Validation of Acquired Experience (VAE)

Any person, regardless of age, nationality, status or level of education, who can demonstrate experience in an activity directly related to the content of the certification sought may apply for validation of experience in all or part of the certification (skill blocks).

This certification, which may take the form of a diploma, title or certificate of professional qualification, must be registered in the Répertoire national des certifications professionnelles (RNCP).

The candidate may submit only one application per certification in the same calendar year. Candidates may submit up to three applications for different certifications in the same calendar year.

Please note that in order to best follow the VAE action, it is recommended that the candidate be able to mobilize written and oral expression skills in French (equivalent to level C2 in French in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages - CEFR).
 

The certification obtained through VAE, in whole or in part of the skill blocks, has the same value as that obtained through training. In addition, those who choose to do so - on an individual basis - are seeking at the very least career security, but often also recognition and a sense of pride, a gain in confidence and mastery, and opportunities for advancement.

It is also of great interest for companies to participate in what is commonly known as a Group VEA for trade groups, a program that often includes training supplements. In fact, it is an ideal way to respond to the challenges of forward-looking jobs and skills management. The latter aims to increase the value of employees, develop their employability, support organizational changes, maintain skills and, finally, enhance the company's image of professionalism.
 

The VAE is a real journey and the candidate must go through many stages before appearing before the jury. In fact, after obtaining a favorable opinion from the certifier, the VAE candidate compiles a structured, illustrated file that covers his or her experience, activities and skills, and attaches "evidence".

Committing to a VAE process is thus not an administrative formality, but a genuine work of analysis and reflexivity that requires commitment and motivation.

Coaching is often essential to the success of this journey, which lasts at least several months.
 

The VAE program at Audencia lasts from 6 to 18 months (12 months on average) and consists of the following phases:

• Information, orientation and advice

A study of the opportunity and feasibility of the VAE project

Proposal of the path: VAE Coaching + Additional Recommendations (optional and non-binding)

• Admissibility check

Favorable or unfavorable opinion issued by the Commission (two consultation periods per year for admissibility applications, excluding VAE)

• Contractualization

VAE Coaching. Audencia + Complementary Actions (optional and without commitment) + Jury or Jury only

• Preparing for the VAE

Compilation of the VAE file and preparation for the jury interview

VAE Audencia Accompaniment (two sessions per year, excluding VAE Collective) or without Audencia Accompaniment

• Jury and Post-jury

Examination of the file and interview with the jury

3 outcomes: full validation, partial validation, validation denied

Full or Block Certification

Additional recommendations for partial validation

• Alumni Integration

Access to the services offered by Audencia

Network integration after validation

As a certifying body, Audencia is responsible for evaluating the candidate's application, and organizes it into 3 stages:

The consulting phase (free of charge) helps to determine the opportunity and the feasibility of the certification project. Positioning yourself is a key step in mobilizing the best mechanisms and committing yourself under the right conditions. After completing a file on the skills and motivations that guide your project, our in-house experts will offer their opinions and advice.

Admissibility (€350) makes your VAE application official. The admissibility booklet to be created and specific to Audencia is structured in accordance with the French Education Code art. R335-7. In addition, this eligibility phase is carried out through a digital portal that is open at least twice a year. Only complete applications submitted through our portal and for which payment has been made will be considered by an admissions committee.

The evaluation of the candidate's application for validation towards certification (€3,500 without support and €7,500 with support) is based on an analysis of the validation of prior learning file prepared by the candidate. To complete and deepen the analysis of the file, the jury invites the candidate to an interview. Once your file has been compiled, you will be invited to appear before the jury. You will be invited to appear before the jury within 12 months of becoming eligible, or within 18 months of becoming eligible. Your VAE application must be submitted through a portal before the deadlines specified in the contractual schedules. Only VAE files submitted through this portal will be proposed to the jury.

This file must enable the jury to assess whether the candidate has the skills expected by the diploma, its certification reference and the skill blocks. The interview provides the jury with additional information. Candidates are given 10 minutes to explain their VAE application. If they wish, they may use one or more aids (PowerPoint presentation, multimedia tools, etc.) or refer to any work they have done to support their presentation. Jury members will then interview the candidate for approximately 50 minutes based on the VAE file and presentation. The goal of the interview is to have the candidate clarify and analyze certain aspects of his or her experience and skills based on the dossier and presentation.

Depending on the diploma, its certification framework and its competency blocks, the jury assesses the skills acquired by the candidate during his or her experience and verifies that they correspond to those expected. The board then decides on the scope of the validation granted (competency block(s), certification) and develops the argumentation for its decision.

VAE coaching is not required, but is highly recommended.

In fact, the main work of writing the VAE dossier and preparing for the interview with the jury takes about 150 to 200 hours for the candidate.

At Audencia, VAE Coaching, integrated into the course, is an individualized program of approximately 10 months with the following objectives

1. Analyze your career path and activities from the perspective of the certification you seek
2. Evaluate your performance against the Skills Repository
3. Reflect on practices implemented during "key" experiences
4. Structure and share your presentations for recognition

In order to achieve these objectives, Audencia, as a coaching organization, carries out technical and pedagogical supervised and supported phases and evaluates the candidate's progress throughout the coaching (preparation and participation in group sessions, follow-up work, interviews and individual work to complete the dossier and prepare for the interview).

In this regard, VAE Coaching involves a series of scheduled periods.

Among the communication media, a learning platform forms the guide to these periods, their monitoring and many of our discussions during the process. Thus, in addition to press articles, research and studies from the Knowledge Hub (Audencia's media library), this platform offers you access to a catalog of training courses and content on:

• Marketing
• Human Resources
• Strategy
• Team Management
• Sales / Negotiation
• Communication
• Professional Effectiveness
• Personal Development
• Project Management
• People Management
• Finance and Management
• Industrial Management

After the initial information/orientation/counseling phase, Audencia will propose a schedule* with two possible starting dates (September or March), i.e. one entry every 6 months maximum to commit to the VAE pathway.

*Other schedules may be available to reduce admission times - please contact us for details.

NB: Group VAE schedules are defined based on company needs and demand. Schedule available upon request.

NB: These rates include the administrative registration fee

*Admissibility fees are earned once an admissibility file is submitted. They are not refundable, especially in the case of an unfavorable decision by the Commission. Please note that a positive application is valid in Audencia for 18 months, assuming the jury meets within this period. After this period, a new application for admissibility must be submitted.

The schedules of the proposed courses have been designed in such a way that after the registration, Audencia will propose the coaching and/or the jury within one year, and in case of impediment, the passage to the next jury.

**VAE support is a flat fee model, the terms of which are specified in the coaching program and its schedule at the time of enrollment. At the time of enrollment, the Candidate agrees to attend individual appointments, group workshops and follow-up work. Except in duly recognized cases of force majeure, the General Terms and Conditions apply and the full cost of the coaching remains due.

Financing

Different types of funding can be mobilized as part of a VAE program, and it is advisable to learn about them as soon as you begin the process, depending on your status and the conditions under which they can be mobilized (to learn more):

• Self-funding
• Personal Training Account (excluding Jury fees only)
• Employer (Skills Development Plan)
• Transitions Pro
• Operator Skills (OPCO)
• Pôle Emploi (Employment Aid Center)
• Regional Council

In order to define possible funding arrangements, it is advisable to make an appointment as soon as you start thinking about it:

• Public Sector Employees (Civil Servants and Contractual Employees): Ask your Training or Human Resources Advisor for information and review the programs available: https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/N186
• Private sector employee, job seeker, or in any other situation, contact your Professional Advancement Advisor
• If you are disabled, you can also contact the Agefiph organization

VAE Coaching is primarily offered in remote mode for ease of organization. However, the face-to-face mode can be requested and implemented if needed or preferred by the candidate.

Note that although they can be organized remotely under conditions of pre-organization, VAE juries, for their part, are organized face-to-face at the Atlantic Campus site in Nantes.

Finally, there is no limit to the number of candidates admitted per session, and the grouping of remote workshops does not exceed 8 candidates and is subject to duplication depending on the number of candidates.

The VAE support, totaling 25 hours, as well as the candidate's individual work, is broken down as follows.

Group workshops:

• 4 x 3 hour coaching workshops focusing on: Analysis, Evaluation, Reflection, Acknowledgment
• 1 Knowledge Hub Workshop "Documentary Research and Reference Management

Synchronous time for methodological assistance in describing and analyzing experiences, formalizing and writing the dossier, preparing for the interview with the jury.

Follow-up work:

• The candidate will be asked to do preparatory and follow-up work one week before and two weeks after the workshop.

Approximate time for each workshop: 1h30 per workshop

Individual interviews:

• Up to 12 hours of consultation time - synchronous and asynchronous exchanges.

The individuality of each pathway and the specific requirements associated with certification.

Individual work

• The main task, writing up the VAE dossier and preparing for the interview with the jury, takes the candidate about 150 to 1200 hours.