trade certification, career coaching or counselling, job promotion or change, professional development, academic access, or advanced standing.” Benefits RPL is a very simple and straightforward process of assessing someone's skills or knowledge, regardless of where and how these were learned. Unlike other forms of assessment it doesn't judge someone's evidence of competence solely by the credentials or qualifications they have achieved, although this can form part of their claim. Nor does it consider where a person worked, their age, gender or physical attributes. What RPL does is allow people to demonstrate that they are capable of undertaking specific tasks or working in certain industries based on evidence of skills and knowledge gained throughout their life. RPL is similar to criterion-referenced assessment – assessment of skills and knowledge against certain criteria. However, while such criteria are generally less descriptive than those used in competency standards, they are outcomes-based (i.e., the outcome of somebody doing something, such as the outcome of writing is a letter, or the outcome of making something which results in an end product), not process-based such as learning. In teaching or traditional training, the criteria against which formative and summative assessments are conducted is known as teaching or training objectives. (Sometimes these are also referred to as learning objectives but these are really the outcome the learners seeks to achieve, not the teacher or trainer.) They may be written in different ways but in all cases they include the behaviour to be observed, the conditions under which such behaviour is to be performed, and the standards or criteria which the performance must meet. These are the standards to be achieved as a result of the learning or training activity. Methodology A prerequisite for RPL is a clear standard against which knowledge, performance and behaviour can be assessed. The standard may be identical to that which is used for defining the desired outcomes for formal training programmes for the same competence, and should unambiguously specify the minimum acceptable requirements for a person to be assessed as competent. Knowledge is often assessed by written or oral examination. Performance of skills is frequently assessed by direct observation of the performance of the skills and procedures in the working environment, but for some skills such as emergency responses, simulations are often used. Behavioural competence and attitude may be assessed by direct observation, inference from observation, formal examination or combinations to suit the