Welcome
The importance to Europe of skilled and knowledgeable citizens extends beyond formal education to learning occurring in other contexts, in non-formal or informal settings (at work, at home, volunteering, etc.). Citizens need to be able to demonstrate what they have learned and to use this learning in their careers and for further education and training.
Validation of non-formal and informal learning 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 (see Council Recommendation).
The information hub on validation of non-formal and informal learning aims at supporting countries in their efforts to develop, establish and improve arrangements for the validation of non-formal and informal learning and promote peer learning between countries. It is also a tool for anyone interested in validation to better understand how validation is carried in the countries reviewed.
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. The European guidelines set out the main principles and pose questions to stakeholders on the main themes to consider when establishing, developing, improving and monitoring of validation of non-formal and informal learning. The European inventory explores the ways in which countries are implementing validation and explore each of those main themes. It provides the “answers” to the questions posted in the guidelines.
The hub has been built with the support of the European Commission, ETF as well as in consultation with the European Qualification Framework Advisory Group. This version utilises data from the 2023 update. In the future, further countries might be added as well as other updates of the inventory.
Browse by theme
The sixteen different themes correspond to the main focus areas of the European Guidelines for Validation. You can explore each theme and sub-theme in different countries.
- Acknowledgements
- Validation overview
- Validation in contexts
- Qualifications and credentials
- Standards and reference levels
- Institutions involved
- Outreach and awareness raising
- Information and guidance
- Validation practitioners
- Funding and cost
- Beneficiaries and users
- Methods
- Use of ICT
- Quality assurance
- The position of validation in society
- References and sources
Browse by sector
Validation tends to be organised differently depending on the context in which it operates. The hub allows you to explore the inventory by sector. National experts were asked to follow national definitions of the sectors (for more see about).
