Kevin Farrell, Deputy Manager in Flight Safety and Compliance, achieved his Bachelor of Business (Honours) in Aviation Management at SETU through the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) pathway.
Kevin’s has extensive professional experience in the aviation industry, with previous experience as a member of the Irish Defence Forces. Though immensely skilled and knowledgeable, Kevin felt that a formal higher education qualification could greatly enhance his approach to his career.
Kevin commented, “Before coming to third level, I was a manager at a major Irish airline, and I had plenty of experience there. I’ve been around aviation most of my life, but I hadn’t got any formal qualification in aviation, any degree, any diploma, or anything like that.”
Help along the way
“Lots of people helped me on the RPL journey, right the way from SETU, to the head of Extended Campus down at SETU's Carlow campus. She explained RPL to me and I got quite excited at the time, primarily because it meant I could gain advanced entry into the degree that I was looking at doing.”
Blended learning and flexibility
Speaking about his experience of RPL at SETU, Kevin said, “RPL was the right fit for me on various levels, but mainly that I could work and study. It allowed great scope.” He continued, “With blended learning between being online and then a couple of days per month in college.”
Instilling great confidence
Kevin speaks about the confidence he gained through studying via RPL. He commented on the knowledge he gained in relation to the aviation business, particularly the legal and commercial elements, and how this has benefited his career. He said, “RPL has impacted me greatly. Now I can sit in meetings with great confidence.”
Being courageous
After such a fulfilling and enhancing experience of higher education through RPL, Kevin said, “The advice I would give to anybody who’s looking at RPL is have courage. Be brave, be courageous, take that step forward. There’s an element of RPL to suit absolutely everybody. And I can tell you it’s very, very rewarding.”
Recognising existing knowledge and capability
David Denieffe, Vice President for Academic Experience at SETU, said, “RPL is an opportunity for employers to formally recognise the skills of their employees. It allows them to identify areas for upskilling and reskilling among their workforce that ultimately enhances the experience of the individual as well as greatly enriching an organisation’s performance. I am delighted that we can provide this pathway to education at SETU.”
RPL at SETU
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) means that you can get recognition for learning you have done in a work-based environment, and from learning from life experiences, to support your personal and career development.
Through RPL learners can show evidence of learning that has taken place prior to enrolment so that it is recognised and given value. A fundamental principle of RPL is that a learner should not be asked to relearn something they already know.
With RPL, prior learning, once identified and valued, can count towards entry/admission, advanced entry, credit, or exemptions from modules on a course.
There are three types of RPL where the student can do one of the following:
- Gain admission without the standard entry requirements.
- Gain advanced entry (admission to a year other than year 1 of a course).
- Get exemptions from studying certain modules.
For more information on RPL at SETU, click here or contact [email protected]
