There has been a clear expansion of interest in NQFs across the world (see Chapter 9). It is difficult to pinpoint with confidence any global or regional stimuli for such interest, although clearly the development of an EQF has stimulated activity in EU member states. Some long-standing frameworks in the UK, Australia and New Zealand do not appear to have acted as desirable models for other countries. Thus, it is more likely that countries have become interested in response to a range of pressures affecting education and training systems, and qualification arrangements in particular.

It is also possible that global changes have encouraged countries to look outwardly when reforming qualifications systems rather than considering them to be a purely national matter and immune from international influences. Examples of such influences are the growth of international business, the free flow of electronic information and the increased migration of people from one country to another. All have had an impact on national systems. Hence, there is now a greater awareness of the need for qualifications systems to be more outward-looking, as governments acknowledge the need for qualifications to play a part in facilitating competitive production and economic growth. At the same time international companies and international organisations are increasingly asking for transparency in national systems so that transnational business can be facilitated through the recruitment of employees with appropriate qualifications.