The Europass Diploma Supplement describes the nature, background, level, content and status of the studies completed by the holder of the supplement. It is a personal document providing information on its holder. The Diploma Supplement does not replace the original diploma nor guarantee that the authorities of some other country will formally recognise the original degree. However, the supplement makes the diploma easier to understand and may thus help the individual to have the degree recognised by the competitive authority or the personnel deciding on admissions to the higher education institution.
Europass Diploma Supplement - information for higher education institutions
The Europass Diploma Supplement is drawn up by the higher education institutions by using a model prepared, tested and polished up by a joint working group formed by the European Commission, the Council of Europe and UNESCO. The verification procedures the institutions apply to the supplement must be the same as those applied to the diploma itself. Higher education institutions must suit the supplement with the same authentication that they have for the diploma itself.
The institutions must take the necessary measures – especially as regards the electronic version – to verify that the relevant community and national regulations on the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy are fully complied with in the management of the Diploma Supplements.
Below you will find some instructions and documents to help you draw up the Diploma Supplement. The Finnish National Agency for Education provides higher education institutions with guidance in drawing up and developing their Diploma Supplements if necessary.
The instructions and documents are updated regularly. The latest updates are the following:
- The example texts for describing eligibility in the DS were revised in February 2019
- The instructions for Finnish higher education institutions were updated in January 2019f
- The description of the national education system included in the Diploma Supplement was updated in January 2019
The instructions have been drawn up to meet the needs of Finnish higher education institutions:
Descriptions of eligibility for section 5.2 of the Diploma Supplement
Finnish National Agency for Education has created example texts for higher education institutions.
Description of the system
Higher education institutions are requested to add the below description of the Finnish education system to their Diploma Supplements (Information on the National Higher Education System). The institution may decide to supplement the description with the diagram drawn up for this purpose.
Please find below the Finnish higher education system as a graph (first in full-colour, second in black and white).
Need help? You can contact us at europassi (a) oph.fi
The Diploma Supplement is part of the Europass arrangement. Higher education institutions may use the Europass logo in their Diploma Supplement.
It is important for higher education institutions to inform their students and those about to graduate about the Diploma Supplement on their website and in their course catalogues both in one of the national languages and in English. It is also recommended that they communicate information on the Diploma Supplement and how to use it in conjunction with issuing the supplement.
Diploma Supplement has renewed in two ways: Diploma Supplement has become a digitalized personal document. The supplement shows competence the holder has attained during their higher education degree.
Information on the possibilities of digitalisation, slides from a seminar 6.10.2021.
Updated