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Linking learning outcomes of qualifications with ESCO skills

Following the conclusion of the Qualifications Pillar Study, the European Commission conducted a pilot project in 2019 to test how Machine Learning technologies could support the automated linking of learning outcomes of qualifications with ESCO skills. The pilot was carried out in different EU languages to showcase the potential of ESCO in bridging the labour market and the world of education and training.

Five Member States participated in the project (Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Slovenia), and tested an approach combining automation and human intervention on qualifications from different EQF levels and covering both higher education and VET.

For the purpose of the project, the Commission developed an IT tool based on Natural Language Processing that provides automatic suggestions of ESCO skills against the learning outcomes of selected qualifications, in different EU languages.

A second phase of the pilot project took place in 2020 with the participation of 9 EU Member States (Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and the Netherlands), the European Training Foundation and the Inter-American Development Bank.