There are a number of mechanisms to aggregate and adjudicate on someone’s previous achievement in higher learning. These include:

• Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
• Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL)
• Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL)
• Accreditation of Prior Achievement (APA)

They’re all once and done events. An assembly of certificates, activity, and key incidents. We don’t ask for the same things in workplace learning but insist on ongoing completion of compliance based activity to ‘prove’ competence.

If we are happy to certify people on the basis of their previous activity, why don’t we do the same with compliance based activity?