Policy paper

Letter to Swiss State Secretary for Economic Affairs on actions the UK has taken on Services Mobility (web version)

Published 14 July 2023

This was published under the 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative government

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/services-mobility-agreement-with-switzerland-update-on-uks-actions/letter-to-swiss-state-secretary-for-economic-affairs-on-actions-the-uk-has-taken-on-services-mobility-web-version

Nigel Huddleston MP
Minister of State for International Trade
Department for Business and Trade
Old Admiralty Building
Admiralty Place
London
SW1A 2DY

Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7215 5000
Email: huddleston.correspondence@trade.gov.uk
Website: www.gov.uk

HE Helene Budliger Artieda
State Secretary
State Secretariat for Economic Affairs

13 July 2023

Dear State Secretary,

Further to the letter from Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP, to Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin dated 17 November 2022, I am writing to you to provide an update on the actions the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (“United Kingdom” or “UK”) has taken on services mobility.

The UK National Information Centre for the recognition and evaluation of international qualifications and skills (“UK ENIC”) has carried out a final review looking at several Swiss Federal Diplomas of Higher Education specialisms to determine whether any of the individual specialisms are equivalent to RQF / FHEQ Level 6.

Annex A sets out those specialisms which this review has found to be meeting the Home Office’s requirements for an equivalent technical qualification to a university degree, in terms of level,

Annex B sets out the full list of Swiss Qualifications which meet the Home Office’s requirements for an equivalent technical qualification to a university degree, in terms of level. These qualifications are therefore eligible for preferential access, subject to meeting the full requirements, to the United Kingdom for Swiss service providers under the Temporary Agreement between the Swiss Confederation Switzerland and the United Kingdom on Services Mobility, done at London on 14 December 2020 (“SMA”).

The UK will include this list of professional qualifications as meeting the requirements of an equivalent technical qualification to a university degree in the UK Home Office’s “Global Business Mobility Routes caseworker guidance”. The outcomes of subsequent assessments made by UK ENIC and consequently, the equivalence of Swiss qualifications may change in the future.

Services mobility between the UK and the Swiss Confederation (“Switzerland”) is a vital underpinning of our trading relationship, and this is a further step towards helping to facilitate services mobility between our two countries. I look forward to seeing more progress through FTA negotiations.

Best wishes,

Nigel Huddleston MP
Minister of State for International Trade,
Department for Business and Trade

Annex A: UK ENIC’s assessment of Swiss Qualifications meeting the Home Office requirements of an equivalent technical qualification to a university degree, in terms of level, as determined through this final review

  • Federal Diploma of Higher Education, General Foreman Timber Construction (Holzbau-Polier/-in mit eidgenössischem Fachausweis / Contremaître charpentière / Contremaître charpentier avec brevet fédéral / Capa carpentiera / Capo carpentiere con attestato professionale federale)

  • Federal Diploma of Higher Education, Chartered Specialist in Accounting and Financial Management (Fachfrau/Fachmann im Finanz- und Rechnungswesen mit eidgenössischem Fachausweis / Spécialiste en finance et comptabilité avec brevet federal / Specialista in finanza e contabilità con attestato professionale federale)

Annex B: Full list of UK ENIC’s assessment of Swiss Qualifications meeting the Home Office requirements of an equivalent technical qualification to a university degree, in terms of level

  • Advanced Federal Diploma of Higher Education (Diplom HF / Diplôme ES / Diploma SSS) delivered by Colleges of Higher Education (Höhere Fachschulen HF/ écoles supérieures ES/ scuole specializzate superiori SSS)

  • Advanced Federal Diploma of Higher Education (Eidgenössisches Diplom / Diplôme fédéral / Diploma federale), awarded after an Advanced Federal Professional Examination (Höhere Fachprüfung / Examen professionnel fédéral supérieur / Esame professionale federale superiore), when awarded from 2014 onwards

  • Federal Diploma of Higher Education, General Foreman Timber Construction (Holzbau-Polier/-in mit eidgenössischem Fachausweis / Contremaître charpentière / Contremaître charpentier avec brevet fédéral / Capa carpentiera / Capo carpentiere con attestato professionale federale)

  • Federal Diploma of Higher Education, Chartered Specialist in Accounting and Financial Management (Fachfrau/Fachmann im Finanz- und Rechnungswesen mit eidgenössischem Fachausweis / Spécialiste en finance et comptabilité avec brevet federal / Specialista in finanza e contabilità con attestato professionale federale)

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