UNE Partnerships: The Education and Training Company of the University of New England - Improving individual performance and organisational capability through education and training.

What is vocational education and training?

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Vocational education and training (VET) provides a range of opportunities to develop skills that are applied directly into the workplace, through specific guidelines devised by a national body in consultation with industry, called the National Skills Framework.

The national training system promotes quality and consistency across Australia to ensure relevance and standardisation of qualifications. Each specific industry or sector can develop a training package that identifies the required skills and knowledge to perform effectively within that sector. The training package will define how these skills are developed through specific units of competency that form the requirements of the training package.

In Australia, the VET system is provided by government registered training organisations (RTOs).  These include high schools, the TAFE network, private training and education providers, adult and community education, and universities.  VET offers nationally recognised and respected qualifications, from certificates through to diplomas, and advanced diplomas.

It enables students to develop new skills or enhance existing skills, and opens pathways to further study at university or other higher educational institutions.

Why VET?

The VET system’s greatest strength is its flexibility.  VET students have learning and study options not normally available to students outside the sector.  Programs are delivered through a wide variety of study modes, including online, distance education, and in the workplace. Programs may be customised to suit individual, industry or particular workplace needs. They include apprenticeships and traineeships.

The flexible nature of VET programs extends to assessment methods and study timetables, so that students can learn at a pace that suits their workplace and outside family and personal demands.

A national Australian Quality Training Framework lays down rigorous quality standards for all accredited VET training providers, thereby ensuring the integrity and reputation of VET awards. Students who have acquired skills through previous workplace or other training may be eligible for those skills or experience to be officially acknowledged through a process known as Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).  Prior experience or skills may then be credited towards current VET studies.

Flexibility in program content and course delivery also extends to flexibility of access.  VET students enjoy an equality of access to VET programs irrespective of location, employment status, or demographical background.

Lastly, successful VET study opens defined pathways to university awards, both undergraduate and postgraduate. These pathways complement the acquisition and enhancement of workplace or vocational skills, with the status of university degrees.

How does it work?

Competency based training is at the heart of VET programs. Competency based training requires students to demonstrate that they have attained specific industry standards, which are current, reviewed regularly, and workplace relevant. By meeting those standards and achieving defined learning outcomes in training packages, VET students obtain qualifications directly relevant to their particular industry or profession.  The range of industries or professions serviced by the VET sector is huge, and includes such diverse areas such as practice management, business, community services, mining and engineering, and the general construction and property service sector.

The development of training packages in close consultation with industry groups and employer organisations highlights the intimate inter-connectivity and linkages between the VET provider, the relevant industry group, employers, and the final content of the learning materials delivered to VET students.  Through achieving nationally recognised competencies, the successful VET student acquires new skills and knowledge or consolidates existing skills and knowledge that are valuable and contemporary to the individual student and their current or future employer.

Australian Qualifications Framework

The Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) details the recognised levels of study within the post-compulsory education sector. Awards under the AQF start at Certificate I and progress to Diploma, on to Bachelor and through to Doctoral degrees. Whilst the study level increases with each step there is no requirement for students to approach their studies in a linear fashion, particularly where a different set of skills may be required due to a change in job role.

For example a student who enters the university system after leaving school may enrol in a Bachelor degree. Upon completion of this award they may enter the workforce. At this point they have only limited skills and experience in the ‘application’ of their knowledge. They may choose to enrol in a Certificate IV or Diploma level course to provide them with a vehicle to develop their skills in a workplace setting.

This is often seen in the engineering sector with graduate engineers undertaking vocational training qualifications in project management. It is also seen in other technical fields where professionals move into supervisory or managerial roles with little or no prior management experience. Such people may have a degree in information technology and be enrolled in a Certificate IV in Frontline Management.

Further information on vocational education and training in Australia, can be found on the National Training Information Service. http://www.ntis.gov.au/