Understanding APL & APEL
Introduction
The accreditation of prior learning (APL) is a process which enables people of all ages and backgrounds to receive recognition and formal credit for learning acquired in the past, through either the successful study of a qualification (or part of) or through learning gained via work and business experience. There is no national common policy on APL/APEL although many FE and HE institutions have developed very exacting and sometimes highly individual procedures to deal with this process.
What is APL?
The accreditation of prior learning (APL) is the account taken of traditional study or course-based learning that has been formally assessed by an educational institution and resulted in the award of a qualification or part-credit for an uncompleted course of study. Through the APL process it may be possible for you to gain initial entry or advanced standing to an undergraduate or postgraduate course of study at Falmouth.
Typical qualifications for entry onto undergraduate degrees include: A Levels, Foundation Diplomas, vocational A Levels (formerly Advanced GNVQs), National Diplomas, Higher National Diplomas or an Access qualification. The normal route for entry to a postgraduate qualification is through achieving a good first degree.
If you do not possess any of these qualifications, or you didn't complete a course of study but were awarded part-credits for the study you did achieve, you may still be able to gain access to an undergraduate degree or even postgraduate course through APL.
For example, you may have completed, or gained partial credits from, one or more of the following: City & Guilds, NVQs, professional qualifications, a partly completed BTEC or Edexcel qualification.
If for example the City & Guilds study was taken at a relevant level, and in a similar subject area to the course of study you are interested in taking at Falmouth, it may be possible to gain entry to the first year of an undergraduate degree. Another example could be that you have already successfully completed a HND and wish to gain entry to the second year of an undergraduate degree. The process of accreditation would involve matching the learning outcomes of your HND with those normally achieved through study and assessment on Level 1 of the course of study you are interested in taking at Falmouth.
What is APEL?
The accreditation of prior experiential learning (APEL) is the account taken of learning experiences gained through life, work or business, that by their nature cannot be evidenced through formally assessed certification or transcripts.
For example, you may have been working in a journalistic capacity for a regional newspaper and wish to gain entry to an undergraduate degree in Journalism, or you may have been running your own screen printing business as a designer for several years and wish to gain entry to an MA in an arts related subject. The APEL can enable us to assess the skills and knowledge base you have gained through your relevant work experiences.
Attachments
APL
& APEL application form (97.59 KB)- APL
& APEL guidance notes (174.38 KB)
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