School of Veterinary Nursing | Te Kura Oraka Kararehe
Assessment of Prior Learning
Are you currently a practicing veterinary nurse, veterinary nurse assistant or rural animal technician? Do you have 5-7 years’ experience and want your skills recognised?
What is Assessment of Prior Learning (APL)?
If you’ve regularly engaged with continuing professional development and training, and are constantly reviewing your practices to identify opportunities for improvement, you could gain academic recognition and a qualification for your knowledge and experience.
The School of Veterinary Nursing APL process centres around you and your career. We reflect on where you have come from, where you are now and where you want to head next.
What does the process involve?
To achieve your chosen qualification, we’ll support you to:
- identify early experiences and influences that have shaped you and how these relate to your working life as a veterinary nurse, veterinary nursing assistant or rural animal technician.
- evaluate your work and life experiences and skills.
- research relevant literature and reflect on how these have informed your practice and influenced your work.
- complete in-depth case studies that evaluate key learning experiences from your work and align these with relevant literature.
- identify and fill gaps in your knowledge or experience and apply new learning.
A key part of this programme is those in-depth case studies where you evaluate your learning experiences from your veterinary nursing career and present an evidence portfolio to demonstrate how you meet the requirements of your chosen programme.
On completion of your programme, you may be eligible to be added to the Register List held by the New Zealand Veterinary Nursing Association.
Entry requirements
- 5-7 years of full-time professional veterinary nurse or large animal vet technician practice experience.
- Any academic records you have.
- A copy of your CV.
- Online/telephone chat with a staff member from the School of Veterinary Nursing to determine your suitability for studying via the APL pathway (or to chat through further options for gaining your desired qualification).
Available qualifications
- New Zealand Certificate in Animal Technology (Rural Animal Technician) (Level 5)
- New Zealand Diploma in Veterinary Nursing (Level 6)
Please note: APL is not currently available for the New Zealand Diploma in Rural Animal Veterinary Technology (Level 6). We expect to offer APL as an option for this programme from 2024.
Not sure if this is for you?
If you like the sound of the APL pathway but aren’t sure whether you have the required or relevant experience, please contact us. We’re happy to talk through your options.
Email vetnursing@op.ac.nz or call us at 0800 762 786 (and ask for the School of Veterinary Nursing).
Contact us
If you want to know more about what we offer or you would like some guidance, we’re here to help. Feel free to chat to us directly about any questions you may have.
