Institute of Criminal Justice Studies

Step 4 - Evidence

When you have completed your review you have to turn your notes into a formal claim.

Your claim for prior learning will develop into a collection of materials that you put together that describe and prove the learning that you have achieved. Claims for prior learning can involve evidence of different types as follows:

Evidence of certificated and assessed learning

There are various sorts of evidence that may count including awards from: NVQ level 4; City and Guilds; NEBS management courses; ECDL computer courses; professional assessed training such as job specific training; Higher Education (including Open University) certificates, diplomas and partially-completed degrees.

For claims to be proven, certificates (or, where no certificate exists, letters from the awarding institution) should be presented. If your assessed and certificated learning is not previously known by the University you may be required to provide further course details including syllabi or course contents, details of the awarding organisation and place at which the learning was achieved so that the University can verify the relevance, validity and level of the course. Claims for learning that have been assessed and certificated is relatively straightforward if you follow the example in  (pdf).

Evidence of learning gained from work including training that has not been assessed and non-certificated

Again there are various sorts of evidence that might count including:

• Direct evidence - project reports, databases, case study notes, correspondence, conference papers, work plans and so on.
• Indirect evidence - statements or testimonials from employers, mentors, customers or clients; documentation on courses undertaken; appraisals and references; letters of validation (from personnel who are in a position to judge the value and quality of the learning); and so on.

To make a claim for learning of this sort you must make it clear the unit against which you are making the claim as shown in APEL non-certificated claim example (pdf).

AND YOU MUST explain how the evidence that you are putting forward is relevant. You can do this by:

- describing the prior learning

- explaining how you have used the new knowledge in your work

For example, for non-assessed professional development courses that you have attended you might submit evidence such as:

- your notes from the course

- attendance certificates

- examples of how you have used the knowledge

- testimonials from senior managers or professionals about your new competences

Then you write about and describe how you used the knowledge.