How skill levels are recorded
A skill level says how capable someone is at one skill. Learnient compares it with the level their job title requires, which is how skill gaps are found. The level can come from an administrator, from a review, or from finishing a course, and each of those behaves differently.
Level types
Section titled “Level types”Each skill has a Level type, chosen when you create it.
| Level type | How people are measured |
|---|---|
| 1–5 Scale | A level from 1 to 5 |
| Named | One of several named levels. You choose how many, from two to six, and give each a label and a description |
| Achieved (yes/no) | They either hold the skill or they do not |
Changing the level type later, or reducing the number of named levels, changes the levels people already hold. Before you confirm, you are told how many users, job title requirements and course tags will be updated.
Where a person’s level comes from
Section titled “Where a person’s level comes from”| Where it comes from | What happens |
|---|---|
| An administrator | You choose the level on the Skills tab of the user. It replaces the level they had, and leaving it blank changes nothing |
| A review | A workflow with an Apply skill ratings step writes the rating when the workflow reaches that step, not when the form is submitted. It replaces the level they had, even when the rating is lower |
| Finishing a course | A course tagged with the skill, with Auto-advance on and a Develops to level, raises the level when someone completes or passes it. It never lowers anyone’s level |
An administrator or a review replaces the level someone holds, so the later of those two wins. A course that raises someone to level 3 can be followed by a review that rates them 2, and they then hold level 2. A course only ever raises a level, and it leaves alone a level an administrator set that already meets what the course develops to.
A skill someone has been given without a level shows as Unassessed.
Where a course’s “develops to” level comes from
Section titled “Where a course’s “develops to” level comes from”A course tagged with a skill can say what level it develops that skill to, and learners see it beside the skill name on the course — “Negotiation · Advanced” rather than just “Negotiation”.
You set it yourself on the Skills tab of Course settings. On a course written or converted by AI it is filled in for you, from two things: what the content actually covers, and the Level chosen when the course was generated. The course level is a ceiling rather than a suggestion, so a Beginner course develops a skill to the bottom of its scale whatever its content claims, and only an Expert course can develop one to the top.
An Achieved (yes/no) skill has no level to develop to, so it carries none and is simply listed.
On its own this level is a statement about the course rather than about any person: nobody’s recorded level moves until Auto-advance is switched on for that skill, which AI never does for you.
Required levels and gaps
Section titled “Required levels and gaps”A job title can require a skill at a level. Someone meets the requirement when their level is the same as the required level or higher. For an Achieved (yes/no) skill, they meet it by holding the skill.
A skill with no level does not meet a requirement that names one, and neither does a skill that has lapsed. A requirement that names no level is met by holding the skill at all.
Marking a requirement Essential does not change whether the requirement is met.
For the full rules on expiry dates, lapsing and renewal, see How skill expiry works.