Qualification equivalence assessment (QEA) process for health and social care  and early years and childcare (UK and International) 

The qualification equivalence assessment (QEA) is a process has been developed for people who wish to work in Wales as a social care or childcare worker in roles where qualifications are recommended or required for practice and/or registration.

The QEA process is the way we assess qualifications that have been completed outside of Wales, that are either: 

• not already listed on the qualification framework, or  
• not listed on the precedence list.

We check that each qualification equivalency application by looking at:  

• competency – to work out whether competency has been assessed. 
• content – to make sure that the relevant Welsh qualification requirements have been met. 
• level and credit value – to make sure the qualification aligns with the level and size of current accepted Welsh qualifications. 

We use these criteria to make sure anyone working in social care or childcare and early years in Wales has the right knowledge, skills and competence for their role, and can apply to register with us (where relevant). 

The QEA process only assesses the qualification equivalence.  If you have to register with us to practice in the role, you’ll also need to apply through the registration process to confirm eligibility to register.  

The assessment decision will be based on the information you provide so it’s important that it’s as accurate as possible. Providing false or misleading information is a breach of the Code of Professional Practice and could mean we refuse to register you or remove you from the Register.

You can apply for a qualification equivalence assessment (QEA) if you: 

• would like to work as a social care worker or manager, or childcare and early years practitioner or manager in Wales, and  
• have a relevant qualification (from the UK or overseas) that isn’t listed on the qualification framework or the precedence list.  

We don’t use this process to assess qualifications for social workers. For social work qualifications please read the social work equivalency assessment process.

Yes, but you’ll need to do a new QEA application for each qualification.  

You must provide: 

• the full name of your qualification as it appears on the certificate

• the name and address of your course provider or assessment centre

• the name of the awarding body

• a list of the modules or units you completed as part of the qualification, including the results (pass, fail or any grade) 

• the level and credit value 

• confirmation that your competence was assessed in the workplace (for example through observations) and / or the number of hours you worked in the setting while you were completing the qualification.  

You must make sure any information you send us is translated into English or Welsh. You must pay any translation costs.

You’ll need to send us the information required before we can review your application. We can’t assess your application without this information. 

You’ll need to complete the application form in one go. You won’t be able to save your progress or come back to it later. It will be helpful to have all your documents available before you start completing the application.

You don't need to send us your certificate to have your qualification assessed but, if your information is unclear or incomplete, we may ask for more information to help us decide. 

Let us know if you need any reasonable adjustments to access the process and we’ll try our best to support you. Please contact us on: QualificationEquivalency@socialcare.wales 

We understand and recognise that certificates can sometimes get lost or go missing, which may mean you won’t be able to give us the information we need.

But we can only begin to review your application once we have all the information we need. This means we could refuse your application if you are unable to provide the information.

You can get replacement certificates by asking an education provider, assessment centre or awarding body to provide you with a new certificate and transcript.  

You must pay any replacement costs for certificates.

In some situations, we understand that issues such as conflict, natural disasters or being a refugee in the UK, can mean it isn’t possible to get a replacement certificate. In these instances, we’ll work with you to find a solution.   

You don't need to send us your certificate to have your qualification assessed. But you will need to provide evidence of your qualification certificate if you need to apply to register with Social Care Wales.

Once we’ve received all the information we need, we’ll review your application and respond to you with a decision within 28 days.

The timescale only starts once we have received all the information we need.

Your application will be assessed by:

• a minimum of two Social Care Wales Officers from the Qualification and Standards Team, and
• a panel member with relevant sector knowledge, skills and experience to make the equivalency assessment decisions.  

To make sure panel decisions are as fair possible:

• all applications will be given a unique identifier, and any personal information from the application will be removed, before being passed to the panel for assessment
• all panel members will have completed unconscious bias training before they can take part in an equivalency assessment panel.

There are three possible outcomes from the review of your qualification. These are: 

1. we decide that your qualification is equivalent, and you won’t need to do anything else. 
2. we decide that your qualification isn’t equivalent, but we agree you do something called a compensation measure to meet our requirements such as placement time, or doing the All Wales induction framework. 
3. we decide that your qualification isn’t equivalent and you’ll need to do a full Welsh qualification. 

When we share our decision with you, we’ll let you know what you need to do next.

The QEA process only assesses the qualification equivalence.  If you have to register with us to practice in the role, you’ll also need to apply through the registration process to confirm eligibility to register.  

If we decide your qualification is equivalent, you’ll be able to use your confirmation of equivalence with your original qualification certificate as supporting evidence that you have a relevant and full qualification.  

If we ask you to do compensation measures, we’ll let you know what you will need to do. When you’ve completed this, you’ll need to send us:

• the confirmation of equivalence statement
• your qualification
• evidence of additional learning.

This will demonstrate that you have a qualification plus supporting evidence which satisfy equivalency assessment requirements to either practice and/or register to work in Wales.

If your qualification isn’t equivalent, you will be given a full explanation of where the qualification does not meet the criteria. We’ll also let you know what you should do to be able to register or practise in Wales.     

Qualifications are only one part of the registration process.  

You can appeal the outcome of the qualification assessment if you believe:

• you have more relevant information which you haven’t shared with us
• we haven’t followed the correct process
• we've made an error in the assessment.

You have 28 days to appeal a decision. We won’t consider any appeals after 28 days.

You’ll need to write to us to explain why you think our assessment decision was incorrect and provide any other information in support of your appeal. 

Your appeal will be assessed by a new panel, who weren’t involved in the original assessment decision, and will include:

• a minimum of two Social Care Wales Officers from the Qualification and Standards Team, and
• a panel member with relevant sector knowledge, skills and experience to make the equivalency assessment decisions.  

The new panel will look at your request within 28 days of receiving your appeal information.

There are two possible outcomes to this process:

• original decision is upheld: the new panel looked at the information and agrees with our original decision. If this happens, we’ll explain how we reached our decision.

• original decision reversed: the new panel looked at the information and reversed the decision we made, including any compensation measures you need to do.

To make sure appeals decisions are as fair possible:

• all appeals will refer to the unique identifier allocated in the application process, and any personal information on the information submitted will be removed, before being passed to the appeals panel
• all panel members will have completed unconscious bias training before they can take part in an appeal.

If you’re unhappy with the service you receive during the process it’s important that you tell us using the Social Care Wales complaints procedure. 

You can find more information in the complaints policy or make a complaint using our online form.  

If you have any further questions, email: QualificationEquivalency@socialcare.wales