Day 42 How do we apply for the credit transfer?

How do we apply for the credit transfer?

When we prepare our study in the university for a bachelor or postgraduate degrees in Australia, it is possible for us to apply credit for our prior learning(CPL). Not only in Australia, but also most of the universities implement the semester credit based system for evaluating students’ study progress. Therefore, we may obtain an absolute advantage if we are granted some credits before we start our university life. Whether we want to ease of some pressure on study or graduate earlier, and it saves the student contribution fee as well. Although it provides so many benefits, there are several criteria that we need to meet.

Generally, the credit for prior learning will be granted in three various approaches. The first and the most common type are by our previous Australian qualification framework recognition or other professional qualifications. This includes our study experience in the accredited Australian education institutions such as tafe, university and other approved institutions. In addition, the qualifications provided by professional bodies like CFA, CPA and ICAA will also be considered under this section of credit transfer. This approach has the highest probability to success, since these units usually have a distinct and concise outline which can be assessed by the CPL office. The second way for us to apply is through our previous informal/ non-formal learning. These can be based on our past work experience related to the subject we study, or the training received without a qualification. Sometimes it is hard for the CPL office to evaluate the weight of our experience, so the detailed statement is required. At last, our abroad qualifications may grant us some credits too. However, the university will ask us to provide sufficient evidence that proves these overseas educations match Australian standard

Once we made the application, the results should be carried out in three different outputs. Of course, the best outcome is we are granted with credit for specific units. Which can be the core units that are compulsory through the course. Alternatively, the credit transfers towards elective units are the next-best result. This occurs when the university has no comparative units with the applied ones. Moreover, the CPL office may ask us to attain further studies on the relative subjects. That is called preclusion, which is the same as the rejection, due to there is no credit granted.

After we understand how this system work, we need to prepare for our application. At first, we should find out the corresponded units under our current degree. This can be easily done with searching the course structure, and reading the specific unit handbook/outline on the faculty’s website. Make sure we created a clear spreadsheet table for it. This table will benefit both ourselves on checking relative information and the CPL officers on comprehending our request. Furthermore, we have to print out the unit outline/handbook for our preceding qualifications, which explains the course structure plus credit point weighting. That will provide a formal justification of the correlation towards our applied units. If we are proceeding with our work experience, make sure to obtain a referral letter from our employer. It will be the best if we can possibly ask our referee to state the relevance between our job and the specific units. Otherwise, we must declare it on our resume/personal statement. Similar to the AQF qualification, we need to provide the unit outline from our overseas learning. When the documents are not in English, we must translate it. During this process, we should choose the word carefully. Try to avoid using the words that are vague or have implicit meaning. We should always choose positive words, which create a favorable effect toward our application. When a sentence can be interpreted in multiple ways, the technique is to use the one that CPL officer is more pleasant to see.

The whole idea of applying for credit transfer is to acquire advantages for us on the starting point. The more distinct and accurate information we provide, the more chance for us to obtain a positive result. However, we need to always remember, it will only give us some upper hand in the study, so the outcome is substantially depended on our consistent endeavor.