Introduction. Hermeneutic competences are connected with responsibility and the ability to understand, read, and shape oneself and the world as meaningful, and constituted by senses whole. In Polish pedagogical literature, they are not characterised by name, they are not spoken or written about explicitly, although they function and are assigned to various groups of skills and abilities. Aim. The main aim of this article is to define the essence of hermeneutic competences and their relationship with other competences during education for social professions. Material and methods. The paper draws on the interdisciplinary literature on hermeneutic competencies and reviews it using the hermeneutic method of text analysis. The study consists of several complementary parts, explaining the genesis and essence of hermeneutic competences, their structure and levels, as well as their conditions and relationship with other competences Results. The conducted analysis shows the sense and necessity of purposeful formation of hermeneutic competences of students of pedagogy (as well as to other social professions) in the course of the carefully considered process of studying-teaching in the higher school and within the framework of learning-self-education. Conclusion. The issue of the presence of hermeneutic competences in academic education requires further research and implementation measures into practice in higher education institutions.