Micro-Credentials

A micro-credential is a small, focused qualification that proves you have one specific skill. Each one is small (it takes hours or weeks, not years), focused (it covers one clear skill, such as customer experience), and proven (it is only awarded after an assessment, and anyone can check that it is real).

A degree takes years of study and gives you one big qualification at the end. Micro-credentials are short pieces of learning that you build up one step at a time. Think of a passport with stamps: each stamp shows a place you have been, and each micro-credential shows a skill you have proven.

It is a learning platform built for arenas, by people who understand arenas. The idea can be summed up in three words: Learn new skills, Earn micro-credentials, and Prove them anywhere in Europe. It is provided through the TalentSensus Learn platform. The platform also offers the first Master's in Business Technology specialising in Arena Management developed in partnership with Ulster University Business School.

Micro-credentials are supported at European level. In June 2022, the Council of the European Union adopted a Recommendation on a European approach to micro-credentials for lifelong learning and employability, asking member states to make them easier to recognise and use.

The credentials follow European standards (EQF levels, ESCO skills and Open Badges 3.0), so they can be understood and checked across Europe. Formal accreditation routes are being explored for the future.

Micro-credentials are not recognised as academic study, so they do not count as academic credit. They are recognised as evidence of your experience and knowledge when you apply for academic programmes. Each credential records its level, study hours and how it was assessed, so it gives admissions teams a clear picture of what you have learned.

They are for people working in the arena industry at every stage of their career, and for anyone who wants to increase their knowledge in a specialist area.

No. The micro-credentials are open to anyone who wants to increase their knowledge, whether or not they work at a member arena. Arenas Europe members receive a discount on the price.

There are no entry requirements.

You get a clear way to grow in your career, recognition for your skills that stays with you if you change jobs, and the flexibility to learn in your own time on your own device.

Arenas get more confident, skilled teams. Hiring becomes easier because you can see what a candidate has proven, and people who can see a future for themselves tend to stay longer.

It connects to the association's strategic line: "Setting the stage to inspire people, improve our business and lead our industry." It gives members a real benefit of membership, creates income that can be reinvested in education, provides anonymised insight into skills strengths and gaps across arenas, and helps establish arena work as a recognised profession across Europe, with a shared standard set by the sector itself.

Register your organisation on the TalentSensus platform to buy courses and manage your team's learning. You will be its administrator and can invite your team once you are registered.

At launch, you can take micro-credentials in Customer Experience and in Safety and Security. Arena Communications, Ticketing and The Business of Arenas will follow soon.

The courses are self-paced and there is no expiry once you have signed up. You can learn in your own time, on your own device, and fit it around your work.

A credential is only awarded after an assessment, for example a quiz with a high pass mark.

Each credential shows the learner's name, the skill learned, the level on the EQF, the study hours, how the skill was tested, that it was issued by Arenas Europe, the date it was earned, and a link and PDF so anyone can check that it is real.

Yes. You can mix and match across subjects. For example, a box office supervisor could hold both Customer Experience and Ticketing credentials.

It is each learner's personal digital wallet. It holds all your Arenas Europe micro-credentials in one place, and you can also add other qualifications you already hold, so it shows the full picture of your skills.

You keep them. The credentials belong to you, not to your job, and they stay in your Skills Passport wherever you go. This has been agreed with Arenas Europe.

You do. You control what is in it and who sees it, and you decide when to share it.

You share a link to your Skills Passport. The employer or arena opens it and can see straight away that the credential is genuine. No login or phone calls are needed.

No. Each credential is digitally signed, like a digital seal, using the Open Badges 3.0 standard and W3C Verifiable Credentials. If anyone changes it, the check fails, and it cannot be copied onto someone else's name.

Yes. Data is stored in the EU and handled under GDPR, and each arena only sees its own staff.