University of Tasmania, Australia

Vocational skills and qualifications

We recognise that many students will come into this degree with a significant amount of current vocational skills, knowledge and qualifications. On entry into this degree, students will have the opportunity to be assessed against three levels of existing discipline knowledge. These levels are: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced.

Criteria for assessment will be based on:

• Vocational qualifications (and the breadth/depth of study in those qualifications, recognising that there is considerable variation between the levels of qualifications and also between the different disciplines);
• Tertiary qualifications;
• Accreditation/licensing with industry bodies (sometimes integrated within vocational qualifications);
• Vocational/Discipline experience (breadth/depth/years of experience); and
• Industry currency.

Indicators for each level are shown in the table below.  All criteria would be evenly weighted, with a decision made holistically on the students’ level of discipline knowledge.

Indicators for each level
Criteria	Advanced	Intermediate	Basic
Vocational Qualifications	Cert III with over 1000 nominal hours	Cert III with between 500-1000 hours	Cert III with below 500 nominal hours
	Cert IV with over 1000 nominal hours
	Diploma or Advanced Diploma
	Holds other qualifications relevant to industry	Cert IV with 500-1000 hours	Cert IV with below 500 hours
Tertiary Qualifications	Degree or above
Industry Accreditation / Licence	Holds an industry accreditation or licence requiring significant study (or context-based experience (4 years or more)	Holds an industry accreditation
Vocational/Discipline Experience	More than 8 years of FTE experience	Between 5-8 years of FTE experience	Minimum of 4 years of FTE experience
	Large range of contexts	Moderate range of contexts	Small range of contexts
	Large range of roles within industry and/or significant levels of responsibility.	Moderate range of roles within industry and/or levels of responsibility.	Small range of roles within industry and/or levels of responsibility.
Industry Currency	Can show evidence of continued and deep involvement in activities such as: membership of professional organisations, continued work in the industry, regular workplace visits, participation in Return to Industry projects, research projects and presentations at relevant conferences.	Can show evidence of moderate involvement in activities such as: membership of professional organisations, continued work in the industry, regular workplace visits, participation in Return to Industry projects, research projects and presentations at relevant conferences.	Can show evidence of some involvement in activities such as: membership of professional organisations, continued work in the industry, regular workplace visits, participation in Return to Industry projects, research projects and presentations at relevant conferences.

The units given in credit, for each level, are shown below:

Assessment of Discipline Knowledge	Maximum number of Units of Credit	Specific Units (see figure 5.1)
Basic	4	EAL103, EAL113, EAL203, EAL212
Intermediate	7	EAL103, EAL113, EAL203, EAL212, EAL303, SE1, SE2
Advanced	10	EAL103, EAL113, EAL203, EAL212, EAL303, SE1, SE2, SE3, SE4, EAL324

Training and assessment skills and qualifications

The University also recognises that a number of students enrolling in the Bachelor of Education (Applied Learning) may enter with significant experience and qualifications in training and assessing.  Credit will be given for those holding a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment and/or Diploma in Training and Assessment, as shown in the table below.

Training/Assessment qualifications	Maximum number of Units of Credit	Specific Units
Certificate IV TAA	2	EAL101, EAL210
Diploma TAA	4	EAL101, EAL110, EAL201, EAL210.

Note that students who receive units via the credit arrangement will still have access to the learning materials in the credited units, as they will contain useful resources for later units and will enhance their foundational knowledge of teaching in VET.

Maximum Credit possible:

Under the proposed credit arrangements, the maximum credit available to a student will be 14 units (out of a total of 30 units); granted if they were assessed as holding an advanced level of discipline knowledge and a Diploma in Training and Assessment.

Applicants interested in applying for credit need to complete an ‘Application for Credit’ which they will receive once they have accepted an offer in the Bachelor of Education program.  These applications will be assessed by the Faculty Credit Committee. Students have the right to appeal the decision of the credit committee following existing guidelines for appeals.