The term APEL stands for the Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) and is based on the principle that people can and do learn throughout their lives in a variety of settings. People can gain a range of strengths and skills through:

• work (paid or unpaid)
• community , voluntary or leisure activities
• key experiences and events in life

We call this experiential learning, or learning from experience.

Often the skills, knowledge and abilities that are gained through this type of learning can be equal to those gained by students following traditional routes through formal education. Learning from experience is different from ‘formal learning’: it is largely unstructured; it is more personal, more individualised and is often unconsciously gained. It is however, just as real as learning which is gained in a formal academic setting. What is more, it is usually more permanent: it is not readily forgotten or lost.

APEL is a process that can give people of all ages and backgrounds the opportunity to gain recognition for achievements they have gained outside the ‘classroom’. APEL is about how people can claim credit or recognition for the learning they have gained from personal experience so as to gain entry or access to a course or programme of study or to gain exemption from certain parts of a course or programme of study.

The Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) is about recognising your prior experience and learning. It acts as a process of social inclusion for everyone who wants access to training and assessment by not requiring you to have any prior qualifications.

APEL can impact on adult learning by acting as a transformative process in our society which is characterised by demands for high levels of imformation and communication skills. The APEL process is understood as a process through which people can attain certification and accreditation of their prior learning, which has not yet been formally evaluated by a recognized form of qualification. These certifications are important to assure access to academic studies, the labour market and for acquiring new qualifications. In this sense, APEL can help to overcome barriers and provide the means for people to become more highly valued socially and economically as members of our society.

The APEL process allows people to establish a link between their skills and (non-academic) knowledge and forms of academic knowledge that are highly regarded in our ‘knowledge’ society.