RPL in 2025: Outcomes, Reflections & Next Steps
Timings
Session Participants
9.00 – 9.30am Registration
9.30 – 9.40am Welcome Sonya Lennon, MC
9.40 – 10.20am National Recognition of Prior Learning in Higher Education: Key Achievements
Presentation & Panel
Presenter & Panel Chair: Dr Ciara Staunton
• Dr Brendan McCormack, Director of Academic Affairs, Technological Higher Education Association
• Colm O’Reardon, Secretary General, DFHERIS
• Christine McCabe, RPL Project Lead, Atlantic Technological University
• Deirdre Harkin, RPL Project Lead, South East Technological University
• Nora Trench-Bowles, Head of Lifelong Learning, Skills and Quality/ Interim MicroCreds Project Lead, Irish Universities Association
• Suzanne Golden, RPL Project Lead, University of Galway
10.20 – 10.30am Welcome Address James Lawless, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
10.30 – 11.15am Shaping the Future: A Presidential Panel on Advancing RPL
Panel Chair: Dr Josephine Finn
• David Smith, President, Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology
• Prof. John O’Halloran, President, University College Cork
• Prof. Tim Thompson, Vice President for Students and Learning, Maynooth University
• Prof. Veronica Campbell, President, South East Technological University
11.15 – 11.45am Coffee
11.45am – 12.15pm Recognising Learning: Thinking around, formal, non-formal and informal learning.
12.15 – 12.45 pm RPL and the Learner Journey Fireside Chat
“The greatest voyage of selfdiscovery is not to seek new landscapes but to find new eyes.”
- Marcel Proust
1.30 – 2.15pm RPL Training & Development for HEI Staff
Presentation & Panel
2.15 – 3.30pm Emerging Findings and Priorities from External Evaluation
Presentation & Panel
3.30 – 3.45pm Final Thoughts – Framing the Future of RPL
Professor in Education Policy and Sociology, University of Bristol
RPL Video Montage Chair: Sonya Lennon
• Dr Brian Boyd, Head of Dept, Business Studies, DkIT
• Evelyn Mc Glynn, BA (Hons) in Business, Social Enterprise, Leadership & Management, TUS
• Kevin Farrell, BBS (Hons) in Aviation Management, SETU
• Larry Banville, Programme Director, Supply Chain Management, SETU
• Levente Varga, European Students’ Union Officer
• Susann Sullivan, Bachelor (Hons) of Business Studies, DkIT
Presenter & Panel Chair: Dr Clare Walsh
Panel:
• Dr Deirdre Goggin, RPL Project Lead, MTU
• Fiona Fennell, Engineering Skillnet
• Dr Helen Murphy, Head of Faculty, Lifelong Learning and Education, SETU
• Dr Paul Davis, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business, DCU
• Dr Simon Stephens, Assistant Registrar, ATU
Presentation: Dr Cathy Peck, Director & Managing Consultant, ThreeSixtyInsights
Panel Chair: Dr Annie Doona, Independent Education Consultant & Senior Associate, ThreeSixtyInsights
Panel:
• David Denieffe, Vice-President for Student Experience, SETU
• Dr Joe Ryan, CEO, THEA
• Lewis Purser, Director of Learning & Teaching and Academic Affairs, IUA
• Meadhbh Costello, Senior Policy Executive, Ibec
• Prof Paul McSweeney, Vice-President for Learning and Teaching, UCC
• Carl Blake, Co-Ordinator, Regional Skills Fora
• Dr Vivienne Patterson, Head of Skills and Engagement, HEA
Dr Ciara Staunton