On May 6, Credential Engine hosted a public webinar to present and gather feedback on a proposed expansion to the Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL). The proposal introduces new terms to describe credential and qualification types formally defined by government authorities within national and regional qualification systems.
All webinar materials are open and available for review:
- Meeting deck
- Meeting recording, audio, and transcript
- Credential Types Proposal
Webinar Overview
Credential types—such as Bachelor’s Degree, Honours Degree, or National Certificate—must be described consistently across jurisdictions. Representing these distinctions as linked open data is essential to support transparency, comparability, alignment, and learner mobility on a global scale.
While CTDL already defines many credential classes issued by providers, it does not yet support full descriptions of formally defined credential types embedded in qualification systems. This proposal aims to close that gap.
Next Steps and How to Provide Input
We invite all interested individuals and organizations to review the proposal and share feedback by May 23, 2025. Your input will help ensure the CTDL Credential Type terms are useful, accurate, and globally relevant.
- Â Review the Credential Type Proposal: New terms are highlighted in yellow, and modifications to existing terms in blue. Please focus your comments on the definition, comment, and usage note fields for those terms. Detailed instructions are included in the document.
- Send Feedback by Email: if preferred, email your comments or questions to Phil Barker (phil.barker@pjjk.co.uk) and Jeanne Kitchens (jkitchens@credentialengine.org).
What Was Shared
- CTDL Overview: A recap of CTDL’s purpose and structure as a global, linked open data schema.
- Foundation: How this work builds upon the 2024 Qualifications Frameworks as Data Global Task Group, existing CTDL credential classes, and a recently completed Credential Types Focus Group.
- Examples and Use Cases: Credential types from Australia, South Africa, and Scotland were used to illustrate the complexity of government-defined types and how they differ from provider-issued credentials. Use cases included accreditation, learner guidance, quality assurance, system-level mapping, and international recognition.
- Proposal Overview: The proposal adds a small number of defined CTDL terms and leverages many existing properties:
- Introduces 1 new class: Credential Type
- Adds 2 new properties for the new class
- Modifies 1 existing property
- Introduces new terms for use with Qualifications Framework and Progression Level classes
Contact Credential Engine: Let us know if you have any questions info@credentialengine.orgÂ