The EU's digital competence framework is now in its fifth edition. DigComp 3.0 keeps the familiar five areas and 21 competences, but it cuts the proficiency levels from eight to four, adds over 500 learning outcomes and builds AI into every competence. Here is what changed, and how adult-education consortia can use it in Erasmus+ proposals.
Last checked: 12 November 2026.
What DigComp 3.0 is
DigComp is the European Digital Competence Framework, developed by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) with the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. DigComp 3.0, the fifth edition, was published on 27 November 2025, after earlier editions in 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2022.
It defines digital competence as in the 2018 Council Recommendation on key competences for lifelong learning: "the confident, critical and responsible use of, and engagement with, digital technologies for learning, at work, and for participation in society".
The framework has five competence areas:
- Information search, evaluation and management
- Communication and collaboration
- Content creation
- Safety, wellbeing and responsible use
- Problem identification and solving
Across these areas there are 21 competences, four proficiency levels (Basic, Intermediate, Advanced and Highly advanced) and over 500 learning outcomes. The official sources are the DigComp 3.0 (JRC) page and the DigComp 3.0 leaflet (JRC, PDF).
What changed from DigComp 2.2
The skeleton stayed, the names changed. Four of the five areas were renamed. "Information and data literacy" became "Information search, evaluation and management", "Digital content creation" became "Content creation", "Safety" became "Safety, wellbeing and responsible use" and "Problem solving" became "Problem identification and solving". Some competences were renamed too: "Netiquette" is now "Digital behaviour" and "Programming" is now "Computational thinking and programming".
Eight levels became four. The JRC suggests this mapping: Basic covers DigComp 2.2 levels 1 and 2, Intermediate levels 3 and 4, Advanced levels 5 and 6, and Highly advanced levels 7 and 8. The levels are inspired by the European Qualifications Framework, but they are not EQF levels.
New building blocks. DigComp 3.0 adds competence statements and learning outcomes, a glossary, and data files in spreadsheet and JSON-LD format. The learning outcomes are written as intended outcomes, with verbs that fit each level: recognise, identify, use and apply at Basic level, for example. An errata page exists, so check it before you use the data.
DigComp 2.2 is still widely cited, including in many Erasmus+ projects, and the Europass self-assessment tool still uses the 2.x version. An update of that tool to DigComp 3.0 is expected during 2026-2027.
AI in all 21 competences
DigComp 3.0 has no separate AI area. It treats AI as one digital technology among many, uses the AI Act's definition of an AI system, and builds AI knowledge, skills and attitudes into all 21 competences. Statements and outcomes are labelled AI-explicit or AI-implicit.
Some examples, in our own words:
- recognising that AI output can be inaccurate even when it sounds plausible, and that the person using it is responsible for checking it (competence 1.2);
- asking attendees for consent before using an AI note-taking function in a meeting (competence 2.4);
- summarising a long text with AI: choosing a tool, writing and refining prompts and checking the result (competence 2.1).
Competence 1.2 also asks people to recognise and respond to user-directing strategies such as clickbait, nudging and gamification. That is worth knowing if your project builds gamified learning.
The JRC states that all competences of the EU and OECD AI Literacy Framework for schools are present in DigComp 3.0. And when the EU amended the AI Act's rule on AI literacy in 2026, the recitals named DigComp as a framework to take into account. Our guide to AI Act Article 4 and AI literacy explains that rule, and our page on AI in education: AI literacy and applied AI shows how we approach AI in learning.
Learning outcomes you can reuse in proposals
The Erasmus+ 2026 Programme Guide gives two good reasons to use DigComp 3.0. Its digital transformation priority covers digital skills and the purposeful use of emerging technologies, including AI. And the award criteria for cooperation partnerships ask for qualitative and quantitative indicators and, where learning activities are planned, for arrangements to recognise and validate learning outcomes in line with European transparency and recognition tools.
DigComp 3.0 learning outcomes help with both. Select the outcomes that fit each result, then take the exact wording and level from the JRC data files rather than from the PDF text. The JRC also explains how selected outcomes can feed programme outcomes, micro-credentials and credit by workload.
An illustrative outcome for a module for adult educators at Basic level: by the end of the module, participants will be able to recognise that AI output can be inaccurate even when it seems plausible, and that they are responsible for checking it (DigComp 3.0, competence 1.2, AI-explicit). For aims that are not digital, such as communication or empathy, use LifeComp, EntreComp or GreenComp alongside DigComp.
If your partnership works in adult education and skills development, this is also a way to make results comparable across partners and countries.
No official certificate
The JRC says plainly that there is no official DigComp certification scheme. Several national, regional and international schemes use DigComp as their reference, and commercial courses and assessments based on it are allowed if they respect the Commission's reuse rules (CC BY 4.0).
The planned European Digital Skills Certificate will not come either. After a feasibility study and a pilot in 2023, the Commission concluded that the quality label would not add enough value and recommended updating DigComp with learning outcomes instead.
So don't promise an official DigComp certificate in a proposal. Describe recognition through your consortium's own arrangements, such as certificates or badges that reference the framework codes, issued by the partner that runs the learning.
A five-step pattern for proposals
This is guidance, not a guaranteed formula:
- Needs. Run a short pre-survey based on the Europass self-assessment, or on adapted items from DigCompSAT, the JRC's self-reflection tool, whose item bank anyone may use and adapt.
- Outcomes. Select DigComp 3.0 learning outcomes for each result, plus LifeComp, EntreComp or GreenComp competences for non-digital aims.
- Indicators. Set indicators such as the share of participants who report moving from Basic to Intermediate on one competence in a pre and post self-reflection. Set the numbers per project.
- Recognition. Reference the framework codes in certificates, open badges or Europass digital credentials, and check what each requires before you promise it.
- Educators and inclusion. Use DigCompEdu for results aimed at teachers and trainers. For accessibility, cite competence 5.2 and your WCAG target; for AI features, cite the AI-labelled outcomes and human oversight.
Two cautions from the Programme Guide: applicants who use generative AI must keep their application original, and they are strongly advised not to rely on external entities to draft it. Partners contribute their parts; the proposal stays the consortium's own work. If you are looking for a partner for the digital learning parts, you can partner with us.
What comes next: DigCompEdu and Europass
DigCompEdu, the JRC framework for educators, describes 22 competences in six areas, for educators from early childhood to adult education. The Commission started an update in May 2026. The draft keeps the six areas and brings educators' AI literacy into all of them, and the final version is due in spring 2027.
Two more changes are coming: an update of the Europass self-assessment to DigComp 3.0 is expected during 2026-2027, and a Commission working group is preparing assessment guidelines, expected in 2027. The 2027 Erasmus+ Programme Guide had not been published when we last checked. We will update this article as each of these arrives.
