Thank you for your interest in our work on validation of non-formal and informal learning. The information hub on validation of non-formal and informal learning is an attempt to provide a rich source of information in a friendly manner.
Validation is defined as a process of confirmation by an authorised body that an individual has acquired knowledge, know-how, information, values, skills and competences measured against a predefined standard. It consists of four distinct phases: identification, documentation, assessment and certification.
The hub links the European guidelines for validation of non-formal and learning (3rd edition, 2023) with the information gathered in the European inventory on validation. It helps to fulfil one of the tasks on Cedefop’s mission statement in its Founding regulation (Regulation (EU) 2019/128, Article 2: “Analyse and contribute to developments in the field of validation of non-formal and informal learning”.
Please cite as: Cedefop (2025). Cedefop information hub on validation of non-formal and informal learning. https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/validation-non-formal-informal-learning.
Sources of information and methodology
The information hub on validation of non-formal and informal learning is developed by Cedefop, in collaboration with the European Commission, ETF and the support of the European Qualification Framework Advisory group.
The 2012 Council Recommendation on validation encourages Member States to establish 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 through voluntary activities.
The hub presents information from the latest update of the European inventory. So far, the inventory has been updated in: 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2023). We are working in presenting older versions.
Methodological note (for 2023 European inventory update)
All information about the countries comes from the country reports and the country fiches of the European inventory on validation.
The information collected covers three sectors separately, to differentiate the broad range of practices available. We refer to the education and training sector (divided into five subsectors - general education, IVET, CVET, higher education, adult learning), the labour market and the third sector.
Data was collected in these different sections:
- country situation as a whole;
- education and training:
- General education;
- Initial Vocational Education and Training (IVET);
- Higher education;
- Continuing Vocational Education and Training (CVET);
- Adult learning;
- General education;
- labour market (LM); and
- third sector (TS).
By labour market, we refer to initiatives in which private sector institutions play a central role (alone or in collaboration with public sector institutions.). These initiatives might be promoted, for example, by employers or employers’ associations. In the third sector, validation initiatives might be associated with youth work or volunteering or might be validation arrangements developed by third sector organisations such as charities or NGOs to support a variety of target groups (e.g. third country nationals, unemployed people, young people at risk of exclusion, people with a disability, etc.). In these two contexts – LM and TS – validation arrangements may or may not be connected to formal education activities.
It should be mentioned that national experts were asked to follow national definitions of the above sectors. Such national definitions vary. In addition, there is some overlap and synergies between the activities in these contexts and in some countries the distinction between some sectors and subsectors (e.g. CVET and LM or IVET and CVET) is blurred. In general, it was possible for country experts to differentiate between them during the data collection, but some country experts reported some difficulties in this respect
The country reports are developed by national researchers based on pre-defined structured agreed by the steering committee and benefitted from feedback from the European qualifications framework Advisory Group (EQF AG) members for each country as well as other national-level quality assurance (QA) contacts with expertise in validation.
The country fiches was completed by country experts alongside the country reports. The fiche mapped the situation in each country according to standardised indicators. The data collection in the fiches, distinguished between seven possible contexts in which validation is possible (or not): general education, IVET, CVET, higher education, adult learning, in the education and training area, labour market or third sector per each country. This results in a maximum of 224 possible contexts in which validation might be a possibility within the countries under study (7 times, 32 countries).
Questions within the country fiche were a mix of multiple choice and single response options, with some allowing for free-text entries. The questionnaire was standardised in a way that the same information was collected across the different sectors systematically. For the education and training subsectors, listed above, the questions were also the same across all five subsectors. The responses to the questions included within the ‘general’, labour market and third sector parts of the country fiche database were answered once only for each country. This allows for certain disaggregated analysis by area, which is useful to understand more accurately the European situation in relation to specific aspects. You can find an Overview analysis in our synthesis report, mainly focuses on the overall situation in Europe and cross-check information form the country reports with country fiches.
Work on the European inventory 2023 edition was carried out under DG EMPL Implementing Framework Contract EAC-01-2019 - Request for Services VT/2021/059. The 2023 update to the European Inventory on validation was a project managed by ICF (lead consultants: Manuel Souto-Otero, Michael Richardson, Ilona Murphy, Valentina Musso and Flora Dussine) in association with 3s (lead consultants: Karin Luomi-Messerer, Monika Auzinger, Julia Fellinger, Mariya Dzhengozova and Daniel Unterweger) under the supervision of a Steering Committee formed by the European Commission (Koen Nomden, Aline Juerges and Klara Engels-Perenyi), Cedefop (Ernesto Villalba-Garcia), and the ETF (Maria Rosenstock).
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this hub do not necessarily reflect those of Cedefop, the Commission or ETF. The experts providing the information make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information presented, but the situation in the countries may be misinterpreted or may change.
It is also important to keep in mind that validation is a complex issue, which is approached in very different ways across the countries of Europe and with different characteristics in each specific context. While it is difficult to apply standardised indicators to such a complex topic, the hub tries to find some common ground for comparison at European level and across contexts that can be seen in the country fiches.
Please do not hesitate to send us your feedback and suggestions for improvement.
Definitions
Cedefop has revised and published a multilingual glossary "Terminology of European education and training policy", which defines 430 key terms used in European education and training policy.
You can access the glossary here.
Contact us
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and correctness of the information. Please contact us if you find any inaccuracies. For suggestions, improvements, ideas, comments or further information, please contact the project manager, Ernesto Villalba-Garcia.
For more information on Cedefop's activities in the field of validation of non-formal and informal learning, please visit our validation project.