Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
The 2006 Queensland Skills Plan (QSP) identifies Queensland’s need to build on the capacity and skills of its workforce in order to keep up with a growing economy impacted by skills shortages from an ageing workforce.
A key action plan from the QSP was to implement strategies that support the uptake of qualifications by Queensland workers and to boost numbers of tradespeople in skills shortage areas. Strategies focus on increasing workforce participation and attraction of new entrants into training, along with recognising and developing the skills of existing workers.
Research has shown that when a workforce’s skill levels increase, productivity also increases through the expanded skill base. Increasing workers skill levels allows for a greater variety of job functions to be performed and more complex workplace skill requirements to be met. Worker satisfaction also increases, particularly when existing skills and knowledge gained from informal on-job learning have been recognised and then rewarded by realigned pay levels.
The skills recognition process also identifies any skills and knowledge gaps that a worker may have, allowing for subsequent training to focus on reducing those gaps only, thereby reducing training time and costs to business and industry. Employers who choose to invest in the skills of their workers are better positioned to build a sustainable workforce for future growth in an expanding economy, while workers whose skills have been recognised and have obtained new qualifications, now also become more job competitive in a contracting economy.
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) provides the endorsed framework for the skills recognition process. RPL involves the assessment of previously unrecognised skills and knowledge an individual has achieved outside the formal education and training environment. RPL assesses this unrecognised learning against the specified performance standards of a competency or qualification. Only those training organisations that are registered by meeting the Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) requirements can issue nationally recognised qualifications. Competencies from national training packages are formally recognised by issuance of a Statement of Attainment.
How do RPL assessments weigh up against traditional assessments?
Assessment through RPL is benchmarked against the same assessment requirements in traditional training and assessment programs. It is only the assessment process that is different. All registered training organisations must meet AQTF requirements for all assessments carried out, including RPL. Those requirements needed to satisfy the principles of assessment and the rules of evidence, as defined in AQTF Essential Requirements for Registration User’s Guide, are given below:
- To satisfy principles of assessment, assessment should be fair, flexible, valid, reliable and sufficient.
- The rules of evidence provide guidance on the collection of evidence to ensure that it is valid, sufficient, authentic and current.
- Authenticity: To accept evidence as authentic, an assessor must be assured that the evidence presented for assessment is the candidate’s own work.
- Currency - Candidates must demonstrate that they are still competent.
- Sufficiency - The quality and quantity of evidence assessed to ensure that all aspects of competency have been satisfied and that competency can be demonstrated repeatedly.
- Validity - Assessment is valid when the process is sound and assesses what it claims to assess.
- Reliability - Reliability refers to the degree to which evidence presented for assessment is consistently interpreted and results in consistent assessment outcomes.
For more information contact Energy Skills Queensland on 3277 1333 or email ESQ via the Contact Us page.
