The importance to Europe of skilled and knowledgeable citizens extends beyond formal education to learning acquired in non-formal or informal ways. Citizens must be able to demonstrate what they have learned, to use this learning in their career and for further education and training.
Countries need to establish systems that allow individuals to identify, document, assess and certify (=validate) all forms of learning to use this learning for advancing their career and for further education and training.
The 2012 Council Recommendation on validation encourages Member States to put in place national arrangements for validation. These arrangements enable individuals to increase the visibility and value of their knowledge, skills and competences acquired outside formal education and training: at work, at home or in voluntary activities.
Cedefop cooperates with the European Commission and Member States to develop validation systems by:
- updating and hosting the European inventory on validation of non-formal and informal learning;
- disseminating and updating the European guidelines on validation;
- piloting data visualisation and creating a European database on validation, which connects the European Guidelines with the European inventory;
- conducting case and thematic studies;
- assisting the Commission and countries in organising peer learning activities (PLAs) and workshops.
European guidelines for validating non-formal and informal learning
The European Guidelines identify main challenges facing policy makers and practitioners and present possible responses to those challenges.
The guidelines are practical and provide advice for individuals and institutions responsible for initiating, developing, implementing and operating validation arrangements.
The European guidelines were first developed in 2009 and, following the adoption of the Council Recommendation, updated in 2015. The evaluation of the 2012 Recommendation, has signalled the importance of the guidelines in promoting a share understanding to validation in Europe and to support peer learning. The third edition was published in 2023.
European Inventory on validation of non-formal and informal learning
This inventory is a regularly updated overview of validation practices and arrangements across Europe. It is compiled in cooperation with the European Commission.
Recognising that society has an interest in using all available skills, national and regional authorities and sectoral bodies have introduced many arrangements for validating non-formal and informal learning. Yet information about how such learning is identified, documented, assessed and certified is, in most countries, not easily accessible.
The European inventory makes information on current practices – including examples from selected sectors – available. It covers all countries taking part in the EU 2020 cooperation process. It includes also thematic and case studies.
So far the inventory has been updated six times (2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2023).
All material is publicly available and can be downloaded from this website.
European database on validation of non-formal and informal learning
The European database was a pilot data visualisation project, which connects the European Guidelines (2015 version) with the European inventory (2104 edition). Cedefop is working in updating this tool.