Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer — Practice Guide¶
ASQA Practice Guide · Quality Area 1 — Training and Assessment · Standards 1.6, 1.7 · Published 17 June 2025 · Version 1.0
Verbatim reproduction of the ASQA Practice Guide, extracted from the source PDF with layout preservation (via
pdftotext -layout). The body below preserves the original two-column table structure — performance indicators on the left, example activities and known risks on the right.Source: https://www.asqa.gov.au/for-providers/standards-for-RTOs/practice-guides
Companion docs: -
standards-outcome.md/standards-compliance.md— the underlying legislative text -standards-explanatory.md— the Explanatory Statement commentary -compliance-reference.md— RTOpacks module × standard mapping
Practice Guide
Recognition of Prior Learning and
Credit Transfer
(Standard 1.6, 1.7)
Ver 1.0
Published 17 June 2025
Outcome Standards for Registered Training Organisations
Quality Area 1 – Training and Assessment
What are the key concepts?
The following key concepts are covered in this practice guide:
Standard 1.6 Standard 1.7
• Recognition of prior learning (RPL) • Credit transfer
• Evidence of prior learning • Equivalency
• Equivalency and currency • Authenticating transcripts
• RPL assessment
Achieving these Standards in practice
The following table lists examples of activities that may demonstrate compliance with the Standards, as
well as risks to mitigate or control. These examples are not a complete list of every activity or risk, nor do
all the activities listed need to be completed to achieve compliance. Rather, they are a guide and should
be considered within the context, size, scale and student cohorts of your RTO’s operations.
Standard 1.6: VET students with prior skills, knowledge and competencies are supported to seek
recognition of prior learning to progress through the relevant training product.
Performance Indicators Example activities and considerations for
compliance
An NVR registered training organisation • You can demonstrate how your recognition of
demonstrates: prior learning (RPL) policies, processes and
a. VET students are offered opportunities to seek tools are designed and applied with the same
recognition of prior learning and are made rigour as your assessment system, including that
aware of the organisation’s policies for seeking they:
recognition of prior learning; o are consistent with, and maintain the
b. decisions relating to recognition of prior integrity of, the training product
learning are based on evidence of prior skills, requirements
learning and experience, and are undertaken o ensure currency of evidence provided by the
in accordance with the organisation’s VET student
assessment system; and o meet the requirements of the principles of
c. decisions relating to recognition of prior assessment and rules of evidence (Standard
learning are documented and decided in a way 1.4)
that is fair, transparent, consistent amongst o result in transparent, defensible and
VET students, and maintains the integrity of documented decisions.
the training product.
• You can demonstrate how you make students
aware of:
o their right to have their prior learning
recognised (where it is not prevented by any
industry regulator or licensing
requirements), and
o your organisation’s RPL policy and process.
• You can demonstrate how your RPL approach
accommodates the variety of experiences and
learning pathways that students present.
• You can demonstrate how students are made
aware of the role any third party will play in their
RPL assessment.
• You can demonstrate how you ensure that the
assessor responsible for assessing the RPL
evidence, including those engaged through third
parties, meet the requirements of Standards 3.2
and 3.3.
• You ensure that your staff understand that
granting RPL where the student does not meet
the requirements of the training product may
have serious consequences for the VET student,
and for public safety, industry confidence and the
reputation of the VET sector and can
demonstrate to ASQA how your policies, systems
and processes provide this assurance.
• You can demonstrate how you validate and
assure your RPL practices and processes to be
confident that decisions are being made in
accordance with the Standards, and where third
parties conduct RPL on your RTO’s behalf, you
can demonstrate how you monitor and validate
the quality of their RPL practices with the same
level of rigour.
• Where assessment of a VET student’s RPL
evidence identifies gaps, you can demonstrate
how you work with them in relation to the amount
of gap training required, how that training will be
delivered and any costs associated with it.
Known risks to quality outcomes
• Using inadequate assessment practices or
business models that cut corners in issuing RPL
which can lead to persons without the expected
competencies entering critical roles, including in
industries with mandatory qualifications such as
aged care, disability services and early childhood
education and care.
• Promoting RPL as an easy, quick or guaranteed
path to qualifications.
• Using RPL systems that do not apply the same
rigour as the organisation’s assessment system,
including not upholding assessment record
retention requirements.
• Making inadequate inquiries with students
seeking RPL, or agents seeking RPL on their
behalf – for example, not being wary of non-
genuine students that may be seeking RPL as a
vehicle to facilitate other objectives.
• Failing to verify that RPL evidence submitted by
students is authentic.
• Outsourcing RPL assessments to unregulated
third parties that do not understand or apply the
Standards to their practices – for example, using
third parties that do not engage properly qualified
or trained assessors.
• Failing to ensure RPL assessment practices are
robust enough to meet the applicable threshold
for high-risk work licencing, where applicable.
• Failing to ensure that RPL evidence of overseas
qualifications or competencies has been mapped
to Australian legislative and regulatory
requirements – for example Australian Work
Health and Safety legislation or other industry-
specific laws.
• Failing to robustly assess or test RPL evidence
for currency against training package
requirements, or against the rules of evidence.
• Automatically granting RPL for students that hold
a higher AQF level qualification in the same
industry.
• Having insufficient systems for identifying and
addressing a student’s RPL gaps.
Standard 1.7: VET students who have completed an equivalent training product are supported to
obtain a credit transfer.
Performance indicators Example activities and other considerations for
compliance
An NVR registered training organisation • Your policies and processes clearly outline that
demonstrates: you provide students with a copy of your
a. VET students are offered opportunities to seek organisation’s policy for seeking credit transfer,
credit transfer and are made aware of the including when and how credit transfer will be
organisation’s policies for seeking credit administered.
transfer; • You can demonstrate that you authenticate AQF
b. decisions on credit transfer are based on certification documentation provided by
evidence of prior completion of an equivalent students (including authenticated VET
training product demonstrated by AQF transcripts) in support of credit transfer requests
certification documentation or an by directly accessing the USI transcript service or
authenticated VET transcript (unless by contacting the issuing organisation to verify
prevented by licensing or regulatory authenticity.
requirements or the training product); and • You can demonstrate that when considering
c. decisions relating to credit transfer are requests for credit transfer, equivalence1 is clearly
documented and decided in a way that is fair, evidenced before granting credit.
transparent, consistent amongst VET • You can demonstrate that where you do not grant
students, and maintains the integrity of the credit transfer because the unit of competency
training product. is not deemed equivalent, you provide students
with an appropriate alternative pathway, such as
RPL.
Known risks to quality outcomes
• Failing to make your credit transfer policy and
process available to students prior to enrolment.
• Failing to explain to students your rationale if you
decide not to grant credit transfer and the
1
Equivalence may be determined by the following:
• a unit of competency with the current unit code and title
• a superseded unit of competency that the training package developer has determined to be equivalent (as published on
the National Register)
o Note: although not required, you may conduct a mapping analysis for units that have been ‘superseded
equivalent’ twice or more to assure yourself that the assessment of competence is still relevant. If you find
there is a gap in either the training or the assessment, you may refuse the credit transfer.
available options to the student such as RPL or
gap training.
• Failing to check the authenticity of the student’s
original AQF certification before granting credit
transfer.
• Issuing a VET qualification or VET statement of
attainment via credit transfer based on training
wholly completed through RPL or credit transfer
at a different RTO.
• Failing to consider the contextual elements (e.g.
relevant licensed or regulated outcomes) when
assessing a student’s evidence for credit transfer.
Self-assurance questions
1 How do you ensure students know about and understand when RPL or credit transfer is a valid
option for them?
2 How are you testing the authenticity of evidence supplied by students seeking RPL or credit
transfer?
3 How do you ensure that your RPL and credit transfer policies and processes are consistently and
rigorously applied?
4 How are you ensuring that staff can recognise when a request for credit transfer becomes a request
for RPL?
5 What systems and processes do you have in place to determine RPL and credit transfer, including
equivalency?
6 What training do you provide to your trainers and assessors, including third parties, to assist them in
managing expectations of students seeking ‘easy’ RPL or credit transfer?
Source: ASQA Practice Guide — Recognition of Prior Learning and Credit Transfer. Published 17 June 2025, Version 1.0. Authority: Australian Skills Quality Authority. These guides interpret the Standards for RTOs 2025 into practical compliance guidance. The PDF was extracted with pdftotext -layout to preserve the two-column table structure of the original document.