Seeking RPL?
- Specialised VET Services
- Aug 6
- 5 min read
What is RPL?
Recognition of Prior Learning - or RPL - is a way to have your existing knowledge, skill and experience recognised with a formal qualification.
The beauty of RPL is that acknowledges your achievements no matter how they were attained - meaning your past informal learning, volunteer activities and/or life work experience can all count toward a formal qualification. Importantly, RPL is a process whereby a fully credentialled assessor evaluates what it is you know, have done, and what you can do. The assessor evaluates your competencies against the requirements contained in a formally recognised qualification.
Within Australia's Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector, only a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) can issue qualifications. And of those, only the qualifications they are registered to deliver (called the "scope of registration"). Some RTOs may use a brokering service, but the best way is to go directly to the RTO.
Where do you get RPL from?
In the VET sector, all RTOs must offer RPL for the courses they are registered to train and assess. To find out which RTO may be able to service you, use the National VET Register found at training.gov.au (also known as "TGA").
TGA is a searchable database. To find courses, type your query in the search bar and filter the results for what you are looking for
The site will show you an option to 'Find RTOs'
And once in that tab, you get the option to filter further according to location and other relevant options.
From there, you can find a provider that can help you. And here are some tips for how to find one that will truly help you with RPL.
“Candidate-Centred” RPL? Well, only if it's assessor-led
If you’ve been looking into RPL, you might have come across the term “candidate-centred.”
That sounds great, right? It sounds like it's a product and a process that will place you at the centre of it all. Something that will be tailored to your unique experience. And it should!
But here's the catch: "Candidate-centred" RPL means nothing unless it is also assessor-led.
What do we mean? Let’s break that down so you know exactly what kind of service you should expect from a quality RTO:
✅ What “Candidate-centred” should mean
A truly candidate-centred RPL process means that you are supported every step of the way. You are not left to figure it all out on your own. Instead, a qualified assessor works with you, guiding and supporting your journey.
This kind of process is known as assessor-led RPL.
Your assessor should:
Help you understand the requirements of each unit. If you've seen a unit of competency, you know how invaluable this support is. VET is riddled with jargon and acronyms that sometimes even those who work in VET find it hard to keep up!
Work with you to identify your skills, experience, and gaps. Yes, you know what you've done, but the assessor will know how all of that will fit with a unit or a qualification
Offer alternative assessment options if you can’t provide certain documents. A good assessor knows that evidence of competency can reside in other items besides just documents - and they'll help to find and/or generate those with you
Have meaningful conversations with you about your work experience
Observe or assess your skills in real or simulated workplace settings
If you’ve got experience but not a filing cabinet full of paperwork, a good assessor will find another way to assess your competence. That’s what support looks like.
❌ What is often passed off as “candidate-centred”...
Some RTOs say they are candidate-centred, but what they actually offer is a document collection service.
This is where they base your eligibility for RPL on documents - things like copies of past qualifications and credentials and/or workplace items you might have created or been involved with. It seems like a logical place to start, but in actual fact, it's only servicing the people who can access those things.
Think about this for a second...
What happens if you've moved and lost your past certificates? Does that mean you don't have the experience that can be recognised? What happens if your workplace won't let you use work product as evidence? Does this mean you can't be recognised for the work you're already doing? Or, what about if you've never had a qualification before but have been doing the job for the last twenty years? Does that exclude you from RPL? With RTOs offering a 'document collecting service', maybe! And, far from being in the centre, you're on the outside.
As a candidate, your job is to find an RTO that offers truly candidate-centred RPL.
Here’s how to spot the red flags:
🚩 You’re given a long list of documents to collect, with little or no guidance
🚩 You’re feeling like you're doing most of the work - gathering all those documents
🚩 You’re asked to complete a self-assessment form without a real conversation with an assessor
🚩 You only speak to an assessor after you’ve submitted all your evidence
In these cases, the RTO has shifted the responsibility entirely onto you. That’s not support, that’s abandonment!
Or worse:
🚩 The assessor or RTO representative tried to convince you that "it'll be easier for you if you just do the course"
🚩 You’re told by an RTO with the course on their scope of registration, "we don't offer that via RPL"
In these cases, just keep moving. If you have the prior learning and experience, you have the right to be supported to know how much of what you've got can be assessed via RPL.
💬 Ask yourself:
If I’m doing all the work, what exactly is the assessor doing?...
If there’s no one helping me match my experience to the units of competency, how do I know I'm providing what's needed?…
If I can’t get help finding other ways to show what I know, does that mean I don't know it?…No!
If this is happening, then how is this candidate-centred??
🎯 Here’s the truth - it's not.
RPL can only be candidate-centred when it is assessor-led.
The assessor is the trained professional. It is their job to help you navigate the RPL process; not to leave you to sink or swim, to navigate your own way through the VET maze.
If your RPL experience feels like you're being left to figure it all out yourself, ask why the assessor isn’t involved. You deserve better.
✅ What to look for in a real candidate-centred RPL process:
A real conversation with a qualified assessor
A process that fits your experience, not a one-size-fits-all checklist
Flexibility in how you can show your skills and knowledge
Ongoing support, not just before and after you submit documents
RPL should recognise your skills, not test your ability to build the perfect evidence portfolio.
Further, you shouldn’t have to prove yourself alone. That’s not what quality RPL looks like.
Instead, look for RPL that is assessor-led!
Why? Because if it’s not assessor-led, it’s not candidate-centred. It’s just old habits in new packaging.
This article is in conjunction with guest writer, Wendy Cato.
Wendy champions candidate-centred assessor-led RPL so people with life experience and skills can be recognised for their competencies and achieve formal qualifications.
-This article is AITA Scale Rating 3
-The last three images in this article are AI-generated
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