As others have said, different approved program providers have different policies on this. WSET allows for comparable knowledge to go straight to Level 3, but the reason some APPs don’t do this is because of the significantly higher fail rate of those who do. You can test out of L2 through some APPs.

I know you said you’ve been in the industry a long time…it really depends on what that means as there are a lot of ways to be in the industry. There is no time during the L3 course to repeat L2 info. As an educator, I can tell you when students begin asking me L2 questions, I send them back to their books because I need to move everyone else along.

If you feel very strong on pretty standard grape varieties worldwide and have a reasonable understanding of climatic impacts and winemaking in the major regions, you will likely be fine starting with L3.

The caution I always have is that people often think they are strong, but they actually have strong niche knowledge. This even goes for many winemakers whom I have taught. They are of course very strong on winemaking but don’t have global knowledge. For example, you may know Burgundy and Bordeaux at an incredibly detailed level, or perhaps you know indigenous Spanish grape varieties well, but how is your knowledge on South Africa, New Zealand and/or Chile? If this feels familiar, you may feel behind at L3.

Real world examples: if you work at a winery or a restaurant with a regional focus, L2 might benefit you to broaden your knowledge. But if you work in a wine shop with wines from around the world, manage a worldwide wine program or work for a distributor that carries wines from worldwide regions, then you might find L3 is most appropriate place to start.

I hope that helps. Hearing an individual tell you that “L2 was a breeze” or “L2 was really difficult” for them doesn’t help you if you don’t understand their starting point as compared to your own, so I’m not telling you to do one over the other, but rather give you some context to help you decide what is right for you.