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Act II of the Professional Certification Reform Is Underway

An ambitious reform to reinforce the quality and transparency of professional qualifications in France.

Announced by the French Ministry of Labor in January, “Act II of the Professional Certification Reform” will come into force on October 1st, 2025. A decree published in the Journal Officiel on June 8, 2025, formalizes the measures originally proposed in two draft texts, while also introducing a few adjustments.

The responsibilities of certification bodies and training organizations, particularly within the framework of the authorization process to deliver training, will be more strictly regulated. Similarly, the criteria for registration in the national directories have been clarified.

Key Takeaways

  • The decree dated June 5, 2025, which aims to build upon the 2018 “Avenir Professionnel” law, will become effective as of October 1st, 2025.
  • The new measures primarily concern certification bodies and training providers (OFs) authorized under the CPF (Compte Personnel de Formation).

A/ Obligations for Certification Bodies

Starting this autumn, when submitting a new certification or renewing an existing one, certification bodies will be required to provide professional integration data. For certifications registered in the Répertoire Spécifique (RS), procedures will be streamlined (to be defined by France Compétences) compared to those of the Répertoire National des Certifications Professionnelles (RNCP).

From the implementation of the decree onward, certifiers must verify, for each partner in their authorized network:

  • The actual technical, pedagogical, and supervisory resources used to conduct the training programs completed by certified learners.
  • The alignment of these training programs with the job activity and competency frameworks of the relevant professional certification.

Additionally, the following topics must now be included in the skills framework:

  • Ecological and digital transition
  • Occupational health and safety
  • Disability inclusion and accessibility

Furthermore, a formal agreement will be required between the certification body and its authorized partners. This has already been standard practice for many years in the commercial relationships with ETS EMEA.

For new contracts starting in 2026, a CPF Annex will be included, reflecting the updates imposed by the decree, with dedicated sections covering:

  1. A reminder of the applicable regulatory framework
  2. ETS EMEA's recommendations, such as minimum duration per training session
  3. Obligations in the event of audits or inspections
  4. The monitoring of training via WEDOF, the mandatory and free platform for certified organizations, enabling ETS EMEA to transfer data for CPF and the skills passport to the Caisse des Dépôts, as well as to conduct regular audits of its authorized partners
  5. Sanctions in case of non-compliance

B/ Obligations for Authorized Training Providers

Regarding training delivery, providers must:

  • Use the exact official title of the professional certification they are preparing learners for
  • Deliver training that covers all required knowledge and skills, including cross-cutting skills (such as English), as defined in the certification's competency framework
  • Respect the minimum training duration, the minimum and maximum lengths of work placements or internships, and in-person training requirements, as stipulated by the ministry, the certification body, or in accordance with international standards or legal requirements
  • Comply with any defined maximum learner-to-trainer ratios

Regarding certification examinations:

All authorized training providers, such as ETS EMEA’s network of over 800 partners — accredited under the label "Authorization to Train and Assess" — must:

  • Organize certification exams in strict accordance with the assessment framework of the certification
  • Ensure that learners they have trained are registered for certification exams organized by the provider itself

General Terms of Use (GTU) Clarifications

The GTUs now explicitly state the “obligation of means” required of partners certified by a certification body, especially regarding:

Training execution (Art. 7.3):
“In any event, the Training Organization is subject to an obligation of means and cannot be held responsible for the incomplete completion of a training session or module by a learner, nor for the learner’s performance in exams, which remain the learner’s sole responsibility.”

Exam registration (Art. 7.4):
The provider must ensure, under Article L. 6323-6 of the Labor Code, that learners have access to certification exams, particularly when the training leads to a certification listed in the RNCP or RS.

Conclusion

The implementation of Act II of the Professional Certification Reform represents a major step forward in the evolution of vocational training in France. By tightening requirements for both certification bodies and training organizations, this reform seeks to guarantee a higher quality of certifications issued.

Coming into force on October 1st, 2025, the reform imposes stricter standards for authorization, training delivery, and exam oversight. It reflects an ongoing commitment to professionalize the sector, ultimately serving learners’ success and their sustainable integration into the job market.

Laurence CARLINET
General Secretary, ETS EMEA