Realkompetanse - formal and non-formal skills

What is "realkompetanse"?
The term realkompetanse refers to all formal, non-formal and informal learning and skills that adults have acquired through the education system, paid and unpaid work, organisational activities and family life.

The evaluation and assessment of non-formal skills is based on a national system and set of methods, and is valid both for working life, and for upper secondary education and higher education.

Documentation of non-formal skills may improve job opportunities, or a change of tasks and duties in the workplace. In the education system, documentation of non-formal skills may replace formal schooling, and thus shorten the duration of formal secondary school training towards a diploma or trade certificate.

Applicants to higher education over the age of 25 who does not fulfil the general admission requirements can be admitted to a specific study programme after evaluation of non-formal skills. After one year of study, they have also fulfilled general acquirements.
Read more about admission and non-formal skills here.

Documentation of non-formal skills
There are a number of ways to document non-formal skills, depending on what you need it for. Some you can do yourself, like putting together a CV. Aetat/the employment office can also assist you. If you are working, talk to your union representative or your boss.

CV (Curriculum vitae)
The most common way to present yourself and your skills is to make a CV. The CV documents your education, your work and your life experience. Go to our job pages for guidelines and examples.

Skills certificate
A skills certificate gives an overview of tasks and duties you have had in your place(s) of work. You may write such an overview yourself, but your employer should sign it for validation. Maybe the employer also have further suggestions to the contents. Unginfo in Nordland county has an example of what a skills certificate may look like - click here to see it.

Documentation of other skills
People learn in school and in the workplace, but also outside it. What you have learned elsewhere may still be of interest to an educational institution or an employer. Activities in the so called third sector - outside school and work - may indicate what type of person you are. You can find examples of how to document activities you are engaged in in your free time on the Unginfo Nordland webiste here, and on the webiste of VoFo here - both in Norwegian.

Personal skills document
Instead of drawing up different documents for different types of activities, you can make a document that includes "everything". This is called a personal skills document (personlig kompetansedokument). It is personal beacuse it is not certified. Click here to see an example of such a document (in Norwegian), including guidelines for how to fill it in (from the website of VoFo- see below).

Evaluation and assessment of non-formal skills
The idea behind a system for the assessment of non-formal skills is to give adults the opportunity to prove skills and knowledge, not having to repeat what they already know when entering the formal education sector, and to document skills when applying for work.

Evaluation of non-formal learning in relation to secondary school courses, both theoretical and vocational, is carried out by Oslo Voksenopplæring Sinsen (Oslo Adult Education at Sinsen). The theoretical evaluation is a dialogue between a teacher/professional and the candidate about the subject in question, related to the Norwegian curriculum as it is taught in upper secondary school.

For vocational courses there is also a practical evaluation called yrkesprøving or vocational testing. You can read more about yrkesprøving here.

To apply for evaluation of non-formal skills and vocational testing, send an application to Oslo Voksenopplæring Sinsen. The application form is available on the school's website. There is no application deadline. Your skills can be evaluated in relation to both primary and secondary school level.

For those who have not completed upper secondary school, the assessment of non-formal learning is done free of charge.

If you have completed secondary school, non-formal skills assessment is also carried against a fee. Check with Oslo Voksenopplæring Sinsen for prices.

Visiting address:
Lørenveien 11
0585 Oslo

Postal address:
Oslo Voksenopplæring Sinsen
Postboks 484, Økern
0512 Oslo

Telephone: 23 46 67 00 (1200 - 1500 hrs)
E-mail: sinsen@oslovo.no
Web: www.oslovo.no

Applicants to higher education over the age of 25 who does not fulfil the general admission requirements can be admitted to a specific study programme after evaluation of non-formal skills. After one year of study, they have also fulfilled general acquirements. It is up to the institutions to decide the non-formal skills criteria for admission.
Read more about admission and non-formal skills here.

Links to more information on documentation of non-formal skills:

VOX - Click "Other languages" in the top menu
VoFo - The Norwegian Association for Adult Education; general information in English
UngInfo Nordland - Kompetansepermen (in Norwegian)

Last modified 18/08-2006