Beyond the buzzword: European micro-credentials from policy to reality

Micro-credentials have become one of the hottest topics in higher education. Defined by the Council of the European Union (2022) as a ‘record of the learning outcomes that a learner has acquired following a small volume of learning’, they are often positioned as the solution to lifelong learning and labour market needs in a rapidly changing world. But after years of debate about definitions, aims, and standards, where do we stand today? Are things finally clearer?

The simple answer: yes — and no.

Micro-credentials were designed to complement traditional degrees

The EU has set a target that by 2030, at least 60 % of all adults should participate in training every year, and the employment rate should reach at least 78 % (Council of the European Union 2022). Micro-credentials are expected to help achieve these targets by offering flexible, targeted learning opportunities that can complement traditional degrees.

The Council (2022) encourages Member States and particularly European University Alliances to explore their role in offering learning opportunities to diverse learners by widening attractive, accessible, inclusive and learner-centric lifelong learning activities.

At Haaga-Helia, we are exploring this question within the Ulysseus European University alliance, alongside seven diverse partners across Europe. While national standards are still under development across Europe, this challenges the co-creation across institutions, underscoring the relevance of the Council’s (2022) recommendations on how micro-credentials should be defined. They should:

• Be assessed against transparent and clearly defined criteria.
• Provide knowledge, skills, and competences that respond to societal, cultural, or labour market needs.
• Be owned by the learner, shareable and portable.
• Stand alone or combine into larger credentials.
• Be underpinned by quality assurance.

In short, micro-credentials are meant to certify small, tailored learning experiences that allow individuals to upskill and reskill throughout their lives to meet emerging societal and labour market needs without replacing traditional qualifications. They can complement existing degrees by adding targeted value and may be offered by diverse providers across formal, non-formal, and informal settings.

Micro-credentials catalysing innovation, collaboration, and continuous renewal

Despite the perceived benefits, one of the key questions we face is: what truly sets micro-credentials apart from everything else we already offer? Simply, often they do not.

The OECD (2023) found that micro-credentials often attract learners who already hold a higher education degree and come from privileged socio-demographic backgrounds. Instead of widening participation, there is a risk that they simply reinforce existing inequalities.

Morover, access remains uneven. The OECD research highlights that, while they could facilitate pathways into higher education, many existing offers are restricted to current students or graduates. This limits their potential to truly open doors for non-traditional learners.

In other words, if micro-credentials mainly serve those who are already positioned well in the labour market or are currently enrolled in higher education institutions, they do not really drive the purpose they were meant for. Therefore, we need to first and foremost examine their role in providing actual added value to higher education institutions, organisations and learners.

In our experience, the added value of micro-credentials depends largely on how they are designed and implemented. When co-created with companies, public organisations, and other universities, they can

• facilitate knowledge transfer across institutions
• enhance collective learning
• strengthen long-term partnerships
• act as a mechanism for institutional adaptation in response to labor market needs

In these cases, learners also benefit from richer learning experiences, as each micro-credential draws on the combined expertise and diverse pedagogical approaches of multiple institutions. In this way, micro-credentials can serve as platforms for larger collaborative projects and ecosystem-wide innovation.

Moreover, credit-bearing micro-credentials can differentiate institutions in the marketplace, enhance reputation, and support curriculum innovation. Their flexibility allows institutions to open up education to new learner groups and promote more inclusive participation in lifelong learning.

For higher education institutions, they also create opportunities for institutional learning, benchmarking, and international visibility within alliances such as Ulysseus. In this way, micro-credentials are not just smaller units of education, but catalysts for innovation, collaboration, and continuous renewal.

All in all, their success depends on how they are designed in the first place. If their added value is not recognised, then there is a risk that they remain a well-intentioned policy experiment-promising in theory, but limited in impact.

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