The Diploma Supplement is a document attached to a higher education diploma aiming at improving international ‘transparency’ and at facilitating the academic and professional recognition of qualifications (diplomas, degrees, certificates etc.). It is designed to provide a description of the nature, level, context, content and status of the studies that were successfully completed by the individual named on the original qualification to which this supplement is appended. It should be free from any value-judgments, equivalence statements or suggestions about recognition. It is a flexible non-prescriptive tool which is designed to save time, money and workload. It is capable of adaptation to local needs.
The Diploma Supplement model complies with the regulations established by the Portuguese Decree Order no 30 issued on January 10 2008 and follows the European Commission’s model, designed by the Council of Europe and UNESCO/CEPES (http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/ds_en.htm). It is a bilingual document, written both in Portuguese and English, issued automatically by the Academic Management Services of CESPU whenever a degree diploma is issued and free of charge to every student upon graduation.