Among the latest developments making a significant impact on the educational scene worldwide are generic competencies. In Australia, the Karmel committee (1985) produced a set of general competencies and also used the term "key competence." The Finn committee next developed the idea of employment-related key competencies in its report "Young People's Participation in Post-Compulsory Education and Training" (1991). Its next task was to support a consistent standards framework for the competencies describing different levels of achievement against which progress could be assessed and reported. In 1991, the Mayer committee was established to develop the concept of employment-related key competencies. Through consultations, industry representatives suggested additional skills and competencies, the most striking of which was the attribute of "having the right attitude." The Mayer committee then established three performance levels that related specifically to the key competencies. The three performance levels derived were: Level 1 describes the competence needed to undertake activities efficiently and with sufficient self-management to meet the explicit requirements of the activity; level 2 describes the competence needed to manage activities requiring the selection, application and integration of a number of elements; and level 3 describes the competence needed to evaluate and reshape process, to establish and use principles in order to determine appropriate ways of approaching activities, and to establish criteria for judging quality of process and outcomes. In New Zealand, the Committee of Inquiry into Curriculum, Assessment, and Qualifications in Forms 5 to 7 proposed eight areas of knowledge and skills. In 1991, the Ministry of Education proposed eight essential skills. The New Zealand Qualifications Authority suggested incorporating the essential skills into the National Qualifications Framework, which has eight levels of progression. In comparing Australian key competencies to other overseas lists of generic skills including those of New Zealand, the Mayer committee found that each Australian key competency was duplicated in the New Zealand essential skills and vice versa. Overseas developments of core skills for England and Wales, Scotland, United States, Canada, and Germany are discussed. (Contains 31 references.) (YLB)