Recognition of prior learning (RPL) recognises skills and knowledge a person has acquired through previous training, work or life experience. Providers use RPL to grant a student status or credit in a unit.
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You’ll need to assess each student’s case for RPL.
If a student has received RPL for a particular course and will therefore not be studying all parts of the course with you, you can set a lower tuition fee equal to the part of the course the student must complete.
Credit for qualifications or units of competency completed or previously formally recognised by you or another institution or training organisation does not constitute RPL.
23.1 - Fees for assessing RPL
If you charge a fee for assessing RPL, it must be within the definition of tuition fees.
If you are satisfied that the fee you charge for assessing RPL for a student is within the definition of tuition fees, the student can access a loan for a tuition fee that covers this charge, as for other tuition fees.
Some providers charge an ‘RPL assessment fee’ rather than providing additional tuition and requiring the student to enrol in the standard teaching unit. This is because only the RPL assessment is required - there is no need for additional tuition. This RPL assessment fee can constitute a tuition fee for which the student can access a loan. However, you must be satisfied that this RPL assessment fee is within the definition of tuition fees. The student must enrol in the RPL unit, and you must report the tuition fee for RPL.
23.2 - Charging and reporting RPL
Fees covered by VSL and other tuition fees for approved courses must be spread across at least 3 census days over 3 periods for the course. This includes RPL units. The only exemption is where compliance with state or territory subsidy funding arrangements applies.
You should note that the department is not required to pay a loan amount for a student for a course if we suspect on reasonable grounds that you are not complying with the Act. This includes where you fail to comply with the requirements of the Rules in relation to tuition fees such as sequential and reasonably apportioned fee charging.
If the tuition fee you charge for a unit is purely an RPL assessment fee, you must report it with a value against the RPL indicator. If the unit is fundamentally a teaching unit, the value against the RPL indicator will be zero.
For information on how to report RPL, see Appendix E.
Full details of the reporting requirements are in the TCSI Support coding notes and glossary Recognition of prior learning code - TCSI Support.
Legislation: Act s 20(f), Rules 118(1)(b), Rules s 122–124