Skill Details API Guide
Skill Details API provides structured information for any skill from Pearson’s ontology.
It helps you understand the attributes of a specific skill, including how it's classified, how it's connected to other skills, and where it appears in the ontology hierarchy. This makes it easier to analyse role profiles, standardise skill taxonomies, and compare skills across datasets.
Who is this API for?
This API is ideal for teams working to build skill-based job profiles, align internal skills data with external standards, or analyse the context of a specific skill. In particular:
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People Strategist – linking role requirements to broader workforce frameworks
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Learning Manager – identifying how a skill fits into learning pathways or capability frameworks
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Talent Recruiter – enriching job descriptions with structured metadata for skills
Goals this API helps you achieve
The Skill Details API supports the following use cases:
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Map unstructured or internal skills to Pearson’s structured skill taxonomy
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Enrich skill lists with detailed attributes, e.g., definition, category, relationships
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Connect tasks or occupations to skill metadata for deeper analysis
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Visualise where a skill sits in a broader capability model
What’s included in the response?
When queried with a Skill ID, this API returns:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
skillId |
Unique identifier for the skill in Pearson’s ontology |
skillName |
Full name of the skill |
skillDescription |
Description of what the skill involves |
skillGroup |
The high-level group or domain this skill belongs to |
skillType |
Classification (e.g. Knowledge, Tool, Trait, Process, etc.) |
relatedSkills |
A list of other skills that are closely related or frequently co-occur |
relatedTasks |
If available, includes task references that use this skill |
Use these fields to programmatically interpret a skill’s meaning, compare it to other skills, and analyse its role in your workforce structure.
Input and Output
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Input: Skill ID (from another Pearson API or your mapped dataset)
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Optional: Language parameter (defaults to English)
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Output: Skill attributes including name, description, group, type, and related concepts
Real-world applications
Teams typically use this API as a metadata enrichment layer. For example:
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Learning teams enhance internal training catalogues by adding definitions and categories for each skill
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HR teams standardise manually entered skills from CVs or job ads by mapping to Pearson’s ontology
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Talent or workforce strategy teams explore how specific skills connect to tasks and job roles
API Bundle
The Skill Details API is included in the following bundle:
Skill Analysis & Development
Ideal for learning, skills taxonomy alignment, and job architecture