1, 2, 3 | | Credential Evaluation Statement | Evaluate foreign credentials for authenticity, comparability and equivalencies. Issued by Qualification Authorities and/or credential evaluation agencies | LVC-1, 2, 3 | ## 5.3 Languages A credential may carry text in more than one language, and it matters which parts are official. The data model distinguishes three cases, because they carry different authority and are verified differently. | Case | Who is responsible | Part of the signed credential? | Example | | --------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Text issued by the institution in several languages | The issuer | Yes. Each language version is a signed claim and is equally official. | A university issues the degree title in Portuguese and English. | | Labels from a shared vocabulary | The vocabulary publisher | The credential carries the stable identifier and may embed the labels in the languages the issuer chose; the identifier is authoritative, and a verifier can resolve labels in other languages from the vocabulary publisher. | A qualification level coded as a national framework identifier, displayed as "Level 6" or "Nivel 6". | | Translation attested by a third party | The translator or translation authority | No. It is a separate credential that refers to the original. Reserved as an extension point; out of scope for Phase 1. | A sworn translation of a diploma for use abroad. | A translation produced by a wallet or a verifier's software for display is none of these. It must never be presented as official, and should be visibly labelled as automatic. For countries: issue in the languages of instruction and recognition from the start, since claims cannot be added to a signed credential later without re-issuing it. Use shared vocabularies with identifiers for anything a foreign verifier needs to understand (levels, fields of study, credit systems), so that translation happens by lookup rather than by re-issuance. For VCDM-based credentials, language and text-direction metadata on signed claims follow VCDM 2.0 ยง11. Names in other scripts: issuers SHOULD record a learner's name in the script used in their own records and MAY add a transliteration tagged with its script. A transliteration generated by a wallet or verifier SHALL NOT be presented as official, as with automatic translation above. Matching names across credentials and against identity documents is identity binding and belongs with the Identity Building Block; it is a dependency for multi-issuer presentations (UC-06). ## 5.4 Controlled vocabularies The use of controlled vocabularies can greatly support credential data transparency, portability and recognition. When such concepts are included in the credential metadata, their identifiers are the authoritative reference, while labels represent a signed snapshot intended for display and interpretation at a given point in time. This approach ensures that semantic meaning remains stable even when labels evolve, are translated, or are presented in different contexts. To support interoperability while respecting national needs, countries may publish and maintain their own controlled vocabularies, provided that these are based on persistent and stable identifiers, offer multilingual labels where appropriate, and are made available in a machine-readable format. This enables trusted cross-border exchange while preserving flexibility for national governance and terminology management. | Vocabulary | What it covers | Recommended source | Used in credential element (c.f. 5.1) | Note for implementing countries | | ---------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Countries and territories | birth place, country of nationality, location of awarding bodies and credential issuers | ISO 3166 international standard; | Learner and issuer | Use ISO 3166 alpha-2 codes as identifiers; the EU LOD publication is one machine-readable form of the same list. No national list needed. | | Language | Language(s) of credential, achievement, learning outcomes and skills | ISO 639 standard; | Learning credential, Achievement, Skills / competencies | Use ISO 639 codes; where a national or regional language has no ISO code, register one rather than inventing a label. | | Education subject | classifies education programmes and related qualifications by fields of study | International Standard Classification of Education: Fields of Education and Training 2013; | Achievement | ISCED-F 2013 is the global reference. A national classification can be used alongside it if each national code is mapped to an ISCED-F code and the mapping is published. | | Level | level of education within a semantic framework, including National Qualifications Frameworks | ISCED 2011, ASEAN QRF, ACQF, EQF (), NQF () | Achievement | Two different things: level of education (ISCED 2011, global) and level of a qualification in a framework (NQF, referenced to a regional framework such as EQF, ASEAN QRF or ACQF where one exists). Express both where applicable; a national level is only comparable across borders through the regional referencing. | | Educational credit system | A measure demonstrating the estimated workload typically required to undertake to achieve a set of learning outcomes | E.g. ECTS (), ACTS, SAQA credits, etc. | Achievement | Express workload in notional learning hours as the neutral unit, and credit as a value plus a reference to the credit framework (ECTS, ACTS, SAQA or national). See 5.1. | | Skills and competencies | Knowledge, skills and competences (e.g. regional or sectoral) relevant to education and/or labour market needs | E.g. O\*Net, ESCO (), DigComp (), SFIA, Common European Framework of Reference for Languages () | Skills / competencies | No single global framework. Reference the framework used by its identifier, and declare any mapping to another framework (e.g., national to ESCO or O\*NET) rather than relabelling. | | Occupations | Occupation(s) the credential relates to, or entitles its holder to access | ISCO-08, ESCO () | Learning credential, Achievement | ISCO-08 is the global reference; ESCO and national occupational classifications are mapped to it. Use the ISCO code where cross-border comparison matters. | | Learning activity type | Form of participation in the learning activity (mandatory field in European micro-credentials) | | Achievement | EU vocabulary; no international equivalent. Adopt it, or publish a national list mapped to it. | | Type of assessment | Means to assess a person's learning achievements (mandatory field in European micro-credentials) | | Achievement | EU vocabulary; no international equivalent. Adopt it, or publish a national list mapped to it. | | Mode of learning and assessment | Means by which learning and assessment can be carried out, e.g. online or presential (mandatory field in European micro-credentials) | | Achievement | EU vocabulary; no international equivalent. Adopt it, or publish a national list mapped to it. | | Accreditation and Quality Assurance type | Describes, in a standardised way, the quality assurance of an institution or programme (mandatory field in European micro-credentials) | | Learning credential, Learner and issuer, Trust-registry entry | EU vocabulary; no international equivalent. Where a national QA regime uses different categories, map them; this vocabulary also feeds the trust-registry entry (4.3). | | Credential and achievement type | The kind of credential or achievement (diploma, transcript, micro-credential, certificate, licence) | Open Badges 3.0 achievementType vocabulary; ELM credential types () and claim types (); the categories in 5.2 | Learning credential, Achievement | This is the vocabulary the 5.2 crosswalk depends on. Use one of the two published lists and declare the mapping to the other. | | Organisation identifiers | Stable identification of issuers, awarding bodies and accreditation bodies | National education or business registers; ROR for research organisations; LEI; EBSI legal-entity DIDs in the EU | Learner and issuer, Trust-registry entry | The identifier must be the one the trust registry uses (4.3). A name is not an identifier. | --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. 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