RS or RNCP, what’s the difference?

When you decide to become a certification body and register a certification with France Compétences, you are faced with two options: RS or RNCP?
Not always easy to choose… We take stock!

1- Why two categories?

France Compétences has chosen to create two directories, as they correspond to two different types of certification.

The Répertoire National des Certifications Professionnelles (RNCP) is dedicated to certifications that prepare you for a profession as a whole. It includes :

Diplomas issued in the name of the State, under the responsibility of ministries and social partners. These diplomas are registered by right.
Vocational qualifications issued by organizations in their own name. Training organizations must submit a request for registration. The application must be validated by the Commission de la Certification Professionnelle to ensure that it meets all the criteria.
Certificates of Professional Qualification (CQP) , issued by professional branches in their own name. These certificates meet specific qualification needs identified by the professional branches. They are registered on request, as are OFs, after receiving approval.

The Répertoire Spécifique des Certifications et Habilitations (RSCH or RS) is dedicated to three types of certification:

Legal and regulatory authorizations and certifications required to practice a trade or professional activity in France (submitted by government ministries only).
Cross-disciplinary skills certifications, i.e. a homogeneous, coherent set of skills that are independent of a particular professional context, but which are nonetheless essential for many professions (e.g. IT or language certifications).
Certifications of skills complementary to a trade, relating to techniques or methods applied to a trade

Thus, the RNCP focuses on learning all the skills related to a specific trade, whereas the RS focuses on learning skills that revolve around one or more trades.

2- Focus on RNCP

The RNCP is therefore focused on a specific profession. The certification is designed to enable the trainee to work in that profession in the future, with a decent salary and all the necessary skills.

Certification is therefore made up of several activities (which the professional performs), and the skills required to perform these activities. Activities and skills are also organized in “blocks”, a block representing several activities which, taken together, constitute one of the main components of the profession.

Certification training is generally quite long, as it needs to take the time to cover all aspects of the business.

It is possible for an RNCP to cover several professions, but these professions must be similar and correspond to the reference framework. You’ll need to explain why several are covered.

3- Focus on RS

On the other hand, RS is not designed to certify the skills of a profession. It is aimed at professionals who need additional skills. These skills may be cross-disciplinary (IT, languages, etc.) or genuinely complementary to a specific profession, i.e. skills enabling them to add a new activity to their range, for example, or to adapt to new customer demands.

The SR referential is not made up of blocks and does not show activities. It shows all the skills required to perform the activity targeted by the SR.

These are generally fairly short courses.

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