Circular 92/2026/TT-BGDDT recognition of certificates for use in the national education system

CIRCULAR

On recognition of certificates for use in the national education system

Pursuant to the Law No. 43/2019/QH14 on Education, which was amended and supplemented by the Law No. 123/2025/QH15 amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Education;

Pursuant to the Law No. 124/2025/QH15 on Vocational Education;

Pursuant to the Law No. 125/2025/QH15 on Higher Education;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 279/2026/ND-CP dated July 12, 2026 defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Education and Training;

At the proposal of the Director General of the Vietnam Education Quality Management Agency;

The Minister of Education and Training hereby promulgates the Circular on recognition of certificates for use in the national education system.

Article 1. Scope of regulation and subjects of application

1. This Circular specifies the recognition of certificates and other documents of equivalent validity for use in the national education system (below collectively referred to as certificates), covering: purposes, principles, competence, quality assurance requirements, standards and criteria for certificate recognition, the advisory council for certificate recognition, dossiers, order and procedures for certificate recognition, and adjustment and annulment of certificate recognition results.

Certificates subject to the scope of regulation of this Circular for use in the national education system include foreign-language certificates of foreign countries; and certificates based on competency frameworks or training and upskilling programs or examinations, tests and assessments specified by the Ministry of Education and Training.

2. This Circular applies to provincial-level Departments of Education and Training, higher education institutions, and vocational education institutions; certificate-awarding agencies, organizations and units (below referred to as certificate-awarding bodies), legal persons authorized to organize training, upskilling, examinations and awarding of certificates (below referred to as authorized bodies); certificate holders; and organizations and individuals involved in the recognition and use of certificates in the national education system.

3. The recognition and use of the following certificates shall comply with relevant legal documents:

a) The recognition of certificates of completion of the general education program and elementary-level certificates awarded by foreign education institutions shall comply with Circular No. 65/2026/TT-BGDDT dated August 11, 2026, of the Minister of Education and Training, specifying the conditions, order, procedures and competence for recognizing diplomas awarded by foreign education institutions for use in Vietnam;

b) The use of higher education certificates shall comply with the Law No. 125/2025/QH15 on Higher Education, Circular No. 53/2026/TT-BGDDT dated June 30, 2026, of the Minister of Education and Training, on promulgation of the Regulation on postgraduate enrollment and training, and Circular No. 56/2026/TT-BGDDT dated July 07, 2026, of the Minister of Education and Training, on promulgation of the Regulation on undergraduate-level training;

c) The use of certificates and certifications of learning outcomes in vocational education shall comply with Circular No. 79/2026/TT-BGDDT dated September 25, 2026, of the Minister of Education and Training, promulgating the Regulation on training in vocational education;

d) The use of certificates of upskilling on professional standards for teachers, pedagogical training certificates, and other certificates and certifications related to teachers’ titles and professional standards for teachers shall comply with the Law No. 73/2025/QH15 on Teachers, the Government’s Decree No. 93/2026/ND-CP dated March 31, 2026, detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Teachers, and circulars of the Minister of Education and Training specifying professional standards and appointment to teachers’ titles for all education levels and training levels;

dd) The use of certificates certifying learning outcomes of learners of general education programs and continuing education programs returning from abroad to study in Vietnam shall be specified by Directors of provincial-level Departments of Education and Training in accordance with Point b, Clause 3, Article 36 of the Charter of primary schools, lower secondary schools, upper secondary schools and multi-level general education schools promulgated together with Circular No. 15/2026/TT-BGDDT dated March 24, 2026, of the Minister of Education and Training.

4. Foreign-awarded certificates that shall be recognized under international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party are not subject to the recognition procedures specified in this Circular. Agencies, organizations, education institutions and individuals using such certificates shall examine and verify them when necessary in accordance with law.

5. This Circular does not apply to certificates awarded by units or schools of state agencies, political organizations, socio-political organizations and the people’s armed forces for use within the management scope of such state agencies, political organizations, socio-political organizations and people’s armed forces.

Article 2. Interpretation of terms

In this Circular, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Certificate means a document or data awarded by a Vietnamese or foreign certificate-awarding body in paper, electronic or digital form to certify an individual’s learning outcomes, qualifications, knowledge and competencies upon completion of training or upskilling or after taking an examination, test or assessment; including certificates, certifications, certificates of completion/achievement and other papers and documents of equivalent validity. Certificates in this Circular do not include certificates of the national education system and the certificates specified in Clause 3, Article 1 of this Circular.

2. Certificate recognition means the recognition of the validity of a certificate specified in Clause 1, Article 1 of this Circular for use within a specific scope, or for a specific purpose and group of subjects of application in the national education system.

3. Competency framework means a system describing competencies and competency levels to be achieved for use as a basis for reference, assessment and determination of the competency levels of certificate holders. Competency frameworks include the Vietnamese Framework for Foreign Language Proficiency, the Digital Competency Framework for Learners, the Digital Competency Framework for Teachers and Administrators of Early Childhood Education, General Education and Continuing Education Institutions, and Education Administrators, and other competency frameworks promulgated by the Minister of Education and Training.

4. Conflict of interest in certificate recognition means a case in which a member of the Advisory Council for Certificate Recognition has interests associated with an examination-organizing or certificate-awarding body; has participated in developing or organizing training, upskilling, examination, assessment or awarding of the certificate requested for recognition; or has interests that may affect objectivity, fairness and independence in performing the tasks of evaluating and advising on certificate recognition.

Article 3. Purposes of certificate recognition

Certificate recognition aims to ensure that certificates used in the national education system meet requirements on quality, reliability and suitability for their intended use; serve as a basis for considering the use of certificates in accordance with the recognized scope and purposes; create conditions for learners to continue studying at higher levels, promote self-study, lifelong learning and articulation among training levels, and strengthen international integration in education and training.

Article 4. Principles of certificate recognition

1. A certificate shall be recognized at the request of the certificate-awarding body or the body authorized to request recognition.

2. A certificate of which recognition is requested must suit its intended use in the national education system. In case the certificate is developed based on a competency framework specified in Clause 3, Article 2 of this Circular, it must conform to or be benchmarkable against such competency framework.

3. Objectivity, fairness, transparency and compliance with regulations must be ensured for certificate recognition.

Article 5. Competence for recognition and scope of use of certificates

1. The Director General of the Vietnam Education Quality Management Agency under the Ministry of Education and Training shall recognize the types of certificates specified in Clause 1, Article 1 of this Circular on the basis of evaluating the degree of conformity of such certificates with the competency frameworks or requirements in training or upskilling programs or examinations, tests and assessments specified by the Ministry of Education and Training.

2. Certificates recognized by the Ministry of Education and Training shall be used in the national education system within the scope and for the purposes and subjects of application specified in the recognition decisions.

Article 6. Quality assurance requirements in certificate recognition

1. A certificate shall be considered for recognition when meeting the following quality assurance requirements:

a) The certificate-awarding body must be lawfully established and operate in accordance with Vietnam’s law, or be lawfully established and operate in accordance with the law of the host country if it is a foreign certificate-awarding body; and must be permitted by a competent agency to organize assessment and award certificates;

b) A foreign certificate must be recognized for use in education, enrollment and training activities of general education, vocational education or higher education programs in the host country or in a country where the language tested for the certificate is an official language. The use of the certificate must be stated in a document of a competent agency or in enrollment and training regulations promulgated by education institutions;

c) The certificate-awarding body must have regulations on training and upskilling for awarding certificates (in case of organizing training and upskilling to award certificates) or regulations on organization of examinations and awarding of certificates (in case of organizing examinations, tests and assessments to award certificates), or equivalent documents.

2. Provisions on the regulation on training and upskilling and the regulation on organization of examinations and awarding of certificates specified at Point c, Clause 1 of this Article:

a) The regulations on training and upskilling for awarding certificates must specify mainly the following: Organizational principles; training and upskilling programs; qualifications and competency requirements for teachers and instructors; procedures for organizing training and upskilling; procedures for testing and assessment that ensure the measurement of learners’ competencies in accordance with the purpose and scope of use of each type of certificate; procedures for recognizing training and upskilling results and issuing certificates; data management and records retention; and the responsibilities of individuals and training or upskilling providers, together with measures for handling violations (if any);

b) The regulations on organization of examinations and awarding of certificates must specify mainly the following: Conditions for registration to take examinations; provisions on management and confidentiality of examination papers, and examination paper formats; procedures for organizing examinations, facilities, equipment, examination venues, marking, score review, and announcement of results; awarding and verification of certificates; data management and dossier archiving; measures for preventing and combating cheating throughout the entire examination organization process; responsibilities and powers of relevant examination-organizing divisions, and measures for handling violations (if any).

Article 7. Standards and criteria for certificate recognition

1. The recognition of certificates shall be based on standards and criteria that ensure objective, fair and transparent assessment, as well as security, safety and quality, and that are appropriate to each type of training or upskilling program, examination, test or assessment, and the intended use of the certificates within the national education system.

2. Standards and criteria for certificate recognition are specified in Appendix I promulgated together with this Circular.

3. The agency competent to recognize certificates shall base itself on the standards and criteria specified in Appendix I and the quality assurance requirements specified in Article 6 of this Circular to grant recognition for each type of certificate.

Article 8. Advisory Council for Certificate Recognition

1. The Director General of the Vietnam Education Quality Management Agency under the Ministry of Education and Training shall establish an Advisory Council for Certificate Recognition (below referred to as the Council) to consider, evaluate and advise on the recognition of certificates specified in Clause 1, Article 1 of this Circular.

2. The Council shall be composed of between 07 and 11 members, including: the Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Secretary and Council members; of whom at least two-thirds (2/3) of the total members must be scientists and experts experienced in developing training and upskilling programs, competency measurement and assessment, or developing competency frameworks and competency standards, or possessing expertise in certificate management and certificate testing.

Council members must ensure independent, objective and fair evaluation without any conflict of interest in performing their tasks; and shall commit to having no conflict of interest before and during their participation in the evaluation.

3. The Council has the following tasks:

a) To examine dossiers of request for certificate recognition and relevant documents and supporting evidence;

b) To evaluate the satisfaction of the quality assurance requirements specified in Article 6 and the standards and criteria for certificate recognition specified in Article 7 of this Circular;

c) To advise on the degree of equivalence or conformity of the certificate with the scope, purposes and subjects of use of the certificate;

d) To propose the Director General of the Quality Management Agency to consider and decide on the recognition of the certificate.

4. The Council shall operate on a collective basis, with each member assessing independently and voting by means of an evaluation form. The Council shall propose recognition of a certificate when at least two-thirds of its total members vote in favor of recognition on their evaluation forms.

5. Council members shall be responsible for their evaluation and advice; comply with regulations on confidentiality of information, documents and dossiers, and must not take advantage of their assigned tasks for personal gain or personal interests.

In case a Council member is found to have a conflict of interest resulting in falsification of evaluation, advisory or recognition results, the agency competent to recognize certificates shall consider and decide to annul the recognition results and hold related individuals accountable in accordance with law.

Article 9. Regulations on certificate recognition

The regulations on certificate recognition mean written regulations promulgated by the agency competent to recognize certificates to specify the recognition of each type of certificate. The regulations on certificate recognition must comply with the purposes, principles, quality assurance requirements, standards and criteria for certificate recognition, and competence and responsibilities for certificate recognition specified in this Circular. The regulations on certificate recognition shall specifically prescribe the methods of implementing certificate recognition and the responsibilities of members of the Advisory Council for Certificate Recognition.

Article 10. Dossiers, order and procedures for certificate recognition

1. A dossier of request for certificate recognition comprises:

a) A written request for certificate recognition, made using the form in Appendix II to this Circular;

b) Written verification of the legality of the certificate as specified at Points a and b, Clause 1, Article 6 of this Circular;

c) The regulations on training and upskilling for awarding certificates, the regulations on organization of examinations and awarding of certificates, or equivalent documents as specified at Point c, Clause 1, Article 6 of this Circular;

d) A report, accompanied by supporting documents demonstrating that the quality assurance requirements and the standards and criteria for recognizing certificates for use in the national education system have been met, covering mainly the following: The necessity, scope and purpose of the request for recognition of the certificate; information on the agency, organization or unit awarding the certificate; information on the certificate for which recognition is requested; and evidence that the quality assurance requirements and the standards and criteria for recognition have been met;

dd) A power of attorney issued by the certificate-awarding body (in case the dossier is submitted by an authorized body).

2. Documents in the dossier specified in Clause 1 of this Article that are made in a foreign language must be accompanied by a Vietnamese translation bearing a certified signature of the translator, unless the agency competent to recognize certificates decides not to require translations for foreign-language documents.

3. The order and procedures for certificate recognition are specified as follows:

a) The certificate-awarding body or authorized body shall provide information and upload scanned copies of the dossier specified in Clause 1 of this Article onto the National Public Service Portal. In case the certificate-awarding body or authorized body cannot upload the dossier onto the National Public Service Portal due to a force majeure event, it shall submit the dossier in person or via postal service to the Ministry of Education and Training;

b) Within 05 working days from the date of receipt of the dossier, the agency competent to recognize certificates shall examine the completeness of the dossier. In case the dossier specified in Clause 1 of this Article is incomplete, the agency competent to recognize certificates shall notify the certificate-awarding body or authorized body in writing for supplementation and completion of the dossier;

c) Within 40 working days from the date of receipt of a complete dossier, the agency competent to recognize certificates shall base itself on the evaluation opinions of the Advisory Council for Certificate Recognition specified in Article 8 of this Circular to decide on the recognition of the certificate. The decision on certificate recognition or the list of recognized certificates shall be published on the web portal of the Ministry of Education and Training.

In case the certificate fails to meet the requirements for recognition, the agency competent to recognize certificates shall reply in writing to the certificate-awarding body or authorized body, clearly stating the reasons for non-recognition.

4. In case a certificate is not recognized in accordance with Point c, Clause 3 of this Article, after at least 12 months from the date of the written notice of failure to meet recognition conditions, the certificate-awarding body or authorized body may resubmit a dossier of request for recognition when there are changes in the version, structure or format of examination papers, benchmarking study results, or other contents related to the satisfaction of the quality assurance requirements, standards and criteria for certificate recognition.

Article 11. Adjustment and annulment of certificate recognition results

1. Certificate recognition results shall be adjusted in case there are changes or updates to information related to the certificate, or the scope, purposes and subjects of recognition, or to rectify errors in an issued decision on certificate recognition.

2. Certificate recognition results shall be annulled in the following cases:

a) There are grounds to determine that the dossier of request for recognition contains forged or untruthful documents or information affecting the certificate recognition results;

b) There is a conclusion from an inspection or examination agency that the dossier of request for recognition or the recognized certificate fails to comply with law;

c) There are grounds to determine that a member of the Advisory Council for Certificate Recognition had a conflict of interest that falsified the evaluation and advisory results, leading to the recognition of a certificate that fails to meet the quality assurance requirements or the standards and criteria for recognition specified in this Circular;

d) There are grounds to determine that the certificate, after being recognized, fails to meet the quality assurance requirements specified in Article 6 or the standards and criteria for certificate recognition specified in Article 7 of this Circular.

3. The agency competent to recognize certificates has the competence to adjust and annul certificate recognition results.

4. The adjustment or annulment of certificate recognition results shall not affect the lawful rights and interests of certificate holders that arose before the effective date of the adjustment or annulment decision, unless the rights and interests of the certificate holders were established on the basis of fraudulent acts, forgery or provision of untruthful information.

Article 12. Responsibilities of certificate-awarding bodies and authorized bodies

1. To provide complete, accurate and clear information, documents and data related to the dossier of request for recognition, quality assurance conditions, legality and validity of use of the certificate; and to be held responsible before the law for the truthfulness and legality of the documents and declared contents in the dossier.

2. To publicly disclose on their websites information on awarded certificates, scope of use, and procedures for testing, assessment or organization of examinations and awarding of certificates; ensuring publicity, transparency and convenience for lookup, verification and supervision by management agencies and related organizations and individuals.

3. To notify the agency competent to recognize certificates when there are changes related to the satisfaction of quality assurance requirements in certificate recognition, standards, criteria and other regulations.

4. To provide electronic certificate verification methods, online databases or other reliable verification methods for state management agencies, education institutions and related agencies and organizations to check and verify certificate information; ensuring that electronic certificate verification methods are publicly, accurately and safely provided and shared in compliance with the law on personal data protection and other relevant laws.

5. To comply with and maintain the quality assurance requirements specified in Article 6 and the standards and criteria specified in Article 7 of this Circular.

Article 13. Responsibilities of the agency competent to grant recognition

1. To consider and decide on certificate recognition within its competence; to publish and update decisions on recognition, adjustment and annulment of certificate recognition on the web portal of the Ministry of Education and Training in accordance with this Circular.

2. To prepare necessary conditions in accordance with law to ensure the operation of the Advisory Council for Certificate Recognition during the process of considering, evaluating and advising on certificate recognition.

3. To guide, examine and supervise the implementation of regulations on certificate recognition; and to handle within its competence, or propose competent agencies to handle, violations in accordance with law.

4. The Vietnam Education Quality Management Agency shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Science, Technology and Information Department in, organizing the development, management and updating of the database on recognized certificates according to the roadmap, and guiding the provision and utilization of information serving the management and use of recognized certificates.

Article 14. Transitional provisions

1. Certificates subject to the scope of regulation of this Circular that have been used in accordance with law before the effective date of this Circular may continue to be used in accordance with the regulations applicable to such certificates.

2. In case a competency framework serving as the basis for certificate recognition is amended, supplemented or replaced, the Ministry of Education and Training shall review the recognized certificates and decide on the continued recognition of such certificates under the amended, supplemented or replaced competency framework. In case of discontinuing the recognition of a certificate, it shall reply in writing and clearly state the reasons.

3. The adjustment or annulment of recognition results for certificates announced and recognized before the effective date of this Circular shall comply with Article 11 of this Circular.

Article 15. Implementation provisions

1. This Circular takes effect on December 15, 2026.

2. In case the legal documents referred to in this Circular are amended, supplemented or replaced, the new documents shall prevail.

3. The Chief of the Ministry Office, the Director General of the Vietnam Education Quality Management Agency, heads of relevant units under the Ministry of Education and Training; Directors of provincial-level Departments of Education and Training; heads of higher education institutions and vocational education institutions, and related organizations and individuals shall implement this Circular./.