CPUT Recognition of Prior Learning Applicants

CPUT Recognition of Prior Learning Applicants

CPUT Recognition of Prior Learning Applicants. 

CPUT Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

What is Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)? RPL provides an opportunity for you to identify your learning, have it assessed and formally acknowledged. The process involves the identification, mediation, assessment and acknowledgement of knowledge and skills obtained through informal and non-formal learning. RPL APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2022

  The closing date for RPL Applications in 2022, for the academic year 2025 will be at the end of March 2022. The information on this page is limited to the types of RPL at this stage. Once the review of the RPL process is finalised, will these pages will be updated. CPUT offers three options for RPL:

• Access into first-year for applicants older than 23 years with at least five years relevant working experience.
• Exemption – RPL from certain subjects/courses.
• RPL for advanced standing into postgraduate studies.

A) Gaining access into first-year

If you have considerable work experience – more than five (5) years – that is related to the course you want to study, but you don’t meet the academic requirements for entry into the first year of the programme, you may want to apply for RPL for access. Think carefully about the course of study you would like to study; this is your career that you are building for yourself. You need to think about your interests and what fascinates you before you decide on which qualification you would like to study.

B) Exemption – RPL

You might have gained knowledge in specific areas through informal learning and non-formal learning. If this knowledge is closely related to a subject or more as part of a CPUT qualification that you want to enrol for, you may want to apply for exemption RPL. In this case, your knowledge will need to be compared to the learning outcomes of a particular subject(s) to be recognised. Once the assessment is done, the University might give exemption from some subjects, but not for the entire qualification.  We can only grant 50% of the qualification through exemptions. Application for re-admission after 10 years. If you studied with CPUT (or its feeder institutions) more than 10 years ago, and you would like to resume your studies in, you have to apply for re-admission. You apply for re-admission using the RPL process. CPUT knows and understands that due to a variety of factors you took a decision to take a break in your studies.  With your incomplete qualification, you might have been able to work in the field of discipline you studied in. The RPL process affords you and the University an opportunity to evaluate your knowledge against the current qualification. CPUT uses the Exemption – RPL route to determine which subjects in the current qualification you can be granted exemption(s) for and which subjects you will have to complete. If you did study at CPUT more than 10 year ago, and you would like to study a different qualification than the one you did originally, you may apply for RPL for exemptions as in point B. Your original studies will be taken into consideration. Difference between Exemption RPL and Exemption Credit Transfer Exemption Credit Transfer: you may have successfully completed subjects at another Higher Education Institution in South Africa (another University of Technology) – that are similar to subjects in a CPUT qualification you want to study, which is referred to as formal learning. In this case, you may apply to be exempted from having to redo the subject(s) and have the credits transferred to your CPUT qualification. Contact the relevant Faculty Office. Guidelines govern the maximum number of subjects for which Exemption RPL and Exemption Credit Transfer can be granted. In terms of the residency clause, students must complete at least 50% of the subjects in any programme at the institution awarding the qualification – i.e. at CPUT. Guidelines apply to all higher education institutions in SA.

C) Access into the Advanced Diploma. 

You may apply for access into an Advanced Diploma if you don’t meet the entry requirements of this qualification. This type of RPL provides for the recognition of knowledge at a higher level than you as an (normal) applicant qualifies for. The qualification at the lower level, the Diploma, is never awarded to you if you apply for this type of RPL. However, on the successful completion of the higher level qualification, the Advanced Diploma, this qualification will be awarded.   The RPL assessment takes place against the qualification at the lower level.

D) Advanced Standing into postgraduate studies at Masters’ Degree-level studies and Doctoral-level studies.

If you are interested in postgraduate studies at M-level or D-level studies, you are required to give an overview of your qualifications and career, reflecting on the knowledge you have developed as a result. In addition, you are required to give an indication of topic for your thesis.

E) International students and International Qualifications.

International applicants should have their qualification evaluated by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), Unit for Evaluation of Foreign Qualifications before you submit your application to CPUT. (Go to www.saqa.org.za.) If your qualification has been evaluated but you don’t meet the entry requirements of the programme you are interested in, or you want credit for what you already know, you apply as an international student and for RPL as described above.