Skills Management Platform "STARS" for Adult Lifelong Learning in Latvia

The skills management platform "STARS" and individual learning accounts are a national digital innovation for adult lifelong learning and career development, developed by the Latvian State Education Development Agency with the support of EU RRF funds. The initiative's target audience includes all economically active Latvia citizens – employed individuals, job seekers, and any resident of Latvia seeking to enhance their skills.

Since the creation of the skills management platform "STARS" by the State Education Development Agency (VIAA) in December 2024, more than 64,000 individual learning accounts have been established, over 68,000 course applications have been received, and nearly 47,000 courses have been completed.

Goals and tasks of the initiative

Promote a culture of lifelong learning: Increase adult participation in learning by helping to build a habit of regular up-skilling.
Digitize skills management: Provide a single "one-stop shop" digital platform at stars.gov.lv for skills assessment, matching educational opportunities, and applying for funding.
Strengthen labor market competitiveness: Provide financial support (a voucher/co-funding system) specifically for acquiring digital, AI, green skills, and advanced technology competencies.
Personalize the learning pathway: Through the individual learning account, offer each user a customized learning and career growth history, tracking of micro-credentials, and educational recommendations.

By registering on stars.gov.lv, every resident gets the opportunity to:

Assess their existing skills and plan professional growth.
Receive co-funding from state and EU funds (for example, a voucher up to EUR 500).
Acquire skills in demand on the labor market, including digital and artificial intelligence competencies.
Apply for training programs offered by accredited educational institutions.

Currently, more than 200 educational programs are available on the STARS platform, both free of charge and with partial co-funding, allowing individuals to enhance their professional skills or learn a new profession.

The most popular completed programs are computer systems technician, programming technician, and cybersecurity technician, as well as professional development, continuing education, and modular programs related to these qualifications.

The initiative promotes a transition toward self-directed learning by providing a personalized approach and making the learning process flexible, transparent, and accessible to everyone, regardless of their declared place of residence or employment status. More than 70 educational institutions have registered on the platform and offer educational programs.

Skills assessment according to the DigComp framework

The piloting of the Individual Learning Account (ILA) approach is purposefully focused on improving medium and high-level digital skills, ensuring that the training content and skills assessment align with levels 4–6 of the European Digital Competence Framework (DigComp). This framework serves as the methodological basis to precisely identify and develop participants' abilities across five key areas of digital competence –ranging from information literacy and content creation to cybersecurity and complex problem-solving.

To ensure targeted selection of courses and to evaluate progress, digital skills assessment tools (such as the MyDigiSkills self-assessment test) are integrated into the platform, allowing users to record their competence level before and after training. The educational offerings, covering sectors such as entrepreneurship, finance, accounting, and information and communication technologies, enable learners to advance from basic skills to independent, non-standard, and specialized task execution. This approach ensures that the acquired skills are directly tailored to labor market demands and deliver measurable added value to each learner's professional development.

Why is it a good practice?

Sustainable systemic solution: It is not a short-term campaign, but a long-term national platform that significantly transforms the governance of adult education.
Scalability: The individual learning account model can easily be adapted to new sectors, skill priorities, and new funding sources in the future.
User convenience: A modern digital tool that makes applying for courses as easy as using any e-service.

In May 2026, data from a representative survey of Latvian residents conducted by the SKDS research center showed that 66% of respondents rate the STARS platform positively (1,761 respondents participated in the survey). Respondents most frequently justified their evaluation by citing the platform's opportunities to learn and acquire new skills (43%), as well as its wide range of course offerings (19%). Following their training, 88% of respondents reported positive changes in employment –most notably the ability to perform their job more efficiently, fulfill duties requiring higher qualifications, take on additional responsibilities, and earn a higher income. The survey results among STARS platform users confirm that it has become a positively regarded platform in adult education, with 95.5% of STARS platform users stating they would recommend it.

Learner Experience

High level of satisfaction: Participants report high satisfaction with their training and positive professional gains (based on impact survey data collected 6 months after completion).
Free choice approach: During the piloting phase, a free choice of learning approach within a curated digital skills catalog was successfully tested.
Motivation and engagement: The ILA approach – combining an individualized virtual account with financial support (dedicated learning funds) – has proven to be an effective tool for motivating and engaging adults in education.

User experience research confirms that the core functionality of the ILA approach and the STARS platform is viable and effective. Key future challenges for enhancing user experience involve simplifying administrative processes, reducing bureaucratic language, optimizing the platform's mobile version, and strengthening a more transparent quality monitoring/rating system.

Available resources

On the official website stars.gov.lv, anyone can complete skill assessment tests for free, choose the most suitable courses (including those on the international platform Coursera), and conveniently apply for state or EU fund co-funding for learning.

Skills assessment tests will help users better understand themselves, their abilities, and interests, as well as determine their level across various skills and knowledge areas to find the most appropriate educational program.

About the project "Development of the Individual Learning Account Approach"

One of the most significant results of the project is the creation of a unified adult education system, that combines the management of learning opportunities, quality monitoring and data collection in one place. This provides convenient access to adult learning opportunities for residents, education providers, municipalities, career counselors, and project implementers. At the same time, the platform complies with European Commission recommendations for establishing a sustainable ILA system.

Individual Learning Account Approach Report

The report concludes that the experience gained during the piloting of the ILA approach provides a sufficient basis for the long-term development of the ILA approach and the STARS platform in Latvia. For it to become a permanent component of the adult education system, a sustainable ILA funding model must be secured with joint involvement from the state, employers, and residents themselves. Additionally, inter-institutional cooperation needs strengthening by engaging state institutions, municipalities, employers, and current or potential ILA clients. The STARS platform will continue to be developed as a single access point for adult learning opportunities in Latvia, creating high-quality, labor market-driven learning content with a clear framework for evaluating outcomes and economic contributions at the national level.

The platform is developed by the State Education Development Agency in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science within the framework of the European Union Recovery Facility project "Development of the Individual Learning Account Approach" with the aim of developing a sustainable and socially responsible adult education system that provides individual learning solutions aligned with labor market needs.