RPL PRE ASSESSMENT WORKSHOP

COMPETENCE

Attendance of RPL evidence facilitation sessions, however, is not sufficient evidence of your competence for us to award you a certificate and the credits attached to this programme. You are required to undergo assessment to prove your competence to achieve credits leading to a national qualification.

Being Declared Competent Entails:

Competence is the ability to perform whole work roles, to the standards expected in employment, in a real working environment.

There are three levels of competence:

• Foundational competence: an understanding of what you do and why.

  
  

• Practical competence: the ability to perform a set of tasks in an authentic context. (RPL evidence)

• Reflexive competence: the ability to adapt to changed circumstances appropriately and responsibly, and to explain the reason behind the action.

  
  

  To receive a certificate of competence and be awarded credits, you are required to provide evidence of your competence by compiling a portfolio of evidence, which will be assessed by a PSETA RPL assessor.

  
  

  You Have to Submit a Portfolio of Evidence

  A portfolio of evidence is a structured collection of evidence that reflects your efforts, progress and achievement in a specific learning area, and demonstrates your competence.

  The Assessment of Your Competence

  Assessment of competence is a process of making judgments about an individual's competence through matching evidence collected to the appropriate national standards. The evidence in your portfolio should closely reflect the outcomes and assessment criteria of the unit standards of the learning programme for which you are being assessed.

  Should it happen that a candidate is deemed not yet competent upon submission of evidence for RPL, that candidate will be allowed to be re-assessed. The candidate can, however, only be allowed two reassessments.

  When learners must undergo re-assessment, the following conditions will apply:

  
  

• Specific feedback will be given so that candidates can concentrate on only those areas in which they were assessed as not yet competent.

• Re-assessment will take place in the same situation or context and under the same conditions as the original assessment.

• Only the specific outcomes that were not achieved will be re-assessed.

  
  

• Candidates who are repeatedly unsuccessful will be given guidance on other possible and more suitable learning avenues.

• For your RPL assessor to assess your competence, your portfolio should provide evidence of both your experience, knowledge and skills, and of how you applied your knowledge and skills in a variety of contexts.

• This Candidate’s Assessment Portfolio directs you in the activities that need to be completed so that your competence can be assessed and so that you can be awarded the credits attached to the programme.

  
  

  Key Principles of RPL

  
  

  “Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) means the comparison of previous learning and experience of a learner however obtained, against the outcomes of the unit standard or qualification.”

  The purpose of RPL is to identify, assess, recognise, and improve a candidate’s status in terms of what he/she knows and can do against national standards and qualifications. This learning could include various means and settings, such as formal education and training programmes, on the job training, self-study etc.

  
  

  Reasons for Implementing RPL

  
  

• redress of historical disadvantages, such as the institutional exclusion of large numbers of people from education and training and jobs;

• validation of skills and knowledge for the broader development of individuals;

  
  

• access to jobs and progression in career paths;

  
  

• recognition with regard to job grading and salary;

  
  

• planning through skills audits; and

  
  

• promotion of employment equity.

  
  

  The RPL policy is outlined as follows:

  
  

  To recognise prior learning in the context of:

  
  

• identifying, assessing, and recognising what a person knows and can do against national standards and qualifications and

• the awarding of credits for competencies that are current and in terms of the requirements of national unit standards and qualifications.

  
  

  “Learning” for purposes of recognition thereof can take place through formal, informal and non-formal means and in formal, informal and non-formal settings.

  
  

  It includes various disciplines of learning, but is not limited to:

  
  

• formal education and training programmes;

  
  

• formal and informal on the job education and training.

• self-study and/or

  
  

• experience and in-house education and training.

  
  

  The outcomes of Recognition of Prior Learning include, but are not limited to:

  
  

• an overview of what a person knows and can do.

  
  

• some form of recognition for the skills and knowledge a person has.

  
  

• a learner receiving credit for a certain level of education and training.

  
  

• the transfer of credits from one place of learning to another without learning being repeated.

• a statement that a person has all the skills to do a job but not necessarily the required education or vice versa.

  Appeals & Disputes

  
  

  The candidate has the right to appeal against assessment decision or practice they regard as unfair. An Appeals and Disputes procedure is in place and communicated to all assessment candidates for them to appeal based on:

• Unfair assessment

  
  

• Invalid assessment

  
  

• Unreliable assessment

  
  

• Unethical practices

  
  

• Inadequate expertise and experience of the assessor

  
  

  Appeals must be lodged in writing (Candidate Appeal Form) & submitted to the Training Provider internal moderator within 48 hours, following the assessment in question. The moderator will consider the decide regarding the granting of a re-assessment. The learner will be informed about the appeal-outcome within 3 days of lodging the appeal. Should the learner not be satisfied with the internal appeal outcome, the learner will be advised of the rights to refer the matter to the SETA ETQA.

  

• Direct evidence will need to be verified by the candidate’s supervisor as their own work.

1. Indirect Evidence

   Indirect evidence is evidence produced about the learner from another source. This usually in the form of reports of third-party sources, i.e., sources other than the candidate. The assessor will verify these.

   
   

   This is information about the candidate and might include:

   • Certificates/statements of results completed

   • Minutes of meetings that contain information that candidate has participated or performed

   • Duties

   • Position description

   • Performance appraisals

   • Letters of appreciation from clients or work colleagues

   • References from previous employers

   • Workplace awards, prizes, certificates

     • Team outputs

   • Witness testimony or third-party reports

   • Photographs/recordings of activities undertaken

   • Statements from managers, supervisors, previous employers, customers, and colleagues can be included in your evidence portfolio to support your claims. These are not referencing from previous employers but statements of information that are relevant to an element and performance criteria for the unit of competency.

   • Reports from managers or supervisors who have witnessed specific activities undertaken that meet performance criteria/s.

   
   

2. Historical Background

This type of evidence tells the assessor what the candidate could do in the past. It needs to be checked for authenticity.

Examples include but not limited to:

• Projects and portfolios

• Video/audio/photographs recordings

• Documents /forms completed by candidate

• Training records

• Testimonials

• Review and recommendations

• Clint ratings

• Awards

These three sources of evidence are complimentary sources of information about a candidate’s competence- they are best used concurrently. Using a good mix of all three sources of evidence gives better reflection of balanced competency of candidate.

Cross-Reference Your Evidence To The Unit Standards

Evidence for assessment against unit standards must be linked to the outcomes of the unit standard in question. An evidence locator grid is useful for this.