1 Professional practice projects: APEL or development? Stan Lester Stan Lester Developments, Taunton Journal of Workplace Learning 19 (3), pp188-202 Abstract The rise of work-based learning in higher education has increased the use of real-life projects, i.e. things that would be done anyway, to contribute to accredited university programmes. Where projects are used that have been completed pre-registration they are commonly brought into the programme through the process known as accrediting prior experiential learning (APEL). Material submitted for APEL normally attracts an amount of credit, the rest of the programme being completed through new components. Outside of higher education it is more common for full qualifications, in particular National Vocational Qualifications and some professional practice designations, to be awarded fully on the basis of pre- registration work. Taking projects submitted for a professional practice assessment as an example, it appears possible to transfer the essentials of this approach to university awards. Rather than treating the pre-existing work as APEL it can be considered as the basis for the entire award, with where necessary additional learning growing out of the projects. Workplace learning and academic credit Over the last two decades there has been a significant evolution in the recognition of workplace learning, including learning from naturally-occurring activities and projects, towards the award of formal qualifications. In the United Kingdom the development of National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) during the late 1980s made available a raft of qualifications that were based principally on workplace competence, while in parallel increasing moves were being made in the university sector to give credit for work-based learning (Adams et al 1991, Duckenfield & Stirner 1992). Subsequently the recognition of workplace learning within higher education has moved from being exploratory and innovative to a point where it can now be regarded as part of the mainstream, even if it is not well- understood across or within all universities (Evans 2001). Internationally, parallel developments have taken place in a number of other countries notably in Australia (e.g. Fahy et al 1999) and in France, where the process of validation des acquis de l’experience (VAE) provides a legally-backed process for obtaining all or part of a degree based on experiential learning (e.g. Haeringer 2006). As part of the impetus towards compatible qualification structures in Europe there is currently a major if sometimes debated thrust towards recognising at least previously-completed work-based learning towards further and higher education qualifications. Returning to the UK it is now established practice to allow pre-existing learning from the workplace (and from other sources outside of formal education) to be assessed and accredited towards