In work-based learning (WBL), autodidactic, informal, nonformal, and formal approaches to learning are viewed not as dichotomous, distinct, or divergent spheres along a continuum but as intersected and clustered spheres. In WBL, prior learning, professional development, advanced standing, and other forms of learning are therefore formally…

This article examines the perceptions of Accrediting Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) from the point of view of lecturers delivering higher education in further education institutions. Despite the fact that APEL is recognised as potentially providing a range of benefits for higher education providers, students and employers, little research has…

Within the context of work-based learning, this article reviews the available evidence that supports the assumptions behind, and the claims made for the practice of accrediting prior experiential learning. Many of the claims made for accreditation of prior experiential learning (APEL) were found not to have been substantiated and some of the…