Start here: name the decision before collecting evidence
NARIC Ireland, hosted by Quality and Qualifications Ireland, provides advisory comparability statements for foreign academic qualifications. A statement compares a qualification, where possible, with an Irish National Framework of Qualifications award type and level; it does not issue a new Irish award or compel an employer, university or regulator to recognise the holder.
The practical route is purpose-led. Use the database for general academic comparison, then send the qualification and statement to the actual decision maker: admissions staff for study, an employer for a job or the competent authority for a regulated profession.
This guide was checked on 25 October 2026 against current QQI and NARIC Ireland guidance. The database entry, awarding-body status, original documents and receiving body’s written decision remain controlling.
This specialist sits under The Gold Standard of Education: Learning That Transfers into Life. The parent framework keeps the purpose visible: understand the system, act on the correct evidence and build independence for the next decision.
Contents and reading routes
Use the quick route for an immediate decision, the complete route for a live case, and the teaching route when helping a learner explain the mechanism.
- Quick route: chapters 1, 4, 7, 10 and 12.
- Complete route: chapters 1–12, verification workbook and FAQs.
- Teaching route: chapters 2–3, worked case in chapter 7, and failure repair in chapter 10.
Open the chapter index
- Name the recognition purpose first
- Verify the qualification and awarding body
- Search the Foreign Qualifications Database
- Read the NFQ award type and level together
- Keep the statement’s advisory status visible
- Use the unlisted-qualification route
- Work an admission case
- Route regulated professions correctly
- Keep employment recognition with the employer
- Handle names, translations and versions
- Diagnose common errors
- Use current official sources in sequence
1. Name the recognition purpose first
Write one purpose: admission, employment, a work permit, professional registration or general understanding. The same qualification can face different decision makers and evidence requirements for each purpose.
Use the overseas applications guide to separate document comparison from a university’s admission and offer process.
Decision rehearsal and changed-context transfer
Turn this chapter into a live case. The foreign-qualification holder states the present decision, NARIC Ireland at QQI and the actual employer, admissions office or professional competent authority supplies the evidence it owns, and the qualification, comparability, authentication and receiving-decision file records the result. Date every fact and label estimates, pending evidence and final decisions differently.
Now change one condition: the programme changes. Preserve every unaffected fact and reopen only the downstream steps that depend on it. Name the new document, calculation, deadline or contact required. This checks understanding of the mechanism rather than memory of one example.
Run a boundary check: write what the evidence proves, what it does not prove and which authority can make the next decision. Replace one number or category and repeat the reasoning. If the conclusion changes without a cited rule, an assumption has entered the record.
Finish with a five-line handover: current state, controlling source, unresolved question, next permitted action and review date. Someone unfamiliar with the case should be able to reconstruct it without oral explanation.
2. Verify the qualification and awarding body
QQI says the foreign qualification should have been awarded by a nationally recognised awarding body in the country of origin. Record the official title, institution or awarding body, country, award date and programme details.
A translation, transcript or diploma supplement can clarify the award but does not repair an unrecognised awarding body. Ask the receiving organisation what authentication or translation it requires.
Decision rehearsal and changed-context transfer
Turn this chapter into a live case. The foreign-qualification holder states the present decision, NARIC Ireland at QQI and the actual employer, admissions office or professional competent authority supplies the evidence it owns, and the qualification, comparability, authentication and receiving-decision file records the result. Date every fact and label estimates, pending evidence and final decisions differently.
Now change one condition: a deadline passes. Preserve every unaffected fact and reopen only the downstream steps that depend on it. Name the new document, calculation, deadline or contact required. This checks understanding of the mechanism rather than memory of one example.
Run a boundary check: write what the evidence proves, what it does not prove and which authority can make the next decision. Replace one number or category and repeat the reasoning. If the conclusion changes without a cited rule, an assumption has entered the record.
Finish with a five-line handover: current state, controlling source, unresolved question, next permitted action and review date. Someone unfamiliar with the case should be able to reconstruct it without oral explanation.
3. Search the Foreign Qualifications Database
Search by country and select the exact qualification. QQI’s current page describes a free database with more than 2,000 qualifications from over 160 countries.
Do not choose the nearest-looking title simply because the wording is familiar. Compare awarding body, period, qualification type and any notes before downloading the statement.
Decision rehearsal and changed-context transfer
Turn this chapter into a live case. The foreign-qualification holder states the present decision, NARIC Ireland at QQI and the actual employer, admissions office or professional competent authority supplies the evidence it owns, and the qualification, comparability, authentication and receiving-decision file records the result. Date every fact and label estimates, pending evidence and final decisions differently.
Now change one condition: one document remains provisional. Preserve every unaffected fact and reopen only the downstream steps that depend on it. Name the new document, calculation, deadline or contact required. This checks understanding of the mechanism rather than memory of one example.
Run a boundary check: write what the evidence proves, what it does not prove and which authority can make the next decision. Replace one number or category and repeat the reasoning. If the conclusion changes without a cited rule, an assumption has entered the record.
Finish with a five-line handover: current state, controlling source, unresolved question, next permitted action and review date. Someone unfamiliar with the case should be able to reconstruct it without oral explanation.
4. Read the NFQ award type and level together
The statement may compare the foreign award to an Irish major award type and NFQ level. Level expresses a position in the framework; award type explains the kind and scope of the credential.
A level match does not prove subject prerequisites, grades, professional competence or programme fit. The receiving decision must still test the criteria that matter for the requested purpose.
Decision rehearsal and changed-context transfer
Turn this chapter into a live case. The foreign-qualification holder states the present decision, NARIC Ireland at QQI and the actual employer, admissions office or professional competent authority supplies the evidence it owns, and the qualification, comparability, authentication and receiving-decision file records the result. Date every fact and label estimates, pending evidence and final decisions differently.
Now change one condition: a threshold is met but another condition fails. Preserve every unaffected fact and reopen only the downstream steps that depend on it. Name the new document, calculation, deadline or contact required. This checks understanding of the mechanism rather than memory of one example.
Run a boundary check: write what the evidence proves, what it does not prove and which authority can make the next decision. Replace one number or category and repeat the reasoning. If the conclusion changes without a cited rule, an assumption has entered the record.
Finish with a five-line handover: current state, controlling source, unresolved question, next permitted action and review date. Someone unfamiliar with the case should be able to reconstruct it without oral explanation.
5. Keep the statement’s advisory status visible
QQI says a comparability statement is advice, is not a legal document and is generic rather than personalised. It does not certify the individual’s identity or authenticate the submitted parchment.
Attach it as context alongside the original qualification and transcript. Do not rewrite “comparable to” as “equal to” or “automatically recognised”.
Decision rehearsal and changed-context transfer
Turn this chapter into a live case. The foreign-qualification holder states the present decision, NARIC Ireland at QQI and the actual employer, admissions office or professional competent authority supplies the evidence it owns, and the qualification, comparability, authentication and receiving-decision file records the result. Date every fact and label estimates, pending evidence and final decisions differently.
Now change one condition: the programme changes. Preserve every unaffected fact and reopen only the downstream steps that depend on it. Name the new document, calculation, deadline or contact required. This checks understanding of the mechanism rather than memory of one example.
Run a boundary check: write what the evidence proves, what it does not prove and which authority can make the next decision. Replace one number or category and repeat the reasoning. If the conclusion changes without a cited rule, an assumption has entered the record.
Finish with a five-line handover: current state, controlling source, unresolved question, next permitted action and review date. Someone unfamiliar with the case should be able to reconstruct it without oral explanation.
6. Use the unlisted-qualification route
If the exact academic qualification is not in the database, QQI provides a route to request general academic-recognition advice. Current guidance warns that new statements can take several weeks.
Submit complete, legible documents and allow time before an application deadline. The advice route still does not replace the receiving organisation’s final recognition decision.
Decision rehearsal and changed-context transfer
Turn this chapter into a live case. The foreign-qualification holder states the present decision, NARIC Ireland at QQI and the actual employer, admissions office or professional competent authority supplies the evidence it owns, and the qualification, comparability, authentication and receiving-decision file records the result. Date every fact and label estimates, pending evidence and final decisions differently.
Now change one condition: a deadline passes. Preserve every unaffected fact and reopen only the downstream steps that depend on it. Name the new document, calculation, deadline or contact required. This checks understanding of the mechanism rather than memory of one example.
Run a boundary check: write what the evidence proves, what it does not prove and which authority can make the next decision. Replace one number or category and repeat the reasoning. If the conclusion changes without a cited rule, an assumption has entered the record.
Finish with a five-line handover: current state, controlling source, unresolved question, next permitted action and review date. Someone unfamiliar with the case should be able to reconstruct it without oral explanation.
7. Work an admission case
Imagine Mateo holds a foreign bachelor qualification whose statement compares it with an Irish honours bachelor degree at a stated NFQ level. A master’s programme may still require a particular subject background, result, language score and supporting documents.
The NARIC statement helps staff understand the qualification’s general position. It does not decide whether Mateo satisfies the named programme’s competitive or subject-specific conditions.
Decision rehearsal and changed-context transfer
Turn this chapter into a live case. The foreign-qualification holder states the present decision, NARIC Ireland at QQI and the actual employer, admissions office or professional competent authority supplies the evidence it owns, and the qualification, comparability, authentication and receiving-decision file records the result. Date every fact and label estimates, pending evidence and final decisions differently.
Now change one condition: one document remains provisional. Preserve every unaffected fact and reopen only the downstream steps that depend on it. Name the new document, calculation, deadline or contact required. This checks understanding of the mechanism rather than memory of one example.
Run a boundary check: write what the evidence proves, what it does not prove and which authority can make the next decision. Replace one number or category and repeat the reasoning. If the conclusion changes without a cited rule, an assumption has entered the record.
Finish with a five-line handover: current state, controlling source, unresolved question, next permitted action and review date. Someone unfamiliar with the case should be able to reconstruct it without oral explanation.
8. Route regulated professions correctly
NARIC Ireland does not decide recognition of professional awards, licences to practise or regulated professions. The appropriate Irish professional authority owns that decision.
Identify the competent authority before paying for translations or bridging courses. Ask for the exact route, required documents, possible compensation measures and appeal or review process.
Decision rehearsal and changed-context transfer
Turn this chapter into a live case. The foreign-qualification holder states the present decision, NARIC Ireland at QQI and the actual employer, admissions office or professional competent authority supplies the evidence it owns, and the qualification, comparability, authentication and receiving-decision file records the result. Date every fact and label estimates, pending evidence and final decisions differently.
Now change one condition: a threshold is met but another condition fails. Preserve every unaffected fact and reopen only the downstream steps that depend on it. Name the new document, calculation, deadline or contact required. This checks understanding of the mechanism rather than memory of one example.
Run a boundary check: write what the evidence proves, what it does not prove and which authority can make the next decision. Replace one number or category and repeat the reasoning. If the conclusion changes without a cited rule, an assumption has entered the record.
Finish with a five-line handover: current state, controlling source, unresolved question, next permitted action and review date. Someone unfamiliar with the case should be able to reconstruct it without oral explanation.
9. Keep employment recognition with the employer
For non-regulated employment, the employer decides whether the qualification is suitable. QQI advises employers to verify and authenticate qualifications through their ordinary processes.
Present the original award, transcript and comparability statement without claiming that NARIC has selected the candidate. Role requirements, experience and employer judgement remain separate.
Decision rehearsal and changed-context transfer
Turn this chapter into a live case. The foreign-qualification holder states the present decision, NARIC Ireland at QQI and the actual employer, admissions office or professional competent authority supplies the evidence it owns, and the qualification, comparability, authentication and receiving-decision file records the result. Date every fact and label estimates, pending evidence and final decisions differently.
Now change one condition: the programme changes. Preserve every unaffected fact and reopen only the downstream steps that depend on it. Name the new document, calculation, deadline or contact required. This checks understanding of the mechanism rather than memory of one example.
Run a boundary check: write what the evidence proves, what it does not prove and which authority can make the next decision. Replace one number or category and repeat the reasoning. If the conclusion changes without a cited rule, an assumption has entered the record.
Finish with a five-line handover: current state, controlling source, unresolved question, next permitted action and review date. Someone unfamiliar with the case should be able to reconstruct it without oral explanation.
10. Handle names, translations and versions
Match names across passport, parchment, transcript and application. Where names differ, provide the lawful linking evidence requested by the receiver.
Keep the statement’s retrieval date and URL. A later database update may refine the advice, so do not detach an old printout from its version and source.
Decision rehearsal and changed-context transfer
Turn this chapter into a live case. The foreign-qualification holder states the present decision, NARIC Ireland at QQI and the actual employer, admissions office or professional competent authority supplies the evidence it owns, and the qualification, comparability, authentication and receiving-decision file records the result. Date every fact and label estimates, pending evidence and final decisions differently.
Now change one condition: a deadline passes. Preserve every unaffected fact and reopen only the downstream steps that depend on it. Name the new document, calculation, deadline or contact required. This checks understanding of the mechanism rather than memory of one example.
Run a boundary check: write what the evidence proves, what it does not prove and which authority can make the next decision. Replace one number or category and repeat the reasoning. If the conclusion changes without a cited rule, an assumption has entered the record.
Finish with a five-line handover: current state, controlling source, unresolved question, next permitted action and review date. Someone unfamiliar with the case should be able to reconstruct it without oral explanation.
11. Diagnose common errors
Common errors include selecting a similar but different qualification, presenting the NFQ level without the award type, treating advice as a legal decision and omitting the original documents.
Other failures are asking NARIC to license a regulated profession, assuming a statement guarantees admission, ignoring authentication and waiting until the final deadline to request advice on an unlisted award.
Decision rehearsal and changed-context transfer
Turn this chapter into a live case. The foreign-qualification holder states the present decision, NARIC Ireland at QQI and the actual employer, admissions office or professional competent authority supplies the evidence it owns, and the qualification, comparability, authentication and receiving-decision file records the result. Date every fact and label estimates, pending evidence and final decisions differently.
Now change one condition: one document remains provisional. Preserve every unaffected fact and reopen only the downstream steps that depend on it. Name the new document, calculation, deadline or contact required. This checks understanding of the mechanism rather than memory of one example.
Run a boundary check: write what the evidence proves, what it does not prove and which authority can make the next decision. Replace one number or category and repeat the reasoning. If the conclusion changes without a cited rule, an assumption has entered the record.
Finish with a five-line handover: current state, controlling source, unresolved question, next permitted action and review date. Someone unfamiliar with the case should be able to reconstruct it without oral explanation.
12. Use current official sources in sequence
Start with QQI’s recognition of foreign qualifications guide, use the NARIC Ireland database, then follow QQI recognition-advice guidance and the named professional authority route when relevant.
Use the Ireland CAO points guide only for undergraduate application mechanics; its points and preference rules do not replace foreign-qualification recognition.
Decision rehearsal and changed-context transfer
Turn this chapter into a live case. The foreign-qualification holder states the present decision, NARIC Ireland at QQI and the actual employer, admissions office or professional competent authority supplies the evidence it owns, and the qualification, comparability, authentication and receiving-decision file records the result. Date every fact and label estimates, pending evidence and final decisions differently.
Now change one condition: a threshold is met but another condition fails. Preserve every unaffected fact and reopen only the downstream steps that depend on it. Name the new document, calculation, deadline or contact required. This checks understanding of the mechanism rather than memory of one example.
Run a boundary check: write what the evidence proves, what it does not prove and which authority can make the next decision. Replace one number or category and repeat the reasoning. If the conclusion changes without a cited rule, an assumption has entered the record.
Finish with a five-line handover: current state, controlling source, unresolved question, next permitted action and review date. Someone unfamiliar with the case should be able to reconstruct it without oral explanation.
Verification workbook
Complete every line with a dated official page, document, recorded state or named follow-up. A blank is useful because it shows where certainty has not yet been earned.
- Purpose
- Country of award
- Awarding body
- National recognition
- Exact qualification title
- Award date
- Database match
- NFQ level
- Award type
- Statement URL
- Retrieval date
- Original parchment
- Transcript
- Translation
- Authentication
- Receiving body
- Professional authority
- Written decision
Extended practice and handover
Name the recognition purpose and final decision maker.
Verify the awarding body’s national recognition.
Match the exact qualification, country and period.
Read NFQ level and award type together.
Keep advisory comparison distinct from legal recognition.
Attach original documents and required translations.
Use the unlisted-award route early enough for delays.
Send admissions questions to the named institution.
Send regulated-profession questions to the competent authority.
Let the employer decide non-regulated employment suitability.
Date and retain the database statement version.
Close by stating award, comparison, purpose, receiver and written outcome.
Build an auditable decision file
Open the file with one sentence naming the decision and the date on which it must be made. Then attach the original qualification, transcript, NARIC statement and receiving decision. A screenshot of a general webpage can explain a rule, but it is not a substitute for the learner-specific decision issued by the responsible body.
Use a one-row evidence table for each controlling fact: award title, awarding body, recognition status, database match, NFQ level, award type, purpose, authentication and decision maker. Give every row a source, retrieval date, status and owner. Mark an item “confirmed” only when the cited source actually proves it; use “reported”, “estimated” or “pending” for everything else.
Separate inputs from outputs. Inputs are facts supplied by the learner, institution or authority. Outputs are calculations, classifications and decisions made from those facts. If an output looks wrong, first check whether the input was incomplete, then whether the correct dated rule was applied, and finally whether the authority has recorded an exception.
Create a change log for the case. If the purpose, database entry, award evidence, programme requirement, employer criterion or professional rule changes, enter the old fact, new fact, date learned, source and every conclusion that must be reopened. Do not silently overwrite the earlier state; the history explains why a reasonable plan changed.
Add a deadline map with three columns: the formal deadline, the learner’s internal deadline and the recovery route if evidence arrives late. The internal date should leave time to correct names, identifiers, attachments and payment details. Where no recovery route is stated, record that absence instead of inventing one. Recheck the official page near the action date because an archived rule can look authoritative while governing a different cycle.
Keep a contact note for every official enquiry: channel, date, question, answer and reference number. If verbal advice conflicts with a published rule or written decision, request clarification in writing and pause any irreversible action until the controlling record is clear.
Run a source hierarchy check. Put legislation or the responsible authority first, current operational guidance second, the learner-specific notice third and informal explanation last. A helpful adviser can clarify a process, but a remembered conversation should not silently overrule a dated written condition. Where two official pages appear inconsistent, record both publication dates and ask the authority which governs the present case.
Build a conservative budget beside the eligibility file. Show the amount already confirmed, the amount merely estimated, the learner contribution, the family contribution and the date each payment becomes unavoidable. Then test a delayed or lower award. This does not predict the authority’s decision; it prevents an optimistic estimate from becoming an unexamined commitment.
Use a responsibility matrix with one named owner for every action. The learner submits declarations, the institution confirms education facts, the funding authority decides public support and family members provide only the evidence that belongs to them. If two people assume the other has acted, the file should expose the gap before the deadline.
Schedule a final pre-action review at least two working days before any irreversible boundary. Reopen the official page, compare the identifier and academic year, confirm that every attachment is readable and save the submission acknowledgement. If the portal offers no receipt, take a dated note of the screen state without treating it as proof of approval.
After the decision, reconcile the notice with the plan line by line. Record what was accepted, rejected, capped or deferred and the route for correction, review, appeal or complaint. Preserve the original decision when adding later correspondence so the sequence remains intelligible to a new adviser.
Practise one counterfactual with the learner. Change only the academic year, one income fact, one course code or one date, then trace which conclusions stay valid and which must be recalculated. The exercise reveals whether the reader understands the dependency chain or has memorised an outcome that belongs to a different case.
Finish with a retention plan. Keep source documents, declarations, notices, receipts and later corrections for the period required by the authority and for as long as they remain useful to explain the education record. Store sensitive identifiers securely and share only what the named recipient needs.
Ask the learner to narrate the file aloud in under two minutes: “This is my present status; this is the rule; this is the evidence; this is the unresolved boundary; this is my next permitted action.” A listener should be able to distinguish official fact, calculation and personal choice without prompting.
Add a “not yet proved” page. For this case, list every conclusion that still depends on award title, awarding body, recognition status, database match, NFQ level, award type, purpose, authentication and decision maker. Beside each item, name the smallest official record that would settle it and the person who can obtain that record. This page stops a plausible estimate from drifting into the confirmed column merely because it has been repeated.
Rehearse a correction request before one is needed. The request should identify the learner, decision, disputed input, supporting document and requested remedy without claiming an entitlement that the evidence cannot establish. Address it to NARIC Ireland at QQI and the actual employer, admissions office or professional competent authority, keep a copy, and record the response deadline or escalation route published by that body.
Before the deadline, run a cold review using only the file. Check names, identifiers, dates, units, currency, study load and document version. Confirm receipt through the official channel and save the acknowledgement. A complete audit trail cannot guarantee a favourable outcome, but it makes omissions visible and correction faster.
Conduct one independent challenge before acting. Ask a second reader to identify the weakest assumption, find the official sentence that controls it and describe what would change if the assumption failed. Record the answer without deleting the earlier reasoning.
Frequently asked questions
What does a NARIC statement do?
It gives generic advice comparing a foreign academic qualification to an Irish NFQ award type and level where possible.
Is it a legal recognition decision?
No. QQI says it is advisory and not a legal document.
Is the statement personalised?
No. Published comparability statements are generic.
Who decides university admission?
The education provider’s admissions staff.
Who decides professional recognition?
The competent authority for the regulated profession.
What if my qualification is not listed?
Use QQI’s request route for general academic-recognition advice.
Does an NFQ level guarantee entry?
No. Programme prerequisites and selection still apply.
Should the original qualification still be supplied?
Yes. The statement is context, not a substitute for the original award and supporting documents.
Close the workbook by explaining the process without notes. A dependable explanation names the authority, current state, evidence, deadline and consequence if one assumption fails.
Continue with this Education batch
These companion guides apply the same evidence-first method to a different finance or learning decision.
Continue through the Education branch
Return to The Gold Standard of Education. Use the admissions and selection guide to separate eligibility from competition, the credentials and qualifications guide to classify an award, the overseas application guide for platform and offer boundaries, and the research-writing guide for careful source notes.