A total of 1,233 certificates of full Skills Pass Achievement were issued to non-EU workers within these past three months, since the skills pass legal notice came into force last May, CEO of the Institute for Tourism Studies (ITS) Pierre Fenech said.
Fenech, along with Martina Vella Montebello and Mark Bugeja, part of the team at ITS leading the Skills Pass initiative, presented the Skills Pass Statistics Report in a media briefing on Monday, which recorded data in the past three months up until Friday, 20 September.
Fenech said that these reports will be made quarterly, with updated results, by which it is expected that by December 2025, all non-EU tourism and hospitality workers would have acquired certification to work in Malta.
The 1,233 certificates were issued to workers in three categories; those who have been living in Malta for over a year, those who have been living in the country for less than one year, and those who are still living abroad, and wish to acquire work in Malta.
Fenech said that ITS launched a Skills Pass Portal and a pilot programme with 100 candidates from each licensed establishment in April of this year, during the period in which the legal notice had not yet been enforced.
By early June, the Malta Enterprise Skills Pass scheme was launched, and by 25 June, the first phase 2 interviews started being conducted.
The report shows that 29% of the candidates who applied for the skills pass are from Nepal, and 25% are from India as their country of origin. Candidates from Colombia followed with 9%, 8% coming from the Philippines, 4% from Pakistan, and 25% grouped as Others.
57% of all candidates have been working in Malta, with 44% having been working in the country for more than one year, and 13% working in Malta for less than one year.
43% of the candidates are not yet working in Malta, the report showed. Those not living in Malta and those who have lived in Malta for less than one year have to undergo Phase 1 and 2 of the scheme to acquire the Skills Pass certification, whilst those who have been in Malta for over a year can stop at Phase 1 of the skills pass.
All registrants are to go through Phase 1 of the Skills Pass which includes five sections; a Basic Customer Care Course and Exam, Essential English for Hospitality Course and Exam, Basic Maltese Tourism Product Course and Exam, an English Proficiency Test (in which one either passes or fails), and an Occupation Exam (if the person will be working as a Line Waiter, Line Chef, Cleaning Attendant, Receptionist, Luggage Porter or Bar Waiter, if not candidate chooses ‘Other’ Occupation.)
885 current candidates are undergoing Phase 1 of the skills pass, with 52% of candidates obtaining their certificate last Tuesday. Three more candidates living in Malta for more than one year are awaiting their full skills pass achievement certificate, which was issued last Friday, 20 September.
In total, 887 certificates for Phase 1 were issued. 36 candidates were blocked for three months due to failures in their exams, after having registered and failed the first Phase 1 sitting, the free re-sit, and the third, paid re-sit. Candidates can take the opportunity to re-skill themselves within that three-month block, instead of paying needlessly for re-sits.
A total of 933 certificates of Full Skills Pass Achievement were issued for candidates who lived in Malta for more than one year.
The report showed the fail rates for each sector, which hovers between 0% and 3%, Fenech said. The fail rate for a luggage porter recorded at 8%, however, there were not many of those who applied for the job, which renders the statistic insignificant, Vella Montebello explained.
The fail rate for the English Test stood at 2%, whilst that for a Line Chef stood at 3%.
Fenech explained that Phase 1 is done online with the candidate’s camera on, whilst Phase 2 is the verification interview phase, where candidates must go to either the VFS mini centre at ITS in Malta, or else a VFS centre in their country.
Fenech said that the failure rates for Phase 2 shoot up drastically, hovering between 50% and 51%. He explained the difference between Phase 1 and 2, whereby Phase 1 is an online exam giving people leeway to try go around it, while Phase 2 is a one-on-one half an hour interview with an assessor.
He said that the Phase 1 failure rate does not include candidates who have been caught cheating.
Bugeja explained that the system is set up in a way where all exams have a different set of questions generated for each candidate, and no official, not even the assessors themselves, would know what questions will be generated for each candidate. These question banks are also updated every few months.
The verifier would be in a different room with their cameras off, whilst the person undergoing the interview will be set up in a booth at a VFS centre, after their identification has been verified, and answers both True and False, and open ended questions, which tests their English communicative level, and specific questions about their occupation, verifying what they had answered in Phase 1.
The report also showed the failure rates for the Phase 2 examination, whereby the role of Receptionist is currently at 0%, as all candidates passed their Phase 2 exam.
51% failed their phase 2 examination for the role of Line Chef, while 40% failed Phase 2 for the role of cleaning attendant. 30% failed Phase 2 examinations for Line Waiter, and 20% failed Phase 2 examinations for Bar Waiter. 39% were recorded in the Other category, where they failed Phase 2 examinations.
Fenech explained that while the basic level to have in English is the A2 basic level, the reason why many fail Phase 2 after passing Phase 1 is predominantly the English language, where there are many cases where the individuals would not be able to communicate.
The report showed that there were 420 candidates who received their Phase 1 certificate but haven’t booked their Phase 2 interview, and 467 candidates who received their Phase 1 certificate and booked their Phase 2 interview (in which they have to book a slot within three weeks or more, due to operational processes).
The total number of Phase 2 bookings amounted to 452 candidates. The report showed that approximately 50% of candidates do not successfully complete the overall Skills Pass process.
The report also showed that 6% of candidates were suspended due to not adhering to the examination terms and conditions, such as covering their cameras, using notes or their mobile phone for the examination, or doing it with other people.
Any candidate found violating these terms is required to restart the Skills Pass process including payment. A pre-exam check is also conducted, which takes a photo of the candidate to confirm verification, as well as checking their internet bandwidth and the candidate’s webcam through the portal.
Bugeja explained that each interview is recorded, and compliance is done on a random sample.
The certification is sent via email as soon as it is issued, which will include a QR code which can be verified by employers. It was explained that the Phase 1 certification does expire, but the full Skills Pass does not.
Fenech said that something positive which has come out of this initiative is seeing collaborations between English schools, and training providers in the industry make agreements to promote upskilling.
“This is good, this is the aim of the process, to make sure those already working in the industry get up-skilled, ideally reduce large staff turnover in the industry, and screen those coming in, accepting only those who have the basic skills to go through the process of being employed within the hospitality industry,” Fenech said.
From feedback from candidates themselves, Fenech said that candidates most enjoyed the Maltese Tourism Product course, which they said they found useful for living and working in Malta.
The course includes details about living in Malta and Maltese culture, and not just simple Maltese phrases, for candidates to integrate better into society. The Basic Customer Care course includes information about hygiene, grooming and self-appearance, according to the basic national occupational standards.