Background of key competences

Today people need to be equipped with both hard skills and soft skills in working life. Hard skills or technical skills are those talents and abilities that can easily be measured.

Soft skills are less defined skills that often apply not only to one specific job but are universal and can be transferred to another profession. The soft skills are often referred to as transversal skills, core skills or basic skills and are the cornerstone for the personal development of a person’s self-esteem and self-management, motivation, sense of responsibility, flexibility (personal development); making decisions, empathy, leadership, sociability (social development), and time management (learning to learn).

In order to meet the need of the future the European Commission has in 2018 adopted the revised Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning, setting out a core set of skills necessary to work and live in the 21st Century.

Being a reference tool for education and training providers, the recommendation identifies eight key competences believed to be vital for personal achievement, lifestyle supporting health and sustainability, employability, active citizenship and social inclusion.

All key competences are considered equally important and aspects essential to one domain will support competence development in another.

More information about the key competences from the D1 – WP4: Guidebook on good practices and tools for Key competences for lifelong learning – Report.