The Commission is continuously working on new updates of the European classification of Skills, Competences, and Occupations (ESCO) and therefore announces that the default ESCO API version will change from the current version (v1.0.9) to the most updated major version (v1.1.0) starting from January 2023.

The web-based service API is designed to facilitate interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over the World Wide Web. The ESCO Web Services API provides an easy-to-use web interface onto linked data and in Linked data any concept is identified by a Uniform resource identifier (URI). The ESCO Web Services API receives requests for information on concepts or terms and provides a response in a format specific to the sender of the request. To find out more, please visit ESCO API documentation page.

ESCO v1.0.9 and v1.1.1 (the latest minor version) are also available in the API by configuring correctly the parameters for the call: i.e. selectedVersion.

To support citizens and implementer that use the API, the Commission and the ESCO team advises all stakeholders to make the necessary changes in their IT systems before the change is implemented (January 2023). 

What has changed in ESCO v1.1.0?

ESCO v1.1 was released in January 2022, with the following changes:

• New content. 68 new occupations, 354 new skills and 158 new knowledge concepts have been created and translated in all the ESCO languages. 
• A new transversal skills hierarchy. ESCO v1.1 includes a revised structure and terminology on transversal skills and competences.
• Labels for Green, DigComp, and Research skills. ESCO v1.1 offers the possibility to access to new sub-sets of skill and knowledge concepts. It includes in particular a taxonomy of skills for the green transition and for researchers, as well as digital skills and skills corresponding to the competences and competence areas of the European Digital Competence Framework for Citizens (DigComp).
• Quality improvements. Over 500 terms have been updated. Improvements range from removing duplicate concepts to addressing relations between concepts.

What has changed in ESCO v1.1.1?

ESCO v1.1.1 minor update was released in September 2022, with the following changes:

• A revision of the third level of the skills hierarchy. The more detailed level of the skill hierarchy was revised, resulting in the creation of new groups and removal of few of the pre-existing groups.
• A revision of the URIs of skill groups. While in previous versions of the classification URIs of skill groups were based on their allocation in the skill hierarchy, the new URIs are now re-assigned with randomised values. As a consequence, URIs of skill groups are no longer dipendent on their hierarchical allocation.
• A revision of skill-occupation relationships. Formerly missing relationships were added, based on expert feedback and labour market data.
• A revision of the allocation of skills in skill groups. Following improvements on the third level of the skills hierarchy, some skills were re-allocated in different skill groups.

For any questions or technical support on how to get started with ESCO, reach out to us at EMPL-ESCO-SECRETARIAT@ec.europa.eu. If you would like to stay informed on all ESCO news and updates, subscribe to our newsletter here.