Experts believe that more than 70% of human learning takes place outside formal educational institutions. Thus we learn, for example, in civic projects, at work, during internships, volunteering or in mobility projects.

We learn best when no one is forcing us to do so. When we learn we develop our competences, i.e.our capacities and potentials to meet challenges and solve concrete tasks.
Meeting these challenges, we grow - we are constantly evolving and therefore we hopefully never stop learning.

Learning is really only effective if it fulfills a specific purpose, if we are convinced of its benefits  - so in well prepared learning situations, in real life, be it at work or at play - if real challenges or personal benefits are created in such "informal" learning contexts.

For these learning contexts, the network REVEAL with members from 22 European countries developed the system LEVEL5, to promote, visualise and validate informal learning. Since 2005 the system has been used successfully in over 100 European educational projects.

LEVEL5 facilitates the assessment, visualisation and evidence based validation of social personal and organsiational competences.

Formal validation systems, applied in schools, universities and VET follow standardised qualification frameworks. In most cases they refer to formalised knowledge and skill standards and do not take into account the aforementioned key competences.

LEVEL5 aims to close this gap with its flexible visualisation system which is both able to document competence development in an evidence based way AND to adapt the instruments to different learning contexts.