Review

Credit where it’s due

Assessment of Prior Learning: a practitioner’s guide
Malcolm Day
Nelson Thornes, 2002. £14.00

The principle of lifelong learning and professional development is close to professional hearts and we regularly cast around for ways to demonstrate our commitment to learning and development. And we expect our previous experience to be considered, and perhaps credited, by the institution to which we commit ourselves.

In many ways the role of a prior learning assessor is not an easy one. What should and should not count towards the accumulation of credits? Assessment of prior learning is not the easiest procedure to negotiate. Over the past two decades there have been discrepancies from institution to institution because they have been operating from different criteria and sometimes even from different philosophies.

How then is the newly appointed assessor to ensure he or she is maintaining standards and conforming to nationally recognised benchmarks when considering an applicant’s history? Malcolm Day has drawn on the experience of many academics, including some from outside the UK, to devise a framework that can be applied by assessors everywhere.

All in all, this is a very useful tool. And while aimed specifically at assessors of prior learning, there is much here that others working in higher education could offer to students in discussions regarding their career pathways.

Students are always grateful for realistic, unbiased advice, and guidelines such as these can only help us to help them.