| ACARA | Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority |
| ACS | Slovenian Institute for Adult Education |
| ALMP | Active labour market policy |
| ALSFS | Adult Learning Strategic Forum Scotland |
| BEIS | UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy |
| CAF | Careers Advisory Forum |
| CAFRE | Northern Ireland College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise |
| CBI | Confederation of British Industry |
| CCEA | Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment |
| CIAG | Career information, advice and guidance |
| CIPD | Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development |
| CMI | Chartered Management Institute |
| CMO | Cluster Management Organisations |
| CoG | Centre of government |
| DAERA | Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs |
| DE | Northern Ireland Department of Education |
| DEIS | Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (Republic of Ireland Programme) |
| DEL | Northern Ireland Department for Employment and Learning |
| DESI | Digital Economy and Society Index |
| DETI | Northern Ireland Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment |
| DfC | Northern Ireland Department for Communities |
| DfE | Northern Ireland Department for the Economy |
| DoF | Northern Ireland Department of Finance |
| DoH | Northern Ireland Department of Health |
| EC | European Commission |
| EEA | European Economic Area |
| EEI | Employee Engagement Index |
| EHIS | Estonian Education Information System |
| ERC | Educational Research Centre |
| ESCS | Economic, social and cultural status |
| ESF | European Social Fund |
| ESIF | European Structural and Investment Funds |
| ESS | United Kingdom Employer Skills Survey |
| ESS | Enterprise Shared Services initiative |
| ETB | Education and Training Board (Republic of Ireland Body) |
| ETI | Northern Ireland Education and Training Inspectorate |
| EU | European Union |
| EUWIN | European Workplace Innovation Network |
| EWS | Early warning systems |
| EWIS | Early Warning Indicator System |
| FDI | Foreign direct investment |
| FE | Further education |
| FEC | Further education college |
| FSB | Federation of Small Businesses |
| FSM | Free school meals |
| GCSE | General Certificate of Secondary Education |
| GDP | Gross domestic product |
| GVC | Global Value Chain |
| HE | Higher education |
| HEI | Higher education institution |
| HESA | United Kingdom Higher Education Statistics Agency |
| HIPS | Holistic Industry Productivity Scorecard (Singaporean assessment too) |
| HPWP | High-performance workplace practices |
| HR | Human resources |
| HRM | Human resource management |
| ICT | Information and communications technology |
| ICTU | Irish Congress of Trade Unions |
| IES | Institute for Employment Studies |
| IIP | Investors in People |
| ILA | Individual Learning Account |
| ILM | Institute of Leadership and Management |
| ILO | International Labour Organization |
| IoD | Institute of Directors |
| IPPR | Institute for Public Policy Research |
| IRCs | Industry Reference Committee (Australian agency) |
| ISCED | International Standard Classification of Education |
| KPI | Key Performance Indicator |
| LEO | Local Enterprise Office (Republic of Ireland agency) |
| LFS | Labour Force Survey |
| LLL | Lifelong learning |
| LMSA | Leadership and Management Skills Assessment |
| MaSN | Maximum student number |
| MTEF | Medium-Term Expenditure Framework |
| NDPB | Non-Departmental Public Body |
| NEET | Not in Education, Employment, or Training |
| NGO | Non-governmental organisation |
| NHS | National Health Service |
| NI | Northern Ireland (United Kingdom) |
| NICICTU | Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions |
| NICS | Northern Ireland Civil Service |
| NIO | Northern Ireland Office |
| NISRA | Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency |
| NQF | National Qualifications Framework |
| NSC | National Skills Council (Republic of Ireland Body) |
| OECD | Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |
| ONS | United Kingdom Office for National Statistics |
| OSKA | Estonian Information System - Oskuste Arendamise koordinatsioonisüsteem |
| PARP | Polish Agency for Enterprise Development |
| PD | Professional development |
| PES | Public Employment Service |
| PGCE | Postgraduate Certificate in Education |
| PIAAC | Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (OECD Survey of Adult Skills) |
| PIRLS | Progress in International Reading Literacy Study |
| PISA | Programme for International Student Assessment |
| PSEP | Pre-School Education Programme |
| QA | Quality Assurance |
| R&D | Research and Development |
| SAA | Skills assessment and anticipation |
| SAF | Strategic Advisory Forum |
| SDS | Skills Development Scotland (Scotland public body) |
| SER | Dutch Social and Economic Council - Sociaal-Economische Raad |
| SGIs | Sustainable Governance Indicators |
| SKL | Swedish Municipalities and the County Councils |
| SMEs | Small and medium-sized enterprises |
| SOC | Standard Occupational Classification |
| SOL | Shortage Occupation List |
| SOLAS | Republic of Ireland Agency - An tSeirbhís Oideachais Leanúnaigh agus Scileanna |
| SSC | Sector Skills Council |
| SSVs | Skill shortage vacancies |
| STEM | Science, technology, engineering and mathematics |
| TAFE NSW | Technical and Further Education in New South Wales |
| TALIS | Teaching and Learning International Survey |
| TIMSS | Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study |
| UCAS | United Kingdom Universities and Colleges Admissions Service |
| UK | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
| UKCES | UK Commission for Employment and Skills |
| UNESCO | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation |
| UUEPC | Ulster University Economic Policy Centre |
| VET | Vocational education and training |
| VVU | Danish Advanced Adult Education |
