The working unit Competencies is made up of projects jointly aiming to assess and analyze competencies that are considered to be important for education and for trajectories of educational acquisition in different life stages.

NEPS Compentencies is the largest of these projects. Its main purpose is to develop test instruments to enable the collection of several educationally relevant competence domains across the entire life course—from Kindergarten to old age. Surveys of competencies are designed, among other things, to shed light on how competencies are acquired over the life course and how they contribute to obtaining educational qualifications and leading a successful individual and social life.

In light of the digital transformation of our society, the "Data Literacy" project is recording digital and data-related skills in the German population. The focus here is on the ability to deal appropriately with digital data and information, to interpret them, to derive recommendations or principles for action from them, but also to be able to assess the risks of data collection and use. The project includes both representative monitoring of the German population and individual longitudinal observation starting in the 6th grade.