Translating work experience into a qualification

Translating work experience into a qualification

Bruce Birrell left high school before the age of 15 without so much as School Certificate.

Since then, a combination of fate and hard work has seen Bruce not only become a UCOL lecturer but also on the verge of attaining further trade certification with UCOL’s Centre for Assessment of Prior Learning (U-CAPL).

U-CAPL provides a unique opportunity for people who have life and work experience and want a qualification without having to take on full time study and is available across all UCOL campuses.

Bruce is typical of a U-CAPL candidate, spending many years in his industry gathering on-the-job experience and expertise but never gaining formal qualifications.

Bruce’s career in the building trade has spanned 30 years beginning with a Joinery apprenticeship when he first left school and then several years as a carpenter in commercial construction. “I had plenty of skills and knowledge but no qualifications to show for it,” he says.

Fate stepped in when Bruce was given the job to do some alterations at UCOL’s carpentry workshop. “I got talking to the lecturers and mentioned how great it would be to have their job and working in that environment.”

Within a few weeks Bruce had applied for and was offered, a lecturing position within the carpentry department. “I didn’t know anything about teaching but my knowledge of both carpentry and joinery made me invaluable to the UCOL programmes.”

Bruce is presently in the process of gathering his ‘scope of work’ for his U-CAPL assessor and UCOL lecturer, David Freebairn. “I have to prove what I have done with photos of the jobs and testimonial letters from my employers. Then we visit those job sites and explain to my assessor how I did the job.”

Bruce considers the exercise of proving to his assessor that he has the relevant knowledge and experience, as very challenging. “It’s not easy earning qualifications through U-CAPL. It is certainly not a ‘gimme’ but it is brilliant for people like me who have been in their trade for many years but don’t have their ticket.”

Bruce hopes to attain a National Certificate in Carpentry (Level 4) through U-CAPL and is keen to study further for National Certificates in Construction Leading Hand (Level 4) and then Site Supervisor (Level 5) through UCOL night classes.

For someone who did not enjoy success in his school days, Bruce now has a different view of learning. “These past few years have been life changing,” he says. “Firstly, I never thought I’d be a teacher and secondly thanks to U-CAPL, I hope to soon have the recognition of my trade skills and experience in the form of proper qualifications.”

ENDS

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