RTOs are required to offer RPL to learners according to Clause 1.12 in the SRTOs 2015 unless there is a regulatory or licensing reason for a specific training product that prevents them from doing so. Some RTOs struggle with resourcing RPL pathways sufficiently in their organisations and some assessors find RPL processes difficult and challenging. The following advice can assist RTOs with developing effective RPL processes and ensuring compliant practices in your RTO assessment system.

Providing adequate RPL resources:

By allocating dedicated staff to your RPL pathways you can ensure that your RTO will provide a personalised service for RPL candidates. It is important that RPL is treated with the same importance and priority as other training and assessment pathways. The best way to do this is by assigning dedicated and experienced assessors to take care of your RPL candidates. If you make the mistake of expecting inexperienced assessors to conduct RPL assessment it could reflect badly on your RTOs reputation and leave a bad impression on your clients. Take care as well not to overload your assessors with excessive RPL caseloads in addition to their other training and assessment responsibilities or else your students will suffer as a result. RPL assessors should be afforded enough time to manage their workloads and should be supported by RTO management so they can service RPL candidates and their employers effectively. RPL professionals need to be adept at establishing rapport with clients and ensuring they are supported throughout the assessment process. Your RTO should ensure that RPL assessors are experts in collecting appropriate RPL evidence that meets compliance requirements.

Developing effective RPL systems:

Your RTOs assessment system should include systems and processes for undertaking RPL effectively and implementing effective processes for assessment only pathways. RTOs who provide targeted professional development for RPL assessors develop the necessary expertise in your staff. In order to provide effective RPL services your RTO should treat RPL as a specialised area and appropriately resource it. You must not discourage students from seeking RPL if your RPL doesn’t have appropriate systems in place to be able to offer RPL. RTOs should ensure that they engage with industry regarding RPL resources in order to ensure you don’t miss out on opportunities to upskill the workforces of industry clients. By offering effective RPL services your RTO can expand the offerings provided to employers and learner cohorts with existing knowledge and skills.

Implementing efficient RPL processes:

Learners with existing knowledge and skills are ideal candidates for RPL and your RTO should implement processes to identify opportunities to upskill and reskill your clients using assessment only pathways. By ensuring that your RTO provides sufficient information or advice to prospective students about RPL processes before enrolment you will easily identify learners who are eligible for this assessment pathway. Make sure you also provide clear instructions and resources that outline expectations for RPL candidates. Don’t create RPL assessment tools with dense or over complicated requirements and ensure they reflect real workplace conditions. You should also have systems in place for tracking and monitoring RPL progression so your RTO can effectively manage each step of the assessment process.

Providing exceptional client service:

RTOs need to be responsive to client enquiries about RPL and be effective at converting RPL enquiries into enrolments. It is important that assessors are given the opportunity to engage with RPL candidates from the beginning and throughout the process. Be sure to accommodate RPL candidates as they are often working full-time in industry and need flexibility and support in the process. RTOs should support assessors to enable them to be flexible with candidates and their other commitments. RTOs should take care not to neglect communication with RPL candidates as they are going through the assessment process to ensure the don’t fall through the cracks.