How has Hungarian higher education validation practice changed since 2017?

Exam in the light of study and exam regulations

Abstract

How has Hungarian higher education validation practice changed since 2017?
Research based on the study and examination regulations

Keywords: higher education, recognition of learning outcomes, validation

The validation of learning outcomes in non-formal learning contexts has been part of EU policy since the early 2000s. The Council of the European Union Recommendation adopted in 2012 was a milestone.
Member States that adopted the Recommendation set up their own national validation systems. My research focuses on the implementation of validation of learning outcomes in non-formal learning in higher education. The aim of validation in higher education is to ensure that knowledge, skills and competences acquired in non-formal contexts (e.g. work experience, voluntary work, coursework) are assessed, evaluated and compared against a set standard using validated measurement tools and then recognised as appropriate in the formal higher education system (bachelor, master, higher vocational education). My work builds on my two previous researches, to which the current study follows.
I undertook this research to see if there had been any changes in the last 5 years. And, if there has been a change, what direction of change has there been in relation to the validation of non-formal learning outcomes in higher education institutions.
A further aim of the research is to compare the results of the three research studies. Then to provide an overall picture of the experiences and changes over the last 7 years.

In all these studies I used secondary analysis, documentary analysis. I did the research at three different times (2017, 2019, 2024). For each of them, the sample was the study and examination regulations of all higher education institutions listed in Annex 1 of Act CCIV of 2011 on National Higher Education.The evaluation of the results provides a current picture of the recognition of learning outcomes in non-formal settings in higher education in Hungary. On the other hand, it gives an overview of the way validation in higher education has changed over the years.