Romijn Research and Development – together with various institutes in the EU- has developed a Common Quality Assurance Framework (short CQAF) for the Accreditation of Prior Learning (short APL). APL is offered by various organisations such as polytechnics, institutes for vocational education and training and sectoral training institutes to recognize, and where possible formally accredit, any learning an individual might have been engaged in (or is still in). It does not matter where and how this learning has come about: in school or formal training or outside of it, only the learning outcome counts.
The goal of this framework is to make APL services more sustainable and this in turn is to boost both vertical and horizontal mobility in the EU. Vertical mobility means that more people are enabled to advance themselves through formal learning as APL creates better access to this; horizontal mobility means that people can better enter upon an international career as APL services are bound to create confidence and trust in professional standards of the participating countries in the EU.
It is hoped that that with the establishment of a CQAF procedure for APL the credibility and quality of APL within the EU is fostered and that there will be an increase of horizontal mobility of workers/learners between countries in the EU, as well as an increase of workers/learners with formal qualifications and/or entering formal learning pathways. These impacts are important in the light of the enhanced cooperation within the Copenhagen Process as this is currently being promoted within the EU.