TQP credentials (TESA Qualification Program)

Status: design v0.1 — not yet open for candidates. None of the credentials on this page can be applied for or examined today. Names, criteria, validity and procedures may all change before launch. Each tier will be announced here and in CHANGELOG.md when it opens.

Thai (source): certification.md

The TESA Qualification Program (TQP) is a joint programme of the Thai Embedded Systems Association (TESA) and Infineon. TESA Open Knowledge is open content anyone can learn from for free. TQP credentials are an assessment kept separate from that content, run by a certification unit that is separate from the content team and from course sales. Levels are defined in levels.en.md.

Tiers

Tier	Name (draft)	What it says	Assessment	Identity check	Open Badges 3.0 type	Validity	Issuer
T0	Open Knowledge Completion	The holder completed lessons or a course. Not a certification of competence.	End-of-lesson checks and auto-graded labs; only stable lessons count	None	CertificateOfCompletion	No expiry; states the curriculum version	TESA
T1	TQP Skill Certificate, per skill cluster (e.g. C, peripherals, communication, MQTT, OPTIGA™ security, Edge AI)	The holder passed an assessment of one cluster on the exam date	Online knowledge exam plus a randomised practical task on a real board	Online proctoring with ID check	Certificate or MicroCredential	Not renewed; states the versions examined	TESA × Infineon
T2	TQP Certified Embedded Developer	Competence at L4 ≈ TPQI Embedded Systems Developer level 4	Knowledge exam plus a proctored practical on PSOC™ Edge E84 at a test centre or remote lab	ID check on site or remotely	Certification with validUntil	3 years; renew with continuing-education credits or re-examination	TESA × Infineon
T3	TQP Professional / Specialist (Secure IoT, Edge AI)	Competence at L5 ≈ TPQI level 5 in a specialism	Capstone project plus a panel interview with external examiners	ID check on site	Certification	3 years	TESA × Infineon
Trainer	TQP Certified Trainer	May teach TQP-aligned courses	Holds an L4 credential in what they teach, completes a pedagogy course, and gives an observed teaching demonstration	ID check	Certification	2 years	TESA × Infineon

Use the right words. T0 is a record of completion; T1 is an assessment-based certificate that is not renewed; T2, T3 and Trainer are certifications, with validity and renewal. Never call T0 or T1 a “certification”. T0 carries the statement: “This records completion of learning. It is not a certification of competence by TESA or Infineon.”

Joint TESA × Infineon issuance

• T1, T2, T3 and Trainer credentials are issued jointly under “Certified by TESA and Infineon”.
• TESA is the issuer; Infineon endorses the definition of each credential, so anyone can verify that both parties stand behind it.
• Infineon co-designs the content and the exam blueprints and supports test centres with hardware.
• Each candidate’s result is decided by the criteria and process agreed in the scheme, the same for everyone, with no decisions outside that process.
• Holders’ use of “Certified by TESA and Infineon” is governed by TRADEMARKS.md.

Open and closed

Public	Closed (in a separate private repository)
The skill map skills/ and role profiles	The exam item bank
Exam blueprints with section weights	The parameters that generate each candidate’s task
Exam objectives	Hidden test vectors
Sample items	Grader internals
Practice labs and practical-task templates
Scoring rubrics

Quizzes, practice files and solutions in TESA Open Knowledge are learning material and are never used as live exam items.

Practical exams

• Randomised per candidate: pins, I²C addresses, sample rates, MQTT topics and injected faults to find.
• Graded automatically on real hardware. Proctors supervise but do not score.
• Exam development: a job task survey with companies, objectives published for community comment, item-writing workshops, a beta exam, a modified-Angoff study to set the cut score, and item analysis after use.
• An idea not yet validated: the OPTIGA™ Trust M on a registered exam board signs the result, proving it came from real hardware.

Digital credential format

• Open Badges 3.0, built on W3C Verifiable Credentials 2.0.
• Issued from a did:web identifier on a domain TESA controls. TESA holds its own signing keys, so it can change issuing platform and existing credentials still verify.
• Revocation through a Bitstring Status List.
• Infineon issues an EndorsementCredential bound to each credential definition.
• A PDF with a QR code for human readers.
• Each credential aligns to skills at their permanent pages /skills/<id>/ and levels, and to TPQI units where applicable.
• Both versions assessed are stated, e.g. “curriculum 2026.10 + skills 1.0.0”.
• T1 carries every element of a micro-credential listed in the 2022 EU Recommendation.
• A CLR 2.0 transcript lets universities use the record as evidence under Thailand’s credit-bank rules.

Validity and renewal

• T0 and T1 do not expire, but always state the curriculum and skill-map versions assessed.
• T2 and T3 are valid for 3 years and are renewed with continuing-education credits or re-examination; the credit rules will be set in the scheme.
• Trainer is valid for 2 years.
• Once a credential expires or is revoked, the holder stops using its name and “Certified by TESA and Infineon”.

Impartiality

Offering training and certification in the same organisation is a threat to impartiality (the ISO/IEC 17024 principle). TQP is designed around that from the start:

• The TESA Certification Board has its own charter and is separated, in writing and in process and information, from the TESA Open Knowledge editorial board and from TESA’s course sales.
• The scheme committee includes employers, academics, Infineon, other vendors or users and a public member, with no party in the majority.
• No TESA course is required, and equivalent routes are accepted, such as Infineon Academy courses, university courses or work experience. Taking any course does not make the exam easier or cheaper.
• Eligibility does not depend on TESA membership.
• Trainers do not examine people they trained within 2 years, and all board and committee members declare conflicts of interest.
• ISO/IEC 17024 practice is followed from the start, with accreditation through Thailand’s TISI to be sought later.

Appeals and complaints

• A candidate may appeal a result in writing within 30 days of being notified.
• Appeals are heard by people who had no part in the original decision.
• The time limit for the reply, and the channel for other complaints, will be fixed in the scheme before the first exam.

Personal data

• Handled under Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA); exam records are kept for at least 6 years.
• Credential data belongs to the holder, who chooses whom to share it with.
• Results are shared with Infineon or employers only with the candidate’s explicit consent each time.

Route to TPQI

TPQI’s Embedded Systems Developer qualifications at levels 4 and 5 have no certifying body yet. TESA plans to apply to become the certifying body for level 4 once it has T1 and T2 exam data. Until TPQI recognises TESA, a TQP credential is not a TPQI professional-qualification certificate.

Planned phases (subject to change)

Phase	Planned period	What happens
0 Foundations	Oct–Nov 2026	Charter and impartiality statement, working details agreed with Infineon, skill map v0.1
1 Pilot	Dec 2026–Mar 2027	Pilot courses, first T0
2 Close the gaps	Apr–Sep 2027	T1 pilot in 3–4 skill clusters, job task survey with member companies, educator programme
3 National	Oct 2027 onward	T2 opens, application to TPQI, accreditation, T3

Until a tier is announced as open on this page, it is not open for candidates.