Cheating? The Girl’s Guide to Fast Tracking Qualifications
Did you know that if you’ve been working in a specific field, then go on to formal education so you can further your career, you may be able to skip the parts of the course you already know, enabling you to gain the qualification more quickly, cheaply, and easily? That’s right! Why waste good time and money learning modules about things you can do with your eyes closed, when you can skip ahead to the things you’re really there to learn about? But how is this possible and is it cheating?
RPL is not cheating
The good news is that fast-tracking your qualification when you already have the skills and knowledge required is totally legit, and is possible thanks to Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). Basically, the RPL process acknowledges the skills and knowledge you’ve gained through various experiences such as work, or unpaid experiences such as voluntary work, and translates them into formal qualifications. Whilst there is a cost involved in the process, it is generally significantly lower than the cost of the fees to complete those components of the course, making it a worthwhile investment of both your time and money.
The key to success in RPL Assessment
To be successful in the RPL assessment process it is crucial that you can prove your skills and knowledge. Your chosen training provider and your RPL assessor can guide you throughout the process, and ensure you understand what you need to provide and what types of documentation can be submitted as evidence. Broadly speaking, evidence is classified in one of three ways, direct evidence (such as an assessor observing you carrying out tasks in a real or simulated workplace environment), indirect evidence (such as certificates, licenses, work samples, and performance appraisals) and supplementary evidence (such as work diaries, job description, references and testimonials.) You’ll likely need to provide a combination of all three, in a clearly labelled and well organised portfolio for your RPL assessor to assess.
The key is to build as full a picture as you can of your competencies, but don’t make the mistake of padding it out with documents that don’t directly relate to the skills and knowledge being assessed. It is a waste of your time, and your assessor’s, and could result in your application being rejected.
If you’re looking to upgrade your career, and work smarter not harder, we’d highly recommend that you consider going down the RPL route!