VAE Pathway

Many people learn business or public leadership by doing it. Validation of Acquired Experience (VAE) assesses that learning against the requirements of a formal qualification, so that a career of proven achievement can be recognised without a return to the classroom.

The pathway at a glance

Both fields follow the same two stages: a diploma awarded through VAE, then a capstone that completes the degree.

Business Administration

Public Administration

Holders of a doctorate may apply for the Postdoctoral Fellowship — a research fellowship, not a degree. For non-degree recognition of expertise in a specific field, see Executive Certificates.

The logic of VAE

Learning does not happen only in classrooms. A founder who has built a company, or a public leader who has run a department, a programme or an institution, has learned strategy, finance, operations, leadership and governance by practising them. VAE starts from a simple principle: that learning is real, it can be evidenced, and it can be assessed against the requirements of a qualification.

A career supplies the evidence. The University's academic assessment decides what that evidence demonstrates. Experience is never simply exchanged for a qualification.

Why a diploma first, then a degree

Stage 1 — the diploma recognises what you have already learned. Your experience and qualifications are assessed against the learning outcomes of a diploma. Where they are met, the diploma is awarded. It is a complete qualification in its own right, and it stays valid whether or not you go on to the capstone.

Stage 2 — the degree adds an examined piece of written work. A degree asks you to show, in writing, that you can analyse a real problem at the level of the degree. The capstone supplies that evidence. It is examined by the University's Committee, and the degree is conferred only when it is approved.

Every graduate of the pathway therefore holds three things: a certificate, a record of what was validated, and an examined piece of work standing behind the degree.

Who VAE is for

VAE is designed for people whose learning is proven by what they have done: founders and executives who built and led enterprises, public servants and institutional leaders who carried responsibility for policy, programmes and people, and professionals whose expertise is documented by a track record rather than a transcript. Many never had the time to study formally.

Achievement is valuable evidence, but it is not in itself proof. Every assessment asks five questions:

• 1

  What do you understand?

• 2

  How did you develop that understanding, and how have you applied it?

• 3

  Which decisions were personally yours?

• 4

  What evidence supports the results you claim?

• 5

  Does that learning meet the requirements of the qualification you seek?

Stage 1 — the diploma

The interactive application. You apply through SABI University's interactive application, which collects your qualifications, roles, responsibilities and achievements, and asks follow-up questions shaped by your answers. Where your evidence leaves an area uncovered, it asks you to address it.

What each diploma establishes. The two fields follow the same levels:

• Undergraduate Diploma — broad knowledge of the field and its effective application, with sound practical judgement. In Business Administration: operations, customers, finance and people. In Public Administration: public services, governance, budgets and stakeholders.

• Graduate Diploma — management responsibility and strategic judgement: leading teams and functions, deciding under uncertainty, and integrating the disciplines of the field.

• Postgraduate Diploma — the research competencies on which doctoral work rests: formulating a researchable problem, evaluating relevant literature, selecting a methodology, analysing evidence, and applying research ethics. These can be shown through existing professional work, such as investigations, strategy or policy reviews, or published studies.

The decision. The VAE Committee may award the diploma, ask for further evidence, or decline. Holding a qualification or a number of years' experience makes you eligible to be assessed; it does not by itself earn the diploma. Full learning outcomes and assessment criteria are provided with the application.

Stage 2 — the capstone and the degree

Each capstone asks for a different kind of work, not simply more of it. The same levels apply in both fields:

• Bachelor's level — about 5,000 words. Apply the concepts of the field to a defined organisational or public-sector problem, analyse the evidence and justify practical recommendations.

• Master's level — about 10,000 words. Integrate several disciplines to evaluate a complex strategic or policy problem, compare alternatives, and assess implementation and results.

• Doctoral level — about 20,000 words. Investigate a significant business or public-administration problem with a defensible method, engage with relevant scholarship, and demonstrate an original contribution to knowledge or practice.

Word counts are guidance. The Committee judges whether the work reaches the level of the degree.

Using work you have already done. Your capstone may build on a transformation you led, a strategy or policy you designed, or a study you published. Existing work is submitted with a written commentary setting out the problem, your personal contribution, the methods and evidence, the results and their limitations, and the contribution you claim. The work must be your own. If any part of it has supported another qualification, you disclose that and identify the additional contribution.

Submission. You submit the capstone with a self-evaluation against the degree criteria. For both doctorates, the examination has three required parts, none conducted live: a recorded presentation of your work; questions the Committee selects after reviewing it; and your written or recorded answers.

The decision. The Committee may confer the degree, require revisions, or decide the requirements have not been met. If the capstone is not approved, your diploma remains.

Why the doctoral capstone is shorter than a research dissertation. The Executive Doctor of Business Administration is also offered through our Supervised Research Pathway, with a dissertation of 40,000 to 60,000 words. Both routes must demonstrate the same doctoral outcomes to the same standard. On the VAE route — for both the EDBA and the Doctor of Public Administration — the outcomes are assessed through the combined evidence of your validated portfolio, your capstone and your examination. The 20,000-word guideline does not lower the standard; where the evidence falls short, the Committee will require more.

Postdoctoral Fellowship

The Postdoctoral Fellowship is a research fellowship, not a degree. It is open to holders of a doctorate who have carried out substantial research beyond the work behind that doctorate. You submit a research portfolio — published work, corporate or policy research, or a major strategy or transformation project — with a written commentary. The Committee assesses it against the fellowship criteria.

Your credential, verifiable anywhere

Every award is registered in the University's online verification system. That gives you:

With each award you also receive a Record of Validation, setting out what was assessed and the evidence examined, and, for a degree, a copy of your examined capstone.

Verification confirms issuance by SABI University. What each organisation does with that confirmation is governed by its own policies.

Fees

The processing fee is collected when you submit your application. If your application is rejected by the Committee, the full fee is refunded. Payment does not guarantee an award and does not excuse false, incomplete or unverifiable information.

Open to applicants worldwide

The VAE pathway is open to candidates of any nationality and country of residence. There is no requirement to travel, relocate or attend in person — the application, assessment and examination are conducted online. Supporting documents may be submitted in any language; the University prepares English summaries for review. Applicants remain responsible for the accuracy and authenticity of what they submit.

An established international practice

Assessing learning acquired through work is established in several countries, each applying it in its own way: Validation des Acquis de l'Expérience in France; Recognition of Prior Learning in the United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland; Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition in Canada; and APEL.Q in Malaysia, which combines assessment of experiential learning with a capstone. The scope differs between systems — some award complete qualifications, others grant admission or credit. These examples show that assessing prior learning is an accepted academic practice; they do not indicate that any of those systems has approved SABI University's awards.

Integrity

• The University verifies qualifications, roles and claimed achievements, and may contact employers, awarding institutions and referees.

• An award may be withdrawn if it was obtained through false or misleading information, a material omission affecting eligibility or the award, or work that is not the candidate's own. The candidate is told the grounds and may respond first.

• No award is made without a decision of the Committee. Technology supports the application; every academic decision is taken by people.

VAE, supervised research, or an Executive Certificate?

• VAE recognises learning you already have, and leads to a degree through a diploma and a capstone.

• The Supervised Research Pathway is for candidates who want to undertake new research under an appointed supervisor and submit a full dissertation. It leads to the Executive Doctor of Business Administration and the Postdoctoral Fellowship.

• Executive Certificates are non-degree credentials recognising expertise in a specific field.

The Office of Admissions can advise which route suits you before you apply.

Awards depend on meeting the eligibility, evidence and assessment requirements of the selected qualification. Recognition and acceptance of any qualification rest with the receiving organisation under its own policies.