Welcome to the TRU Open Learning PLAR (Prior Learning Assessment & Recognition) Questionnaire. It includes 48 yes/no questions.

This tool, alongside the PLAR Team, will help you decide on your potential to petition for Elective credits in your program via the PLAR Competency-based Portfolio.

PLAR is a service that allows mature students (typically aged 25 and older, though this is a general guideline) to demonstrate their experiential learning to gain potential credits toward their TRU program. The average age of TRU PLAR students is 36, with a wide margin on either side.

The questions you will answer line up with the eight competencies (outlined in your email with the link to this questionnaire) that are an integral part of the Competency-based Portfolio and reflective of TRU’s graduate attributes. It will be essential to answer them with careful thought and honesty. Please also note that as PLAR is a post-secondary process, with the portfolio (that you may end up creating) leading to university-level credits, we ask that you answer the questions with only your post-high school learning and experiences in mind.

If you answer ‘No’ to many of the questions, this does not necessarily mean that you will not be a suitable candidate to enter PLAR. It may mean that you are a suitable candidate to petition for Lower-Level (i.e., 1000/2000-level courses or first/second year) credits, though may also receive Upper-Level (i.e., 3000/4000-level courses or third/fourth year) credits upon assessment. Or, it may mean that you are stronger in some competencies than you are in others, which is very common.

It may, however, mean that you are not a suitable candidate at this time, but this conclusion is just as important to identify. Our goal is to guide students toward success; if students enter the process when they may not have yet gained the learning that leads to credit award, it may be time and money better spent on taking courses.

If you are not a suitable candidate to enter the Competency-based Portfolio process, you are welcome to do this questionnaire again down the road with further experience and learning behind you. If you are a suitable candidate, however, we will offer you further information regarding the Competency-based Portfolio and give you the option to enter the process.

Once you have completed the questionnaire, the PLAR Advisors will look at your Program Plan (to see what Elective space is remaining open and whether it is Lower- and/or Upper-Level) alongside your questionnaire responses, and get back to you within approximately ten business days with information regarding your PLAR potential. Should it appear as though you may be a suitable candidate, there will be one more screening step before having the option to move forward with portfolio creation.

There are 48 questions, which may take approximately 15-20 minutes to respond to.