CERTIFICATIONS - LEGAL VALUE

FLORENCE ACADEMY
Ours is a private organisation that works in partnership with certifying bodies and universities such as Pearson and University of the West of Scotland (UWS), recognised as such in the European and international arena, and as such qualified to award degrees and academic qualifications.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITY REGULATIONS
These qualifications find spendability and recognition throughout the European Community, thanks to recent and innovative regulations on the subject.
First and foremost, we should mention the Lisbon Convention, so called because it was signed in the capital of Portugal on 11 April 1997. This Convention was drawn up on the joint initiative of the Council of Europe and Unesco-Region Europe, with the aim of facilitating the mutual recognition of higher education qualifications between the signatory countries. Italy ratified the Lisbon Convention with Law no. 148 of 11.07.2002. Since it has to be applied to educational systems that are often very different from one another, the Convention limits itself to setting out the fundamental principles and general criteria, delegating the operation of these guidelines to the competent authorities of each signatory country (for further details visit the section Certifications – Recognition Procedures).

OBJECTIVES OF THE LISBON CONVENTION
Among the objectives of the Lisbon Convention, the following should be emphasised:

Enabling upper secondary school graduates to access universities and other higher education institutions in all countries;
Facilitate student academic exchange programmes;
Use final national academic qualifications for access to the labour market and regulated professions in all countries or to pursue studies at a more advanced level;
Develop national information centres on mobility and recognition of qualifications and the dissemination of new certification tools.

BTEC EXTENDED NATIONAL DIPLOMA IN MUSIC OR MUSIC TECHNOLOGY
Going into greater detail, the BTEC Extended National Diploma in Music or Music Technology is a final foreign secondary school qualification that allows access to degree courses (Italian or foreign) in related disciplines and to Conservatories, as it fully meets the requirements of the regulations in force: 1) it is issued by an official Certifying Body of the English educational system; 2) it constitutes a valid qualification for enrolment in Universities in England; 3) it is issued after at least 12 years of study in total, between primary and secondary school (this is why, among the requirements for access to this course of study, the completion of compulsory schooling).

These requirements apply to all students with foreign secondary qualifications, regardless of their nationality: both for secondary qualifications awarded in European Union (E.U.) and non-E.U. countries.

BTEC HIGHER NATIONAL DIPLOMA IN MUSIC OR MUSIC PRODUCTION
A similar argument can be made for the BTEC Higher National Diploma in Music or Music Production. This is always a foreign qualification that allows the continuation of studies at universities (Italian or foreign) in related disciplines, or at the Conservatory.

As regards participation in public competitions with our qualifications, we would like to remind you that public competitions are reserved for Italian citizens or citizens of an EU country. The specific rules for each competition are laid down in a notice: in this notice you can find all the information on how to take part and conduct the tests, as well as the educational qualification requirements for admission to the particular competition. An Italian citizen or a citizen of a European Union country who holds a foreign qualification of any level (secondary school, higher education) may take part in competitions for jobs with Italian public administrations by means of a recognition procedure laid down by law and which is defined as equivalence of the foreign qualification with the corresponding Italian qualifications.

BACHELOR OF ARTS LEVEL 6
With regard to the Bachelor of Arts Level 6, aimed at awarding the Bachelor of Arts Modern Music, in collaboration with the University of the West of Scotland, this degree is issued by the university following our courses, and corresponds to an English 1st Cycle academic qualification, also known as a Degree. It corresponds to Level 6 of the EQF, a level where the Italian Diploma Accademico di 1° Livello and the Laurea Triennale, (as per the QTI, the Italian higher education qualifications framework) are also located. However, the Bachelor of Arts is not an Italian qualification but an English one, comparable to Italian qualifications according to current regulations.

The study programme we provide for the Bachelor of Arts degree, as well as the entire school’s work, are constantly assessed by the English University’s quality control committees and by the regular audits of the QAA – Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.

It should be pointed out that in Italy no foreign qualification is directly ‘equivalent’ or ‘recognised’ without a corresponding recognition procedure. In order for a foreign qualification to produce in Italy all the academic and professional effects that an Italian qualification produces, a recognition procedure must be undertaken, which, depending on the case in question, is distinguished as a ‘declaration of value’ or ‘equivalence’.