Anne McDermott, Robert Stillwell, Neil Witt & Sophie Neville Designing an APEL Process for Your Institution Adapted from materials created by the Pineapple Project

Employers often provide opportunities for their workforce to develop This can take many forms e.g. formal training, learning acquired from peers, personal experience Recognising and giving academic credit for this type of learning is called Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) APEL credit can be used to gain entry to a course or count towards a qualification. Adapted from materials created by the Pineapple Project APEL For Employers

Advantages of APEL in general Allows access to a course where standard entry qualifications are lacking has the necessary expertise Courses can be completed more quickly No need to repeat what is already known Might save money (depends on APEL charges) Adapted from materials created by the Pineapple Project APEL For Employers

Advantages of APEL for an employer Can help retain and motivate a workforce Advantages of claiming APEL as a Group Making a group claim makes the process easier Only one set of evidence needs to be collected Working in groups can make it easier to reflect on what has been learnt. Adapted from materials created by the Pineapple Project APEL For Employers

Disadvantages of a group APEL claim Although all claimants will be basing their claim on the same experience with an employer, They will all have got different things from the experience They are likely to draw on other experiences too Therefore Perhaps there is no such thing as a group claim Each institution will need to make a decision on this Consider accrediting the experience rather than the learning. e.g. help the employer to offer an accredited short course Adapted from materials created by the Pineapple Project APEL For Employers

Stage 1Employer Meets with an APEL adviser To discuss The value of APEL in this context Areas of learning suitable for APEL An appropriate award Maximum number of modules for which APEL can be claimed The learning outcomes that must be met The process involved Adapted from materials created by the Pineapple Project APEL For Employers

Stage 2 Preparing the evidence The employer role Collate evidence for the experiences in an agreed format Support each claimant to make a reflective commentary Each might include personal reflections on work & practice | personal development plans | artifacts e.g. works of art, engineering workshop pieces | web links to sites, blogs, reports | letters or s that show what has been done | audio recordings | video recordings | podcasts | outline of subjects covered by non-accredited training courses | reports & statements from supervisors, managers, practice observers Adapted from materials created by the Pineapple Project APEL For Employers

Stage 3Employees prepare their applications The employee role demonstrate the learning that they have achieved by reflecting on what they have learned Showing the link between their learning and the learning outcomes identified previously Presenting the claim in an agreed format Adapted from materials created by the Pineapple Project APEL For Employers

Stage 4Employer puts the APEL claim together The employer’s evidence and the employees’ reflective pieces should be submitted. The claim adviser will Review the submission May suggest that it would benefit from further work Ideally, pass the application to a second marker Agree a mark Adapted from materials created by the Pineapple Project APEL For Employers

Stage 5 APEL claim is assessed validity - appropriate in terms of level & relevance to the claim sufficiency - enough to satisfy the learning outcomes currency - represent present knowledge and abilities authenticity - show their own learning achievements. First and foremost it is just another form of assessment. Ideally it should be marked by two tutors and treated as a pass, fail or referral in accordance with the institutions existing regulations. Adapted from materials created by the Pineapple Project APEL For Employers

Stage 6Notification of Outcomes Claimants should be informed of the outcome Like any marks, they are provisional until confirmed by appropriate panel and/or board(s) at the end of the academic year. The usual rights of appeal should apply usually based on grounds of incorrect procedure only, not disagreement with the academic judgement Adapted from materials created by the Pineapple Project APEL For Employers

For further information see: Accessed 15 June 2011 References Adapted from materials created by the Pineapple Project

This resource was created by the University of Plymouth, Learning from WOeRK project. This project is funded by HEFCE as part of the HEA/JISC OER release programme.Learning from WOeRK This resource is licensed under the terms of the Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales license ( The name of the University of Plymouth and its logos are unregistered trade marks of the University. The University reserves all rights to these items beyond their inclusion in these CC resources. The Higher Education Academy and JISC logos are licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution -non-commercial- No Derivative Works 2.0 UK England & Wales license. All reproductions must comply with the terms of that license. AuthorAnne McDermott, Robert Stillwell, Neil Witt & Sophie Neville Title Designing an APEL Process for your Institution: Group APEL Claim Process for Employers and Employee Description To create an APEL process based on an institution’s regulations. Use in conjunction with Designing an APEL Process for your Institution: KEY QUESTIONS and Designing an APEL Process for your Institution: APEL Work Flow Recipe Date Created Educational Level4/5 Keywords UKOER, LFWOER, APEL, PINEAPPLE, EMPLOYERS, OER, JISC Back page originally developed by the OER phase 1 C-Change project ©University of Plymouth, 2011, some rights reserved