The competency-based approach is intended to produce meaning in learning. That’s its primary purpose. But it also seeks to produce more efficacy. How? By making the student able to deal with complex situations, corresponding to an output profile. The aim of this article is to show how today we can introduce the competence approach in higher education, in an operational way: what are the stakes, what are the different ways of doing it, what traps to avoid.

Competency-based approach; Output profile; Higher education; Production of meaning; Effectiveness; Competency assessment.