Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and Credit Exemptions
This page will provide you with instructions on how to enrol students in Scheduled Units as exempt or credits to recognise prior learning
Overview
Providers wishing to acknowledge a student’s skills and knowledge obtained through training, work, life experience, or formal study, may do so via a process known as the granting of Credit and/or the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
What is Credit
When the provider gives a student a waiver for one or more of the normal requirements for completion of a course of study, such as not having to complete a particular unit of study. In this way, academic credit is awarded on the basis of evidence that the student has already undertaken learning that is deemed to be equivalent to the parts of the course of study for which credit has been granted.
Credit is interpreted broadly to include:
specified and unspecified credit
exemptions
advanced standing
credit transfers
opportunities for substitute learning
other similar outcomes.
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
Defined in the Australian Qualifications Framework as a process through which eligibility for the award of credit is assessed, through the assessment of formal, informal, and non-formal learning.
Paradigm Concepts
There are two ways of recording Credit and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) in the form of unit enrolments within Paradigm:
Specified credit
Unspecified or Block credit
The key difference is that Specified Credit is when credit is awarded toward a specific unit included in the academic course plan. In contrast, unspecified credit reflects credit that broadly aligns with the learning outcomes of the course and means the student is required to take fewer units in total to successfully complete the course.
There are implications for higher education providers with regard to TCSI and the reporting of Credit and RPL to the government.
1. Specified Credit
Providers may choose to award RPL or Credit for units that are not currently offered in the current semester or term. There are advantages in separating these Unit Enrolments from the remainder of the student cohort for easier internal reporting, or for those providers that use the Scheduled Unit maximum enrolled participant field to enforce a limit on the number of enrollments in a specific unit delivery.
Specified credit for a unit not currently offered
Paradigm supports creating a single Scheduled Unit for the purposes of grouping students who receive RPL or Credit for a specific unit code. This means a single Scheduled Unit is used across multiple enrolment periods. This requires a single scheduled unit coded as follows:
Start Date and End Date = set to a wide date range capturing the accreditation dates of the base unit
HEIMS Census Date = leave unset
Flexible Learning = YES, see Change a Scheduled Unit to Flexible Learning
Fee Exempt Unit = YES - will set the unit fee to 0.00 for new unit enrolments
Specified Credit TCSI Reporting Considerations
Non-Vet Student Loan TCSI Providers are advised to carefully code their RPL and Credit scheduled units in a way that ensures the linked student unit enrolments are not reported to the government
Home Institution = Provider not linked to the TCSI reporting Provider, see How to make a Provider record a non-TCSI reporting one
2. Unspecified or Block credit
The most effective way of tracking block credit is as a single unit enrolment with a sum of credit set on the student unit enrolment record. This requires a single scheduled unit coded as follows:
Start Date and End Date = set to a wide date range capturing the accreditation dates of the base unit
HEIMS Census Date = leave unset
Flexible Learning = YES
Fee Exempt Unit = YES - will set the unit fee to 0.00 for new unit enrolments
By enabling flexible learning, the student unit enrolment will inherit the start date and expected end date of the course enrolment, rather than the dates defined against the scheduled unit. This is a convenient solution that avoids the need for creating multiple scheduled units for every academic term.
Unspecified or Block Credit TCSI Reporting Considerations
Non-Vet Student Loan TCSI Providers are advised to carefully code their RPL and Credit scheduled units in a way that ensures the linked student unit enrolments are not reported to the government
Home institution = provider not linked to the TCSI reporting provider, see How to make a Provider record a non-TCSI reporting one
NOTE:
Refer to the Create an Unspecified Credit Unit for the details of the instructions on how you can create an Unspecified Credit Unit in Paradigm.
3. Grouping Credit into Blocks
The exemption to this would be for providers who wish to distinguish between blocks of credit, for example by discipline or academic area. In this scenario, providers will need to create multiple base units to reflect the grouping of credit blocks.
There are three fields on the base unit that are relevant:
Unit Category
Unit Focus
Unit Discipline
Government Reporting Implications
Before deciding on the appropriate Paradigm workflow it is important to understand the government reporting obligations surrounding the reporting of Credit and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
AVETMISS reporting for VET Providers
Credit transfer is reported as a unit enrolment in the file NAT00120 with an outcome code of 60
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is reported as a unit enrolment in the file NAT00120 with an outcome code of either 51, or 52
TCSI reporting for VET Providers
The Department of Education, Skills, and Employment (DESE) maintains a guide for VET providers outlining their obligations for reporting Credit and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) via TCSI. Read more here.
TCSI for Higher Education Providers
Both Credit and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) are tracked as unit enrolments in Paradigm but are reported via TCSI in the form of TCSI Course Prior Credit packets
Workflows
Choose from the workflows below on how you process your RPL depending on the current student enrolment records:
NOTE:
The below-recommended values are specific to your business or institution's requirements, naming convention, and processes.
(1) Processing RPL or Credit as a NEW Unit Enrolment
This workflow applies when the student you want to credit has not yet enrolled in the units you want to credit but is already enrolled in the course where the units to be credited belong.
Load the student's Course Enrolment record to add the credit unit, see Load a Course Enrolment record
After loading the record, choose the Student > Course Enrolment > Units menus on the side.
Once the Units page has been loaded, scroll down to the bottom of the page and look for the ADD UNITS VIA SCHEDULED UNIT SEARCH section. Enter search criteria that match the credit units and click the SEARCH SCHEDULED UNIT button.
Click on either the Add Unit icon (plus icon - if only one unit is required) or the checkboxes next to the required credit units. Select the checkbox header if you want to select ALL Scheduled Units in the result.
After checking the credit units that you intend the student to be enrolled in, click the ENROL SELECTED SCHEDULED UNITS AS EXEMPT.
After enrolling the student to the unit(s) as exempt, you can now see in the UNITS ENROLLED BY STUDENT section above the credit units with the Exempt status. Select the credit unit enrolments that you just processed as RPL and proceed to the menu options below.
In the Select Action to perform on Units menu, (1) select the Update Advanced Standing set fee fields to 0 and update grades option from the drop-down list and set the following fields as highlighted below.
Enrolment Status - Set this as Exempt. If the Exempt Enrolment Status is not one of your options, check your institution-specific enrolment status to be used for RPL/Credit. Note that this status should not be mapped to TCSI, see Map Status and Code Items to TCSI Values
Grade - Check your institution's grading process for RPL/Credit units
Credit Basis [E561] and Credit Provider [E566] - select the correct value accordingly
After filling out the required fields, click the SUBMIT button. This will auto-create a prior credit packet in the TCSI Edit screen.
Check if the TCSI Course Prior Credit packet has been created. Validate the record accordingly. Refer to the workflow below.
(2) Processing RPL or Credit with an existing Unit Enrolment
This workflow is applicable if the Student that you want to process an RPL is already enrolled on the Course and the Units that you want to be credited.
There are two ways you can RPL the already enrolled units, one is to manually change the fields mentioned below, and the other one is via the Units screen:
Manually Edit fields of each Unit Enrolment record
Follow the instructions on how to edit a Unit Enrolment record here.
In the UNIT DETAILS Form section update the following fields:
Enrolment Status - set this to Exempt. This default enrolment status is designed to automatically delete the record from TCSI and generate a course prior credit packet.
Grade Description - set this to Credit, check your institution's grading process for RPL/Credit units
Published Grade - set this to Credit (institution-specific)
After updating the unit details above, scroll down and go to the FINANCIAL INFORMATION Form section. Set the fee fields to zero [0.00]. (Note that the Financial section is institution-specific - refer to your internal workflow on how to fill out this section)
After updating the required fields, click the SAVE UNIT ENROLMENT button to apply the changes. Saving the Unit Enrolment deletes the record from TCSI and automatically creates and submits a Prior Credit packet to TCSI.
Validate the prior credit information by checking the 'RELATED PRIOR CREDIT' section located at the bottom of the Unit Enrolment record. Edit the required fields.
If you have an institution-specific Unit Enrolment status for RPL/Credit units, change the Enrolment Status field accordingly and save the Unit Enrolment record again. Note that this status should not be mapped to TCSI, see Map Status and Code Items to TCSI Values
CLEAR TCSI STATUS
To remove the INVALID status from the Unit Enrolment record, simply click the 'CLEAR TCSI STATUS' button.
Repeat the process for the other Unit Enrolments that you want to RPL. Alternatively, you can RPL via the Units screen.
RPL via the Units screen
With the intended Unit Enrolments to be credited and processed as RPL enrolled, choose the Student > Course Enrolment > Units menus on the side. Select the Unit Enrolments that you want to process as RPL.
At the bottom part of the UNITS ENROLLED BY STUDENT section, select Update Advanced Standing set fee fields to 0 and update grades option from the drop-down list and set the following fields as highlighted in step 6 in the above workflow.
Check if the TCSI Course Prior Credit packet has been created and validate it accordingly. Refer to the workflow below.
(3) Transfer Credit Internally: Selected Unit Enrolments from one Course to Another
This workflow is applicable if the Student that you want to process an RPL is planning to transfer to another Course with units to be credited.
If you are processing an Early Exit, refer to the instructions on the workflow: Transfer Course Enrolments for Early Exit
NOTE:
If the student is already enrolled in the New Course where you intend to "transfer credit" the Unit Enrolments from the Old Course, skip Step 1.
Enrol the student on the Course where the units to be credited belong, see Enrol Student to Courses or Scheduled Programs.
Once the student is enrolled on the (New) Course, load the OLD Course Enrolment that you want to transfer, see Load a Course Enrolment record
After loading the OLD Course Enrolment record, choose Student > Course Enrolment > Units. This will display a list of units related to the original/OLD course. Place a ☑ in the box for each Unit Enrolment that you want to be transferred credited to the New Course.
Below the units list, in the Select Action to perform on Units field choose the option Transfer Credit the selected units to the degree.
This option will copy the selected units to the New Course, where the old unit remains unchanged and the new unit has the status set to "Transferred Credit (dependent on your Grade Schema naming convention)", and all of the FEE fields are set to '0.00'.
(4) Check that the TCSI Course Prior Credit packet has been created
There are two ways to track the submitted Prior Credit packet in Paradigm:
via the RELATED PRIOR CREDIT section located at the bottom of the credited Unit Enrolment record.
Edit the Unit Enrolment record that was credited/RPLd.
Go to the RELATED PRIOR CREDIT section.
Validate the entered details by clicking the SAVE DETAILS button.
via the Student TCSI Edit screen. Refer to the instructions below:
Choose Student > Course Enrolment > Student TCSI Edit menus on the side, and go to the COURSE ENROLMENT: PRIOR CREDIT section, if you have followed the workflows above, you should see the record(s) under this section, just click the EDIT button against the prior credit packet that you want to edit and validate accordingly.
To add a new record, (1) click the NEW PRIOR CREDIT RECORD button. (2) Enter the required details for reporting prior credits. (3) Click the SAVE DETAILS button to save the details.
BE ADVISED:
If the credit points for a Unit Enrolment are not equivalent to one full credit, you must calculate the appropriate value for the 'Credit Used Value' field and enter it accordingly.
INFO:
Prior Credit records that were created by adding them as Unit Enrolments as Exempt can be viewed as related to a submitted Prior Credit packet under the Student TCSI Edit screen COURSE PRIOR CREDITS section.
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