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If you have studied for the purposes of advancing your personal and professional development, your professional credits could be used towards valuable qualifications such as degrees, Master’s and MBAs.

The University has a mechanism for allowing this to happen. It takes the form of a flexible accreditation framework that has been used by thousands of students over two decades and more – it is called our Work Based & Integrative Studies (WBIS) framework. It allows you to:

  • Negotiate your own individual, bespoke, pathway of learning towards an award that reflects your area of professional practice
  • Claim credit for your ‘hands-on’ experiential learning at work
  • Potentially incorporate credit from a range of qualifications and awarding bodies that the University recognises.

This allows you to build on the professional development, learning experiences and qualifications you already have. Typical awards that our students have previously used as credit towards degrees and Master’s degrees have – by way of example – come from:

  • The Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM)
  • Pearson / EdExcel
  • Chartered Management Institute (CMI)
  • Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)
  • Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)
  • Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
  • Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS)

There are further awards and credit that we can recognise too, including from other universities and potentially across a range of areas of professional practice.

We have established expertise in this field and can help you turn a portfolio of credits, micro-awards, continuing professional development and workplace learning experiences into a more meaningful qualification. Study is flexible, with regular start dates, and can be supported entirely at distance if so desired.

Contact Us

Please get in touch for further information and an informal chat about gaining recognition for your prior learning or on our WBIS degrees at levels 4, 5, 6 and 7.

Email us: wbis@chester.ac.uk.