The YÖK Micro-credentials Framework: a summary of the Procedures and Principles and what it means for universities

What is the regulation and when was it published?

Turkey's Council of Higher Education (YÖK) published the "Procedures and Principles on the Micro-credentials Framework in Higher Education Institutions" on its website on 10 June 2026 and announced it publicly on 23 June 2026. The text defines how short courses taken inside or outside a university are documented, quality assured and, under certain conditions, converted into credit. Its legal basis is Article 44 (a) and (b) of Law No. 2547 and Article 10(2) of the Turkish Qualifications Framework (TQF) Regulation. The full text is available as a PDF published by YÖK (opens in a new tab) (in Turkish).

This article summarises the provisions that have consequences for universities. For legal assessment, the full text always prevails.

Key definitions (article 4)

The glossary of the regulation shapes every obligation that follows:

• ECTS credit: 25 hours of learner workload. The credit of a micro-credential is calculated on this basis (ECTS).
• Micro-credential: A short, flexible, small-scale qualification whose learning outcomes are verified by assessment and which is quality assured (micro-credential).
• Micro-credential certificate: A digital certificate containing the minimum information in Annex 1.
• Digital badge: A digital certificate providing a verifiable, portable representation of a micro-credential that complies with international standards (digital badge).
• Digital wallet: A platform where learners store, manage and share their certificates securely, portably and under their own control (digital wallet).
• Level: Levels 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the TQF (TQF).
• Provider: Universities, and natural and legal persons outside universities.
• Evidence of learning: Performance tasks, portfolios, projects and assessment outputs.

Which fields must the certificate contain? The 11 fields of Annex 1

Under article 8 the certificate is issued by the university that delivered the course and carries the minimum information in Annex 1. These 11 fields form the common language needed for the certificate to be recognised at another institution:

A common problem in practice is that fields such as learning outcomes, assessment method and quality assurance are either not printed at all or written as free text. Free text cannot be read or compared by software, and it sends recognition committees back to correspondence for missing information.

The digital wallet and digital badge obligation (article 6-g)

The provision that raises the most questions is article 6-g: the learning outcomes and credit information acquired are recorded, in a verifiable way that complies with international standards, in a digital badge created on a digital wallet platform. Articles 6-ğ and 6-h additionally require alignment with the European Education Area and the TQF, and data portability with digital learning records.

The text does not name a technical standard. Today the most common reading of "international standard" in higher education is 1EdTech's Open Badges 3.0 (opens in a new tab) specification and the W3C Verifiable Credentials 2.0 data model it is built on; Europass Digital Credentials in Europe use the same data model. See What is a digital badge? for details.

YÖK does not provide a central wallet or badge platform for this provision. According to statements by the YÖK President, badges are intended to be carried in a digital wallet on a smartphone and shown as evidence on networks such as LinkedIn (YÖK news (opens in a new tab)).

Credit limits: 10% ECTS and 50% online (article 10)

Article 10 sets two numerical limits:

1. ECTS recognised from micro-credentials may be at most 10% of the total ECTS of the programme in which the student is enrolled. In a 240-ECTS bachelor's programme, for example, the limit is 24 ECTS.
2. At most 50% of the credit-bearing micro-credential courses may be delivered online.

Recognised credits are shown on the transcript and in the diploma supplement. It therefore matters that the certificate behind each credit can be verified later.

Authority, process and recognition (articles 5, 7, 9, 11)

• Senate authority (art. 5): The university senate sets the micro-credential framework and may designate a "responsible unit" for applications, appeals and ECTS equivalence.
• Information package (art. 6-c): Each micro-credential has a measurable information package covering learning outcomes, assessment method, success criteria and descriptions of evidence of learning.
• Application (art. 7): Applications to open a course are submitted in writing to the responsible unit and decided within 30 days.
• Recognition of external learning (art. 9): The learner applies; the certificate must contain the Annex 1 fields, and the provider's qualifications and process records must be traceable and provable. The duty to verify lies with the university.
• Assessment and quality (art. 11): Assessment is under the university's supervision; participation, success and feedback data are analysed, and the results are reflected in the digital certificate.

What it means in practice for universities

The regulation turns the certificate from a design file into a structured data record. A university's preparation list covers:

1. A senate decision and the designation of a responsible unit.
2. An information package template that keeps each of the 11 Annex 1 fields separately for every programme.
3. ECTS calculated on the 25-hour workload definition, with the 10% limit built into student affairs processes.
4. A digital wallet platform where the badge is issued, kept by the holder and verified by third parties.
5. A method for verifying certificates when recognising external learning.

Certificate programmes of continuing education centres (SEM) are also subject to a separate YÖK approval process from 1 October 2026; the two regulations meet in their quality criteria. That process is covered in SEM certificate programmes and YÖK approval.

DijiUni keeps the 11 Annex 1 fields as separate fields in the programme form and in the data structure of the signed badge, and issues badges in the Open Badges 3.0 standard. The mapping between articles and solution is on the Why DijiUni? page.