As this booklet describes, New Zealand's Education Amendment Act of 1990 made the country's Qualifications Authority (QA) responsible for developing and implementing a process for recognition of prior learning (RPL) that would enable individuals to receive formal recognition for skills and knowledge they already possess. As of 1993, the QA had initiated a contract for the development of unit standards for persons administering/implementing RPL and unit standards to assist candidates in preparing for the RPL assessment process. The booklet provides practical information on the RPL assessment process and identifies the relevant requirements of the QA for its implementation. The following information is presented: the development and purposes of the RPL process, principles underlying the RPL process, potential candidates for RPL, providers and assessors permitted to award credit for unit standards, extension of provider accreditation to implement RPL and National Standards Body accreditation to register RPL assessors, and procedures for moderation of RPL assessment. Appended are the following: a model of good practice in implementing the RPL process, personal profiles of eight individuals who have applied for credit for their prior learning, the QA policy on RPL, a glossary, and an annotated bibliography of 19 selected publications related to RPL. (MN)