What is Recognition of Prior Learning?

Recognition of Prior Learning or RPL is the process whereby past learning, work or life experience may be recognised as satisfying some or all competencies of a course or qualification. 

What are the benefits of Recognition of Prior Learning?

• You will have your skills recognised.
• It saves you time in achieving a qualification as you do not have to repeat learning for skills and knowledge you already have.
• It reduces time spent to gain a qualification by not undertaking unnecessary training.
• It enables you to identify gaps in your knowledge and skills and therefore any learning that needs to occur to meet the requirements of a particular job role or qualification.

How does Recognition of Prior Learning Work?

Recognition of Prior Learning is an assessment process in which you provide evidence of your previous successful study, achievement, skills and experiences as they align to the requirements of the unit or qualification for which you are seeking recognition.  You will be guided by a qualified assessor who will outline the specific evidence requirements that must be met in order to be granted recognition of prior learning. 

If you believe you will be able to provide sufficient evidence to support your application, you will submit it to the assessor along with your application.  The type of evidence you might supply could include certificates, course transcripts, references and a variety of workplace evidence such as meeting minutes, job descriptions, publication etc that confirm your skills.

Your assessor will review the evidence to determine if it meets the qualification or unit requirements and will also interview you to discuss your evidence and work and life experiences.  At the end of this process the outcome of your recognition application will be advised.

What is Mutual Recognition?

The College recognises the Qualifications and Statements of Attainment issued by other Registered Training Organisations in accordance with the requirements of the Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) Essential Standards.  If you have a course transcript which can verify that you have already achieved a specific unit of competency (as identified by the National Unit Code) you may be eligible to have this recognised.  Alternatively, you can provide South Coast Community College with your Unique Student Identifier (USI) and permission to access your training history on the national database.  This is provided you received this qualification since 2015.  For more information on a VET transcript from the USI database click here.

How will evidence be assessed?

Your assessor will evaluate your evidence and ensure that it meets the “Rules of Evidence”.  This means that the evidence you submit will need to be:

Valid:	This means that the assessor must make sure that the evidence provided demonstrates adequately the skills, knowledge and attributes as described in a unit of competency.  I.e. it must relate to the unit requirements.
Sufficient:	This means that the quantity, quality and relevance of the evidence is sufficient to enable a judgement to be made.  In many instances the number of examples or demonstrations required will be specified.
Authentic:	This means that the assessor must be satisfied that the evidence presented is the student’s own work.  To ensure authenticity you will be asked to provide the names of other reliable people who can verify the evidence.  In addition, you will be questioned to confirm your understanding, which will also help to confirm authenticity of your evidence.
Current:	This means that the assessor must be assured that the evidence demonstrates your current competency.  This requires the evidence to be from the present or very recent past.

I want to apply for recognition of prior learning

Any student seeking recognition of prior learning or mutual recognition should contact the Training Manager on 02 4472 9202 to organise an initial interview to commence the process.  Ideally this will be before the course commences.