More and more OFs want to make their training courses eligible for the CPF in order to provide their trainees with funding. However, many realize that it is not so easy to make a training course eligible and that it is not enough to obtain Qualiopi.
Summary:
- Training courses eligible by law
- The case of Business Creation and Takeover
- VAE and the License
- Partnerships with a certification body
- Can the certifier refuse a partnership?
- Submit an application for certification registration
- The certification opportunity
- Build your file
- EDOF
- Get support
Training courses eligible by law
Some training courses are automatically eligible for the CPF as soon as the training organization holds Qualiopi. These include the following training courses:
- Skills Assessments
- Business Creation and Takeover
- Preparation for the highway code and driving license
- Validation of Acquired Experience (VAE)
Please note, however, that it is not enough to simply list your training in one of these categories. Your training action must meet the criteria required by My Training Account.
The case of Business Creation and Takeover
Indeed, My Training Account organizes many checks. Recently, many OFs have received a reminder for their training actions cataloged as 'Business Creation and Takeover'. Some training courses presented by EDOF do not meet the essential criteria.
As a reminder, a 'business creation and takeover' training must aim at acquiring entrepreneurial skills without preparing for a specific profession. It must be aimed at people who have a project to create or take over a business but are not yet managers, and the Training Organization must verify the viability of the beneficiary's project. It must also include synchronous learning times (face-to-face, video, virtual classroom, etc.)
VAE and the License
To be eligible for the CPF, VAE actions must begin at the end of the admissibility phase.
As for the driving license, the training organization must have prefectural approval.
Partnerships with a certification body
If your training is not legally eligible, the first possibility is to enter into a partnership with a certification body.
In fact, to be eligible, your training must prepare for a certification registered with the RS or the RNCP. You must therefore first go to the France Compétences website, and check in the catalog if one or more existing certifications are close to your training action.
If this is the case, you can contact the certifier and ask them to establish a partnership. If the certifier agrees to authorize partners, they will share their specifications and conditions with you, and you are free to accept them or not. Be careful, however, following the new requirements of France Compétence, more and more certification bodies are asking to audit potential partners in order to ensure that they comply with the requirements of the standard, the CPF and France Compétence. The certifier may also ask you to send them a certain amount of information in order to carry out their certification hook.
Once a partnership has been established, the certifier will register you on the list of partners authorized to prepare its certification, and you will be able to offer your training on EDOF.
Can the certifier refuse a partnership?
Yes. Certification bodies are free to refuse a partnership. Some choose not to authorize any partners and therefore to be the only ones to prepare for their certification.
If all your partnership applications are rejected, you will not be able to make your training eligible for the CPF unless you file your own certification. However, you will not be able to file an application for a certification that is too similar to the existing one, you will have to prove your added value.
Submit an application for certification registration
If there are no existing certifications that match your training, if your partnership requests have been rejected or if you simply wish to hold your own certification to have more freedom, you can submit a registration request to France Compétences.
There are two directories you can apply to:
- THE Specific Directory (RS) concerns a group of homogeneous skills complementary to a profession; these are short training courses
- THE National Directory of Professional Certifications concerns the skills needed for a particular job; these are long training courses
The registration file and the requested documents are very complex and require a lot of preparation. There is a high refusal rate from France Compétences, which reaches 80% for the RS. If you want to start the process, you must therefore do it seriously and dedicate time to it.
The certification opportunity
The first thing to do before putting together your file is to check that it will be eligible. You are applying for certification, not training, so you need to focus on what the certification will bring to the beneficiaries.
The first essential criterion is that the certification validates the acquisition of skills. Without this, you will not be able to file a certification. Skills are opposed to knowledge, that is to say that the beneficiary must be able to do something, and not have theoretical knowledge. It is therefore impossible to register a certification of the type “everything you need to know about…”.
You then need to ask yourself whether your certification meets market needs, whether current or future. These may be employment needs (RNCP) or skills needs (RS). If your certification does not meet real needs, it has little chance of being accepted by France Compétences.
You should also use your beneficiary feedback to verify that the certification has a positive impact on their employability.
Finally, you need to check that there is not already a certification that is too close to yours. You will need to prove your added value and that your certification offers something different from the others.
Build your file
If you believe that your file is eligible, you must create an account on the France Compétences website and complete the registration application. In addition to the basic information, you will be asked for a number of documents such as reference documents proving the interest of your certification. These documents will be used to prove the value of the certification. You will have to use the feedback from your learners, so it is important to test your training before submitting a certification application, you will not be able to apply for a training project that has never been tested. For the RNCP, you will also have to provide an analysis of the results of two promotions and the impact of the certification on the professional integration of the beneficiaries.
These documents are essential, and it is important to take the time to write them correctly. It is possible to make you to accompany to do this.
France Compétences will then analyze your application and get back to you within several months to inform you of its decision. If your application is rejected, you can rework your file and try again later.
EDOF
If your registration request or your partnership request is accepted, or if you have legally eligible training, you will need to enter your training offers on EDOF, the CPF website.
Be careful to respect all the criteria when creating your offers so that they are not delisted in the event of an inspection.
Also pay attention to respecting the obligations of the certification bodies, including the certifying hook and the transmission of information relating to authorized partners.
Get support
In order to maximize your chances, it is possible and even recommended to get to accompany. Your consultant will be able to check the feasibility of your project and ensure that all steps are followed and the documents are correctly drafted.
You can also make yourself support in finding a certifying partner and/or registering your offers on EDOF.