Accreditation of prior learning in pre-registration nursing programmes 2: The influence of prior qualifications on perceived learning during the foundation year

SummaryThe perceive learning of pre-registration students nurses during the foundation programme in relation to their prior entry qualifications is investigated at two universities using a quantitative questionnaire. Having ‘A’ levels or National Vocational Qualifications was found to have a significant influence on an individual’s perceived learning. The effect of having level 3 vocational qualifications had a slight negative influence, whilst that of ‘A’ levels was stronger. Findings in relation to perceived learning and prior experiential learning obtained from the application of this questionnaire were reported earlier (Scott, 2007). The implications of both the findings from Scott (2007) and the analysis are discussed here. No evidence was found to support the notion that those with relevant prior learning suffer costs through having to undertake learning the foundation year.