Refers to learned and demonstrated abilities that are useful across many different types of work, learning, and life activities rather than being limited to a particular occupation, academic discipline, sector, or setting. The term is used extensively in European education and workforce policy.

The European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations classification defines transversal skills and competences as abilities valuable for effective action across a wide range of contexts. Because they can be applied across occupations and sectors, they have a high degree of reusability in education and labor markets. The European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations framework organizes transversal skills and competences into six broad areas:

• core skills and competences
• thinking skills and competences
• self-management skills and competences
• social and communication skills and competences
• physical and manual skills and competences
• life skills and competences.

Transversal skills are sometimes described as soft skills, core skills, basic skills, employability skills, or socio-emotional skills, but these terms are not necessarily interchangeable. In particular, transversal skills are broader than the conventional idea of soft skills.

The term is also closely related to transferable skills, although European terminology distinguishes the two:

• Transferable skills are skills that individuals can carry across jobs, careers, and education or training pathways; they can include both transversal skills and certain job-specific capabilities.
• Transversal skills are defined by their broad applicability across contexts.

The concept is prominent in Europe because skills taxonomies and qualifications systems increasingly seek to make capabilities visible and comparable across education, employment, occupations, and national borders. In the United States and other countries, related terminology includes employability skills, durable skills, essential skills, human skills, and transferable skills, although none is an exact equivalent.