Iceland

Recognition of prior learning is high on the higher education policy agenda in Iceland. The focus is on RPL for credits for those who have already been accepted into their studies, as the RPL for access to higher education is covered by the upper secondary level.

RPL is now fully established in Pre-School Teacher Education at the School of Education/University of Iceland. The school is planning to introduce RPL in other study programmes where the need and interest are particularly high. Other institutions have not progressed as much in introducing RPL processes but are enthusiastic to do so.

Staff working on RPL in higher education is encouraged to cooperate and share experiences in this area. An important funding opportunity is through a new two billion ISK fund that the Minister of Higher Education, Industry and Innovation has set up and is intended to promote strong cooperation between all universities in Iceland. The new Cooperation Fund is part of the Minister's efforts to promote innovation and progress at the higher education level. The funded activities include cooperation in the administration and support services. Erasmus+ opportunities for staff training and cooperation at the European level are also promoted to this target group.

Rannís has published a website dedicated to RPL in higher education. It is under development and in Icelandic.

The establishment of a national network is in process (March 2023). Representatives of Rannís, ENIC/NARIC and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation organised an introductory meeting for all HEI staff members interested and involved in RPL on 7 March 2023 to present the idea of a national and European RPL network. The participants showed great enthusiasm towards the concept and confirmed the need of cooperation and support, both nationally and internationally.

Rannís is currently accepting registrations to the national network. Network meetings are foreseen twice a year, once on site and once online. The idea is to rotate the role of a host for the physical meetings so that they can take place at different campuses across the country. They will have a thematic focus depending on the current state of play with RPL in Iceland. Informal online exchanges are foreseen on a continuous basis as well via a designated Teams group for the network.

Rannís has been commissioned by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation to serve as the national RPL network's administrative coordinator and is also the Icelandic contact point for the European RPL-network. Project coordination is carried out by Runa Gudmarsdottir.

Further information on Rannís can be found here.

ENIC/NARIC Iceland has been involved in implementing RPL at higher education level in Iceland and participates in the European RPL Network-Project as a partner organisation.