6. Recognition of prior learning

Definitions

6.1.    The Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is when applicants to a programme of study are granted exemption from identified units by recognition of their previous learning. There are two types of RPL:

• ‘Certified’ learning that has been formally assessed and certificated from a higher education institution (including the University of Bristol) in which case credit is awarded by the University for the exempted units and, either:
  a.    the marks do not contribute to the final award and are not transferred
  b.    the marks do contribute to the final award and are transferred
• 'Experiential' skills and knowledge gained through experience that have not been formally assessed by a higher education institution but can be evaluated. Credit is awarded by the University for the exempted units, but as the skills and knowledge are not certified, no marks are transferred.

6.2    This policy does not apply to programmes that contain units/periods of study undertaken at another institution or in the workplace as a recognised part of a degree programme.

Conditions for recognising prior learning

6.3    A request may only be approved if the following conditions are met:

a.    Less than five years have passed between the prior learning occurring and the start of the relevant programme at the University of Bristol unless the applicant can provide evidence that their learning has continued in a professional or similar context. In such cases the relevant faculty may be set an assessment to test the applicant's knowledge. 

b.    Applicants do not already hold a degree in the same subject at the same level.

c.    An applicant who has previously been required to withdraw from the programme or did not achieve their intended award due to academic failure is not allowed to be re-admitted to the same point on a programme by the recognition of the prior learning.

d.    Any prior learning presented as evidence is equivalent to the standard of the exempted unit(s). If the equivalence is unclear, the relevant faculty may be set an assessment to test the applicant's knowledge. 

e.    In an undergraduate degree programme, the final 120 credit points is taken and satisfactorily completed at the University of Bristol unless there is an approved specific agreement otherwise.

f.    In a taught postgraduate degree programme, the dissertation or research component is taken and satisfactorily completed at the University of Bristol (or, for a Joint Award, one of its partner institutions).

g.    The maximum amount of RPL in a programme as set out in table 1 is not exceeded.

Table 1: the maximum amount of certified prior learning permitted by programme of study

Award type	Number of credit points for award	Toral amount of RPL permitted
Postgraduate Level Award
Masters Degree	180	60
Postgraduate Diploma	120	40
Postgraduate Certificate	60	20
Undergraduate Level Award
Graduate Diploma	120	40
Graduate Certificate	60	20
Integrated Masters Degree
Four-year	480	240
Five-year	600	240
Honours Bachelors Degree
Three-year	360	240
Four-year	480	240
Undergraduate Diploma	240	120
Undergraduate Certificate	120	0

‘Topping’ up a qualification

6.4    The maximum amount of certified prior learning can be exceeded where a student is returning to undertake a ‘top-up’ qualification, provided that the lower award is still relevant to the higher qualification. Where a student is allowed to top-up a qualification, the lower award is subsumed into the higher award made by the University on conferring of that award. There is no requirement for a student to ‘hand-in’ the certificate for the lower award in these circumstances.

Considering a request for recognising prior learning

6.5    A request to recognise prior learning is judged on whether: 

a.    the applicant has a reasonable expectation of satisfactorily completing the programme for which they are applying as evidenced by the prior learning

b.    the subject content of the programme is sufficiently similar to the prior learning for an applicant to be exempt from unit(s) and credit awarded (i.e. the relevant learning outcomes for those units are demonstrated by the prior learning) and if so, whether marks can be transferred. 

6.6    The school that owns the programme should initially consider the request. If it supports the request, the school makes a recommendation to the relevant faculty.

6.7    Faculties (i.e. the Faculty Admissions and Recruitment Officer and/or the Faculty Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education and Students) or delegate) are responsible for deciding whether to admit an applicant with recognition of their prior learning and the relevant entry point into the programme.

Information on how RPL is applied to the calculation of the final programme mark and/or the degree classification in modular undergraduate programmes with both mark transfer and no mark transfer is provided in Annex 9: Guidance on calculating marks 2026/27 (PDF, 298kB).