This article reframes the debate on the validation of non-formal and informal learning by connecting it to the sociology of education and curriculum studies literatures. Building on these literatures, the article differentiates between four types of validation: (a) covert and implicit, (b) covert but embedded, (c) overt and functional and (d) overt and institutional. Based on this classification, I problematise the widespread view that there is little validation in formal education. Instead, I argue, much validation takes place in formal education, but it is mostly covert and goes unnoticed. Validation is a common practice when it contributes to the performance metrics of formal education institutions, when it enables institutions to take credit for learning that occurs outside of them, when the non-formal and informal learning that is validated aligns with their established curricula and when it does not require changes in pedagogy or assessment practices. Validation in formal education is not so much characterised by rejection or disregard as by selectivity and instrumentality. © 2021 The Authors. European Journal of Education published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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