There is a simple rule at the heart of practical assessment: if you’re assessing a skill, you have to see the student do it. 

Knowledge assessment and skill assessment are not interchangeable. If we are assessing knowledge, the student must tell us something. If we are assessing a skill, we have to watch them perform it — or examine the product they have created, whether that is the dish they cooked, the report they wrote, or the thing they built. A student explaining how they would do something is not evidence that they can do it. Questioning can give you evidence of knowledge, but questioning on its own can almost never give you evidence of skill that meets the Rules of Evidence. 

The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) have just released their Regulatory Risk Priorities for 2023-2024 and there is a bit of chatter on LinkedIn about one particular priority of VET Workforce Capability (initiated by my esteemed colleague, Wendy Cato). Based on some of the comments, I thought I would post here my utopia of developing a trainer and assessor for the VET workforce.

TAE 5.0 contains a new version of the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE40122). How does TAE40122 differ from TAE40116, and how will its release affect holders of TAE40116 and/or TAE40110? Will all VET trainers and assessors need to upgrade their qualifications? How will TAE40122 fit in the forthcoming revised RTO Standards?

An RTO’s main piece of public-facing information that is available to regulators is the website along with social media. This is where information can be gathered about the RTO. How long since your RTO has conducted an in-depth website audit to make sure it was compliant?

One of the acceptable forms of evidence for maintaining trainer and assessor currency includes reading of journals. Sometimes it can be easier to take in and retain information by listening to it rather than reading it.

At VETNEXUS, we are passionate about developing the digital literacy skills of our learners and workers. We live in a digital society. This relates to education, work and community.

In Australia, international students are persons who hold a student visa. Until recently, international students were only allowed to study courses listed on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS).

In 2020, a large number of training packages had updates approved by the AISC. Some of these were significant. Transition planning is an activity that the majority of RTOs need to be undertaking right now to ensure timeframes are met.

There’s never been a more important time for RTOs to create winning marketing strategies. Why, consumer trust is at an all time low thanks to the uncertainty that COVID-19 has brought with it.

It is important to note that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ in terms of meeting an organisation’s requirements. Your RTO is different to the RTO down the road, and you will have different processes and ways of assessing.

The vocational education and training (VET) sector is full of acronyms as we all know, and add some technology acronyms to the list and it gets even more confusing.

Online delivery of Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Australia has been on the rise in recent years.

In a post COVID world we are evolving and shifting. The need for adaptive delivery of training has meant a shift that cannot be ignored.

Over the years I believe schools have breached this Great Divide between systems - realising that there is no ‘one size fits all’ model when it comes to schooling and each school has their own particular strength or ethos.

I hear this question often. However, my question in reply – is validation a process that is passed or failed?

International students are often mature students, in a foreign country, adjusting to life in Australia, speaking a second language and then adjusting to studying within a new field.

Can you change another RTO’s content to suit your formatting requirements?

According to the National Register, there are 3296 RTOs who are registered to deliver some sort of training component out of the BSB training package.

The AQF (Australian Qualifications Framework) review in 2019 signalled a new era for a holistic training system in Australia.