This project addresses issues arising from the Bologna Process and reflects concerns that arise from the full implementation of the EQF in all Member States. There are particular concerns that the grade levels used in the EQF are merely indicative and it is difficult to attribute grade levels to performance of specific vocational functions unless this basic work is undertaken. By definition it is in the vocational performance areas rather than academic institutions that field competences must be judged. Building on previous projects including Flexi-Path and working directly with adult educators, the REAL project will develop a toolkit and work with a group of adult educators to level their experiential and informal learning against their national qualifications framework. This proposed accreditation will start to make a change to the power relationships which are present in RPL practices which currently favour the awarding institutions or bodies and tend to work against both the applicant and the whole ethos of RPL. The focus of the REAL project toolkit is on adult educators with qualifications within the EQF range 2-4 which covers most of the practitioners who deliver adult learning opportunities across Europe. In the second part of the project, the partners will work with awarding bodies to investigate the concept of credit exchange and how the REAL toolkit can be used to progress this proposal. This project is not merely an academic exercise: there is a clear intention to assist a small number of individuals to have their competencies ‘kite-marked’ through the accreditation procedures highlighted. The project will enable these adult learners to validate their experience, raise their qualification profile and create a framework for progression to further, higher level qualifications. This approach will contextualise the knowledge and raise skill levels of these adult educators and enhance their employability prospects as key workers in the knowledge society.