University Microcredentials
Acquire the knowledge, skills and competences to support your personal and professional development throughout your life.
To this end, the University offers microcredentials as part of its commitment to flexible, lifelong learning, ensuring accessible and tailored learning aligned with European standards that guarantee quality and portability across the European Higher Education Area.
Microcredentials are also designed to facilitate lifelong learning, adapted to current societal and labour market needs and promoting academic and professional mobility.
What are university microcredentials?
Microcredentials are:
- An innovative learning model promoted by the European Union, aimed at enhancing inclusion and equal opportunities.
- Academic recognitions issued in digital format, certifying specific competences acquired through short, structured courses.
- Modular and stackable, enabling them to adapt to the evolving learning needs of adult learners.
For further information, visit the European Commission’s microcredentials portal:.
- Short learning experiences: less than 15 ECTS credits (i.e. up to 150 hours) long, digitally certified and recognised across Europe.
- Focus on key competences: Designed to provide knowledge (content), skills (practical application), and competences (capacity to act) in line with the needs of businesses, associations and administrations.
- Flexible format: Tailored to adult learners and offered in face-to-face, online, or hybrid/blended formats
- Modular and stackable structure: Can be taken independently or combined into broader, personalised learning pathways. The accumulation of several UPNA university microcredentials may lead to the award of a longer, formal lifelong learning qualification.
- Practical focus: Use of active learning methods to support upskilling (developing new competences) and reskilling (refreshing or updating existing ones).
- Quality assurance: Delivered within the framework of the Internal Quality Assurance System of UPNA’s Own degrees
University microcredentials address key challenges such as:
- Aligning individual capabilities with employment opportunities: The technological and green transitions are transforming economic sectors. Microcredentials help people update and adapt their skills to meet these new demands
- Fostering a knowledge-based society: They promote understanding of and adaptation to technological, economic, and social change, avoiding exclusion and enabling full civic participation.
- Widening and democratising access to higher education: They offer alternative, flexible pathways for adult learners to begin or continue university studies, including progression to bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
- Promoting social inclusion: Microcredentials can be designed to support vulnerable groups, contributing to equity and social integration.
Thanks to the "Plan Microcreds" of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, supported by NextGenerationEU funds, the following financial support is available:
- 70% tuition subsidy for individuals aged between 25 and 64 at the start of a microcredential, subject to meeting the specific course requirements.
- 100% subsidised tuition for those who additionally belong to eligible priority groups, as outlined in the forthcoming tuition aid procedure to be published by the University
For additional reference, consult the European Commission’s website and the official page of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities..
Criteria for Prioritising Applications in the Drafting of the Catalogue
Public University of Navarre, in collaboration with Government of Navarre and key entities and organisations within the economic and social fabric, has worked on identifying the training needs of the community through specialised working groups held in 2024. As a result of this process, 120 applications were received and analysed to identify opportunities for collaboration and synergies among the various stakeholders involved, while addressing the reskilling needs of Navarre society. This process focused on key aspects such as employment, advanced specialisation, and training for vulnerable groups. Based on these data, a report was drafted which has served as the foundation for designing the catalogue of UPNA university microcredentials within the framework of the Microcreds Plan, following the criteria outlined below:
- Affiliation: Applicant entities must belong to the groups represented in the working groups organised by UPNA and Government of Navarre.
- Target Group: Proposals must justify the target group for the training, its scope and size, ensuring the feasibility of delivering one or more editions.
- Professional Participation: Collaboration with external professionals alongside UPNA teaching staff in the delivery of teaching will be valued.
- Funding: Consideration will be given to full or partial funding of 30% of the tuition fees to facilitate access to courses and guarantee student participation
- Synergies: Priority will be given to proposals driven by multiple entities and/or aligned with the training needs analysis of Navarre society conducted by UPNA Foundation.
Microcredentials within the Microcreds Plan
Thanks to the Microcreds Plan of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU, the University offers university microcredentials with the possibility of tuition fee subsidies.. Please check the website of each course to find out the tuition fees and requirements.
Microcredentials outside the Microcreds Plan
UPNA also offers microcredentials outside the Microcreds Plan which may be eligible for other types of financial assistance to study them. Please check the website of each course to find out the tuition fees and requirements.
Europass is the common European curriculum vitae which enables citizens to present their knowledge, skills, and competencies in a straightforward manner, promoting transparency and academic and professional mobility across Europe. To this end, Europass offers you the option to create a Europass offers you the option to create a free account, which provides a suite of online tools allowing you to:
- record your work and educational experiences
- and securely store academic certificates in a personal digital wallet.
Public University of Navarre will issue the digital certification of your microcredential in the standard format accepted by Europass and will send it to you by email; subsequently, you will be able to upload it to your Europass digital wallet, ensuring its academic recognition throughout Europe.
For the certification of microcredentials, Public University of Navarre has collaborated with more than 20 Spanish public universities in the CERTIDIGITAL Project. In this vídeo , you can learn how microcredential certification is carried out and the objectives of the project.
CERTIDIGITAL is a project under the UNIDIGITAL call, funded by the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of the Government of Spain and the European Union’s Next Generation programme. In our Transparency portal you can find more information on the projects carried out by UPNA in UNIDIGITAL..
The University offers specialised training programmes tailored to the needs of your organisation in a microcredential format, with academic oversight provided by UPNA. This training is up-to-date, high-quality, and accredited within the European framework.
You can request more information or a customised microcredential for your company through two channels:
- E-mail: fundacion.formacion@unavarra.es
- or by phone: (+34) 948169813
Teaching staff interested in developing university microcredentials must ensure relevance, quality, and alignment with qualification frameworks. UPNA Foundation provides support to design effective programmes, ensuring they meet the needs of the professional environment and comply with established standards.
You may contact us via the following two channels:
- E-mail: fundacion.formacion@unavarra.es
- or by phone: (+34)948169813
Quality
Microcredentials must be subject to both internal and external quality assurance. Quality processes must be clearly documented, accessible, and responsive to the needs and expectations of learners and stakeholders.
Transparency
Microcredentials must be measurable, comparable, and understandable, and must include information on learning outcomes, workload, content, level, and learning offer.
Relevance
They must be designed and awarded as distinct and specific learning achievements. The learning opportunities leading to them must be regularly updated to address identified needs in the social context.
Validity of Assessment
Learning outcomes must be assessed according to transparent criteria.
Learning Pathways
They must be designed and awarded to support flexible learning pathways and allow for the validation, recognition, and accumulation of microcredentials across different systems.
Recognition
Microcredentials must be recognised as indicators of learning outcomes that are comparable across the EU and must be accepted for academic, training, or employment purposes by the relevant authorities.
Portability
Microcredentials are owned by the credential holder and can be easily stored and shared via secure digital wallets.
Person-centred Approach
They must be designed to meet the needs of the target learner group, who should participate in quality assurance processes. Learner feedback must be considered in the continuous improvement of the microcredential
Authenticity
Microcredentials must contain enough information to verify the identity of the holder (learner), the legal identity of the issuing body, and the date and place of issue.
Information and Guidance
Guidance on microcredentials must be integrated into lifelong learning advisory services and made accessible to as wide a group of learners as possible, in an inclusive manner, supporting educational, training, and career choices.
Permanent training courses may be proposed by:
- Full-time academic staff holding a doctoral degree, whether or not they hold a permanent position (subject to a required report from their department),
- departments,
- centres,
- Vice-Chancellor’s offices
- and research institutes
The Vice-Chancellor’s office responsible for lifelong learning will review and approve the implementation and renewal proposals (Memorias) of Permanent Training Courses, and will regularly report to the Academic Programmes Committee on all applications received.