Instead of spending 3 to 4 years completing the Bachelor of Applied Business Administration program, learners can shorten the duration to just 9 months and save 80% of costs through the APEL.Q process.
Receive a Level 6 Diploma in Business Management from the Ofqual UK.Gov Awarding Body OTHM, recognized in over 180 countries and territories, including the United States and Canada.
Advantages of the Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning for Qualifications (APEL.Q) Process:
APEL.Q – Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning for Qualifications is a competency recognition process (APEL) for awarding qualifications (Q – Qualification) through comprehensive assessment and evaluation of knowledge and skills acquired from formal and informal education, corporate training, and practical work experience. This process is widely implemented in Europe and has recently been legalized as an official national recognition procedure in several Asian countries. APEL.Q is considered an effective policy to promote liberal education, labor mobility, and lifelong learning.
APEL.Q enables individuals with expertise and practical experience but without formal qualifications to convert their experience into a recognized diploma. The process is designed to be transparent, fair, accurate, and cost-effective, offering flexible learning opportunities for workers.
While traditional degree programs award qualifications based on academic participation, APEL.Q follows the reverse approach: assessing actual competencies based on job positions and government-defined levels to grant qualifications. These qualifications are issued by professional organizations or universities that recognize this process.
At the Schweizer Institut für Hochschulbildung in Management und Innovation (MI Swiss), the APEL.Q process is implemented through two specific steps:
Candidates who complete this process can graduate and receive a diploma, saving up to 85% of study time and 80% of costs compared to traditional full-time programs in Europe.
Graduates of the APEL.Q program at MI Swiss will receive:
To ensure international recognition and effectiveness in the professional environment, MI Swiss adopts the competency framework developed by the UK government with contributions from major organizations and corporations such as Barclays, BT, BBC, NHS, Santander UK plc, Virgin Media, and other reputable institutions. This framework is supported and advised by the Senior Leader Bureau, providing practical value and meeting real-world labor market demands.
MI Swiss takes pride in being the first independent institution worldwide to implement APEL.Q while ensuring that the results are recognized by partner universities. With a transparent, fair, and precise process, APEL.Q at MI Swiss strictly adheres to national competency frameworks, making it an optimal solution for competency recognition. Instead of relying on traditional examinations, APEL.Q directly assesses actual competencies, making qualification granting more effective and aligned with modern industry requirements.
Upon completing the program, learners will receive a recognized qualification in over 180 countries and territories:
All assessment criteria in the APEL.Q program are advised by the Senior Leader Bureau United Kingdom and officially published by the UK government. These criteria align with real-world workplace requirements and are developed with contributions from prestigious organizations and corporations, including:
View the assessment criteria [HERE]
Learners can complete the program in just 9 – 12 months through two key activities:
Compared to tuition and living expenses for full-time students in the UK, you only need to pay 20% of the total cost.
The awarded qualification provides a significant advantage in the international job market, supporting employment opportunities abroad and within foreign enterprises. Additionally, this qualification facilitates labor mobility and international migration, enabling learners to secure jobs quickly and reduce the risk of unemployment, particularly for mid-career professionals.
Reference:
To enroll in the APEL.Q competency assessment program, learners must meet the following requirements:
Diploma | APEL.Q Bachelor | APEL.Q Master | APEL.Q Doctorate | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | High School IGCSE A-Level T-Level Level 3 EQF |
10 years | Not Applicable | Not Applicable |
2 | Certificate Level 4 Intermediate Level 4 EQF |
5 years | 15 years | Not Applicable |
3 | Diploma Level 4 College Level 5 EQF |
5 years | 10 years | Not Applicable |
4 | Bachelor Level 6 EQF Diploma |
Immediately | 5 years | Not Applicable |
5 | Master Level 7 EQF Diploma |
N/A | Immediately | 10 years |
6 | Doctor Level 8 EQF |
N/A | N/A | Immediately |
Note: MI Swiss reserves the right to make admissions decisions based on the requirements of recognized agencies and the global quotas of the program.
Upon completion of the program, learners will receive a qualification recognized in over 180 countries and territories:
The APEL.Q process consists of the following steps:
Learners who wish to do so can opt to convert their e-ProCerts into a physical certificate for a small additional fee.
Watch the video tutorial on obtaining the 10 e-ProCerts [HERE]
Time of Payment | EPA Refund | Capstone Refund (If any) |
---|---|---|
Registration Fee and Application Screening | 100% refund if not passed. | N/A |
Study materials and portfolio preparation guidance fee | 70% refund if not passed. This fee is non-refundable if the candidate does not proceed. | N/A |
End Point Assessment and Qualification Issuance Fee | 80% refund if not passed after being guided for a retake. This fee is non-refundable if the candidate does not proceed. | N/A |
APEL.Q is a unique and humanitarian program designed to support individuals affected by pandemics, wars, and crises—situations that force many to migrate or lose their educational and competency documents. Given its nature, the program aims to provide the best possible opportunities for disadvantaged individuals and those directly impacted by war and crises.
Disadvantaged individuals are those facing life challenges. According to UNESCO, vulnerable groups include:
The Schweizer Institut für Hochschulbildung in Management und Innovation (MI Swiss) is committed to supporting vulnerable communities through a globally inclusive policy applicable to all programs.
Although under the APEL.Q assessment principles, learners are fully responsible for the entire process, MI Swiss collaborates with local partners to provide support, making the process smoother and more accessible.
The exclusive scientific partner of MI Swiss will accompany you throughout the APEL.Q process. However, this partner only provides support and does not complete any part of the process on your behalf. Available support includes:
Learners do not have to pay any additional fees for support provided by the local scientific partner.
In compliance with EU regulations, including transparency in communication, fair competition, and GDPR, MI Swiss, its partner universities, and local scientific partners (London Academy of Sciences) are not permitted to make commitments beyond their authority. Please refer to the liability disclaimer on the websites of MI Swiss, its partner universities, and local scientific partners for more details.
Learners participating in the APEL.Q process at MI Swiss will receive their qualification and attend the graduation ceremony in Asia alongside MI Swiss students and partner institutions.
If a learner is unable to attend the graduation ceremony, the diploma and certifications from MI Swiss and its partners will be sent to the local partner. Learners can visit the local partner’s office to sign and collect their diploma.
Graduation ceremony costs (if applicable) are not included in the tuition fees.
As APEL.Q is not a traditional academic program, candidates are not granted access to visit the campus, nor are they eligible for invitation letters for tourist or student visas to Switzerland, as is the case with full-time international students.
The entire competency framework used to assess APEL.Q for the Level 6 Diploma in Business Management is advised by the Senior Leader Bureau, based on the professional competency framework for the Chartered Manager position, published and recognized by the UK government.
The competency criteria were developed with contributions from advisory councils representing organizations such as Serco (employer chair), Civil Service (employer chair), Acivico (Birmingham City Council), Anglo Educational, Barclays, BT, Balfour Beatty, Barchester Healthcare, Boots UK Ltd, British Army, BBC, CMI, Co-op, DFS, Grant Thornton, Interserve, JRV Associates, KPMG, Morgan Sindell, NHS (Dept of Health), Nestlé, Opus Building Services, Pearson, Pendragon plc, Ricoh, Sainsbury’s, Santander UK plc, Speedy Services, umi Digital, Unipart, United Utilities plc, Virgin Media, Wincanton, and XPO Logistics.
APEL.Q for the Bachelor of Applied Business Administration Program corresponds to Level 6 (Bachelor) under the UK’s national qualification framework (RQF), recognized by Ofqual (UK Gov), equivalent to:
Level | Competency Framework | Equivalent Degree |
---|---|---|
6 | Level UK (RQF) | degree apprenticeship graduate certificate graduate diploma level 6 diploma level 6 NVQ ordinary degree without honours |
10 | Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) | Honours Degree Graduate Certificate / Diploma Professional Development Awards SCQF Level 9 Bachelors/Ordinary Degree Graduate Certificate / Diploma Professional Development Awards SVQ 4 |
FHEQ level six – undergraduate programme year three | Frameworks for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ) | Degree Degree with honours – for example bachelor of the arts (BA) hons, bachelor of science (BSc) hons |
6 | The European Qualifications Framework (EQF) | Level 6 Vocational Qualifications Bachelor Degree Bachelor Degree with Hons |
7-8 | Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) | Bachelor Degree (Level 7) Bachelor Degree with Hons (Level 8) |
7-8 | African Continental Qualifications Framework (ACQF) | Bachelor Degree (Level 7) Bachelor Degree with Hons (Level 8) |
6 | ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework (ARQF) | Level 6 Vocational Qualifications Bachelor Degree Bachelor Degree with Hons |
Detailed Competency Framework:
Knowledge | What is required |
---|---|
Organisational Performance – delivering a long-term purpose | |
Strategy | Understand how to develop and implement organisational strategy and plans, including approaches to resource and supply chain management, workforce development, sustainability, taking and managing risk, monitoring and evaluation, and quality assurance. Know how to manage change in the organisation. |
Project Management | Know how a project moves through planning, design, development, deployment and evaluation. Understand risk management models and reporting, risk benefit analysis and H&S implications. |
Business Finance | Understand financial strategies, including budgets, financial management and accounting, and how to provide financial reports. Understand approaches to procurement and contracting, and legal requirements. Understand commercial context in an organisational setting and how this changes over time. |
Sales and Marketing | Know how to create marketing and sales strategies. Know how to segment and target relevant markets and customers (global and local), analysis of opportunities and ways to market. Understand the need for innovation in product and service design. |
Digital business & new technologies | Understand approaches to innovation and digital technologies and their impact on organisations, and how their application can be used for organisational improvement and development. Understand innovation and digital technology’s impact on data and knowledge management for analysing business decision-making. |
Interpersonal Excellence – leading people and developing collaborative relationships | |
Communication | Understand different forms of communication (written, verbal non-verbal, digital) and how to apply them. Know how to maintain personal presence and present to large groups. Awareness of interpersonal skills of effective listening, influencing techniques, negotiating and persuasion. |
Leading People | Understand different inclusive leadership styles and models, how to develop teams and support people using coaching and mentoring approaches. Understand organisational culture and diversity management. |
Managing People | Know how to recruit, manage and develop people, using inclusive talent management approaches. How to use HR systems and processes to ensure legal requirements, H&S, and well-being needs. Know how to set goals and manage performance. |
Developing Collaborative Relationships | Understand approaches to stakeholder, customer and supplier management, developing engagement, facilitating cross functional working and negotiation. Know how to shape common purpose, as well as approaches to conflict management and dispute resolution. |
Personal Effectiveness – managing self | |
Awareness of self and others | Know how to be self–aware and recognise different learning styles. Know how to use emotional and social intelligence, and active listening and open questioning to work effectively with others. |
Management of Self | Know how to manage time, set goals, prioritise activities and undertake forward planning in a business environment with a focus on outcomes. |
Decision Making | Know how to undertake research, data analysis, problem solving and decision-making techniques, and understand the values, ethics and governance of your organisation. |
Skills | What is required (acquired and demonstrated through continuous professional development in the workplace) |
Organisational Performance -– delivering a long-term purpose | |
Operational Strategy | Support the development of organisational strategies and plans. Develop and deliver operational plans; being able to set targets and KPIs, manage resources, and monitor and measure outcomes to establish operational effectiveness, efficiencies and excellence. Produce reports that clearly present information and data, using a range of interpretation and analytical processes. Gain wide support to deliver successful outcomes. |
Project Management | Plan, organise and manage resources in order to achieve organisational goals. Identify key outcomes, develop and implement plans and monitor progress, and provide reports as required. Proactively identify risk and create plans for their mitigation. Able to initiate, lead and drive change within the organisation, identifying barriers/challenges and how to overcome them. Ability to use widely recognised project management tools. |
Business Finance | Managing budgets, controlling expenditure and production of financial reports. |
Sales and Marketing | Use of customer insight and analysis of data to determine and drive customer service outcomes and improve customer relationships. Creative approaches to developing solutions to meet customer need. |
Digital business & new technologies | Able to identify service/organisational improvements and opportunities for innovation and growth, using qualitative and quantitative analysis of information and data and benchmarking against others. |
Interpersonal Excellence – leading people and developing collaborative relationships | |
Communication | Communicate clearly, effectively and regularly using oral, written and digital channels and platforms. Use active listening and open questioning to structure conversations and discussions, and able to challenge when appropriate. Manage and chair meetings and clearly present actions and outcomes. Ability to apply influencing and persuading skills, to the dynamics and politics of personal interactions. |
Leading People | Able to articulate organisational purpose and values. Support the creation of an inclusive, high performance work culture. Enable others to achieve by developing and supporting them through coaching and mentoring. |
Managing People | Able to build teams, empower and motivate others to improve performance or achieve outcomes. Able to delegate to others, provide clear guidance and monitor progress. Ability to set goals and accountabilities. |
Developing Collaborative Relationships | Able to build rapport and trust, develop networks and maintain relationships with people from a range of cultures, backgrounds and levels. Able to contribute within a team environment. Effectively influence and negotiate, being able to have challenging conversations and give constructive feedback. Work collaboratively with internal and external customers and suppliers. |
Personal Effectiveness – managing self | |
Awareness of self and others | Able to reflect on own performance, identifying and acting on learning and development needs. Ability to understand impact on others. Can manage stress and personal well-being, and confident in knowing core values and drivers. |
Management of Self | Able to create personal development plan, and use widely recognised tools and techniques to ensure the management of time and pressure effectively, and prioritisation and strategic alignment of activities. |
Decision Making | Use evidence-based tools and ethical approaches to undertake problem solving and critical analysis, synthesis and evaluation to support decision making. |
Behaviours | What is required (developed and exhibited in the workplace) |
Takes responsibility | Drive to achieve in all aspects of work. Demonstrates resilience and determination when managing difficult situations. Seeks new opportunities underpinned by commercial acumen and sound judgement. |
Inclusive | Open, approachable, authentic, and able to build trust with others. Seeks the views of others and values diversity internally and externally. |
Agile | Flexible to the needs of the organisation. Is creative, innovative and enterprising when seeking solutions to business needs. Positive and adaptable, responding well to feedback and need for change. Open to new ways of working and new management theories. |
Professionalism | Sets an example, and is ethical, fair, consistent and impartial. Operates within organisational values and adheres to the requirements of relevant professional bodies. |
Certifications and Qualifications
You can provide the certifications and diplomas you have accumulated:
Work-Related Documents
You may submit documents and records that you have accessed or created during your work experience. To protect your confidentiality, we only require reference information to verify your competencies. We do not accept confidential or sensitive information from you or your organization.
Other Supporting Documents
You may also provide other evidence from your daily life:
Applicants are encouraged to thoroughly research and verify all relevant information from reliable sources before enrolling in the APEL.Q process at Schweizer Institut für Hochschulbildung in Management und Innovation (MI Swiss).
MI Swiss, its partners, and local partners strictly adhere to EU regulations on transparency and GDPR compliance. MI Swiss and its partners do not make commitments beyond their jurisdiction.