Validation of prior learning (VPL) is a tool promoted and supported by the EU and all Member States to enable educational institutions to recognise learning wherever it has taken place.  It is based on the idea that people learn outside the classroom as well as inside it across a wide range of activities (sometimes called life wide learning) and at various times throughout the lifetime of an individual (lifelong learning) and that this learning is valuable, and can be identified and recognised.
All education and training systems include the idea of examinations to pass from one level to the next.  The transition from upper secondary to higher levels studies is particularly important and requires specific certificates or diplomas awarded for success in examinations.  And within higher education entry to masters level programmes also has special regulations (find out more about it in the “Welcome to Higher Education”-Guidelines). Many people for different reasons do not have the necessary diplomas but do have the knowledge, understanding and skills to succeed in higher education.  Validation provides an alternative and parallel system for recognising this and enabling people in this situation to enter programmes of study at a higher level.