Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is gaining well-deserved momentum across Ireland’s further and higher education landscape. Conversations across our institutions are becoming richer and more nuanced, and as RPL scales, one question becomes increasingly important: what actually makes it work?
A compelling prompt for reflection comes from Estonia, where a comprehensive national research report published in 2025 by the Baltic Studies Institute found that although VÕTA, the Estonian equivalent of RPL, is widely known across the education system, it remains significantly underused. Usage rates hover at around 8% of higher education students and 7% of those in vocational education. The report concludes that having a system in place is simply not enough. This finding resonates strongly with the Irish experience: policy without the right foundations delivers far less than it should.
Having explored RPL practice in both Ireland and Estonia, two things stand out as essential: getting the foundational enablers right, and choosing an assessment model that genuinely respects how adults learn.
The RPL Triangle: Trust, Transparency, and Recognition
RPL does not succeed simply because a policy or process exists. It succeeds when three interconnected conditions are in place: Trust, Transparency, and Recognition. Each depends on the others.
Trust is the foundation. For RPL to function meaningfully, there must be a shared understanding of what RPL is and what it can achieve among learners, academic staff, employers, and institutions alike. This means respecting diverse learning pathways, embracing a range of assessment practices, and cultivating faculty attitudes that view experiential learning as genuinely rigorous. It also means that stakeholders, including employers sending cohorts of employees into RPL processes, have confidence that the outcomes are credible and quality-assured. Building this trust takes time, and it is strengthened through networking, collaboration, and the sharing of exemplars across the sector.
