The main purpose of Qualification File is to:

• help the body which is submitting a qualification for inclusion in the National Qualifications Register to gather evidence that the qualification meets all the requirements of the NSQF
• help the NSQC to carry out the approval process
• gather information in a form which can be entered easily in the National Qualifications Register

The first part of the Qualification File is a summary, which meets all of these purposes.  It requires fourteen entries which capture all of the important headline information about the qualification. This summary will be the basis of first level of information about the qualification which will appear in the National Qualifications Register.

Most of the entries in the summary simply require a formal recording of information or a summary of detailed information set out in later sections of the Qualification File, but some require judgments or an understanding of the system of qualifications which the NSQF is introducing.  These are; the type of qualification, access to an occupation, entry requirements and/or recommendations, international comparability and the formal structure of the qualification.