There is no universal approach to validating or recognising non-formal and informal learning in England and there is no data to show the extent to it takes place.

The most commonly used term for the validation of non-formal and informal learning is the ‘recognition of prior learning’ (RPL), which is usually used in relation to formal, regulated qualifications.

For the recognition of prior learning in higher education, see the advice and guidance document on ‘Assessment’ (page 12), part of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA)’s UK Quality Code for Higher Education.

For the recognition of prior learning outside of higher education, see Ofqual’s Handbook: General Conditions of Recognition, which sets out the rules and regulations which awarding organisations and their qualifications must meet. These rules and regulations include Condition E10, which relates to RPL and states that, where an awarding organisation has a policy on RPL, it means:

(a) identification by an awarding organisation of any learning undertaken, and/ or attainment, by a learner –

(i) prior to that learner taking a qualification which the awarding organisation makes available or proposes to make available; and

(ii) which is relevant to the knowledge, skills and understanding which will be assessed as part of that qualification; and

(b) recognition by an awarding organisation of that learning and/or attainment through amendment to the requirements which a learner must have satisfied before the learner will be assessed or that qualification will be awarded.

For technical qualifications an awarding organisation must establish, maintain, and comply with a policy for the recognition of prior learning where appropriate.

For further information on the situation regarding the validation of formal and non-formal learning in England, see the Cedefop country report 2016 (UK- EN, NI).

Historical note: The term validation of non-formal and informal learning ('VNIL') is not generally used in the UK. The following account of the development of terminology in this area is extracted from a 2016 report (NIACE, 2013 – pp 17-18).

The concept of RPL has a history that pre-dates the QCF and has existed under several different titles. Developed in North America during the 1960s, the term first came into use in the UK in the early 1980s, usually termed either ‘the Assessment of Prior Learning’ or ‘the Accreditation of Prior Learning’ (APL). Initially, the term APL was used almost exclusively within UK Higher Education systems. By the mid-1980s it began to appear within Access to HE programmes (clearly influenced by Higher Education) and in the work of Open College Networks (OCNs), still referred to as APL or the Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL).

The advent of National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) in the late 1980s saw the term APL begin to be used within vocational qualifications for the first time, and from 1989-92 considerable resources were devoted to developing APL procedures within the NVQ framework. [...] The term RPL was adopted within the Regulatory Arrangements for the QCF in 2008 [...].

Note: in 2016, the National Institute of Adult Continuting Education (NIACE) merged with the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion to form the Learning and Work Institute.

Article last reviewed December 2020.