Working under Supervision

Introduction

Working under supervision is a great way for people with trade or vocational experience to be supported in taking that first step in delivering training and assessment in the VET sector.

If your Registered Training Organisation (RTO) engages a person who does not hold the required competencies to be a trainer and assessor, that person needs to be supervised by a qualified trainer to maintain the quality of your training and assessment.

The Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015 (the Standards), sets out what is required when using a person who does not hold the required competencies as a trainer and assessor. Whereas the Users’ guide to the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015 details what an RTO must give consideration to when determining supervision requirements.

What does the Users’ guide to the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015 say?

Clauses 1.17 to 1.20—Provide supervision of trainers where needed

Clause 1.17

Where the RTO, in delivering training and assessment, engages an individual who is not a trainer or assessor, the individual works under the supervision of a trainer and does not determine assessment outcomes.

Clause 1.18

The RTO ensures that any individual working under the supervision of a trainer under clause 1.17:

a)   holds the training and assessment credential specified in Item 6 of Schedule 1
b)   has vocational competencies at least to the level being delivered and assessed
c)   has current industry skills directly relevant to the training and assessment being provided.

Clause 1.19

Where the RTO engages an individual under clause 1.17, it ensures that the training and assessment complies with Standard 1.

Clause 1.20

Without limiting clauses 1.17 to 1.19, the RTO:
a)   determines and puts in place:
i)   the level of the supervision required.
ii)   any requirements, conditions or restrictions considered necessary on the individual’s involvement in the provision of training and collection of assessment evidence.
b)   ensures that trainers providing supervision monitor and are accountable for all training provision and collection of assessment evidence by the individual under their supervision.

What do clauses 1.17 to 1.20 mean for your RTO?

You need to consider the level of training and assessment skills and knowledge the person working under supervision has and put in place arrangements for appropriate supervision and guidance. For example, a person who has recently completed the Enterprise Trainer—Presenting Skill Set but who has little or no experience as a trainer will require a program of close supervision and mentoring, until they have demonstrated a reasonable level of skill, after which time the supervision requirements could be reviewed.

Regardless of their skills and knowledge, a person that does not hold the required competencies:

must be formally supervised.
must not determine assessment outcomes.

People working under supervision arrangements can only provide training if they have the vocational competencies and current industry skills and knowledge relevant to the training being delivered. Training is best provided by those who can undertake—to an industry-standard level—all of the tasks defined in the elements of units of competency and modules.

In addition, they must hold one of the following:

TAESS00007 Enterprise Trainer—Presenting Skill Set
TAESS00014 Enterprise Trainer—Presenting Skill Set (or its successor)
TAESS00008 Enterprise Trainer—Mentoring Skill Set
TAESS00013 Enterprise Trainer—Mentoring Skill Set (or its successor)
TAESS00003 Enterprise Trainer and Assessor Skill Set
TAESS00015 Enterprise Trainer and Assessor Skill Set (or its successor).

Note: The above-mentioned requirements for skill sets are as currently defined in the Standards for Registered Training Organisation (RTOs) 2015.

Assessment decisions may only be made by a qualified assessor. A qualified assessor may make assessment decisions in conjunction with the person being supervised, who may gather some or all of the relevant evidence. The supervising trainer and assessor:

is responsible for the quality of training delivered.
makes all final decisions about assessment outcomes.

The level of formality needed in supervision arrangements will depend on many factors, including the number of people working under these arrangements. Regardless, RTOs must retain evidence showing:

what the arrangements are.
that they have been fully implemented.

If you have a large number of people working under supervision, you may need a formal framework of supervision, review and monitoring. If the arrangements are for a very small number of people or for a short time only (e.g. while a new trainer completes a qualification), more informal arrangements (such as a weekly review/feedback session) may be appropriate.

What differs when working under supervision and delivering Certificate IV in Training and Assessment?

It is critical that training products from the TAE Training Package are delivered to the highest levels of quality, so that trainers and assessors hold all the skills and knowledge required. These training products underpin the quality of vocational education and training in Australia and graduates in these qualifications are responsible for training much of the Australian workforce.

The requirements applying to the delivery of the TAE Training Package, by persons working under supervision, differ to the requirements of all other training products.

Clause 1.23 of the Standards for RTOs 2015, specifies that trainers and assessors delivering the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, Assessor Skill Set, or Advanced Assessor Skill Set must hold one of the following qualifications:

TAE50111 or TAE50116 Diploma of Vocational Education and Training (or its successor*),
TAE50211 or TAE50216 Diploma of Training Design and Development (or its successor*), or
a higher-level qualification in adult education

*Note: The successor to TAE50116 Diploma of Vocational Education and Training is the TAE50122 Diploma of Vocational Education and Training.
The successor to TAE50216 Diploma of Training Design and Development is the TAE50122 Diploma of Vocational Education and Training.

If a trainer does not hold one of the qualifications listed above, the trainer must:

hold TAE40110 and TAELLN411 or TAELLN401A and TAEASS502 or TAEASS502A/B.
or TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (or its successor)
work under the supervision of a trainer/assessor that meets the requirements of Clause 1.23(a), and
not determine assessment outcomes.

Note: The above-mentioned requirements for qualifications are as currently defined in the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015.

How can my RTO demonstrate and provide evidence of compliant practice?

Evidence that supervision arrangements have been implemented could include:

completed review documentation showing that a qualified trainer and assessor has monitored training by observing training sessions whether face to face or online delivery (or both), including providing feedback to students and providing feedback to the person being supervised.
completed assessment materials showing that the supervising trainer and assessor has made final assessment decisions.
interviews with both people to confirm that the supervising arrangements had been implemented as planned.

During a Performance Assessment (audit), ASQA may review student records and interview trainers and assessors to confirm that your supervising arrangements, assurance practices and your documentation are aligned.

New RTOs

If you are seeking registration as an RTO and you intend to have people delivering training or assessment under supervision, you must provide evidence that suitable supervision arrangements have been developed. RTOs must be registered for at least two years before applying to deliver training products from the TAE training package.

Case study No.1

PQR Education delivers a range of ‘trade’ qualifications to apprentices. The RTO recruits trainers and assessors directly from industry, preferably those who wish to continue working in their trade part-time. This means that they often have new trainers and assessors who do not have the required credentials to provide unsupervised training and assessment.

Because new trainers are hired regularly, PQR Education has established a formal framework of supervision and mentoring for new staff. Before new staff can conduct training, they must complete either the:

TAESS00007 Enterprise Trainer—Presenting skill set (or its successor)
TAESS00008 Enterprise Trainer—Mentoring skill set (or its successor)
TAESS00003 Enterprise Trainer and Assessor skill set (or its successor), or

New staff are required to undertake the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment with an RTO engaged by PQR Education, completing a customised program that focuses on the challenges of delivering trade qualifications through a mixture of workplace and offline delivery. A mentor is assigned to work with the new staff member until they have completed the qualification.

This ensures very close supervision at the beginning of the program, with the mentor observing at least two training sessions per week. The level of supervision gradually decreases as the trainer reaches predetermined competency milestones and ends once the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment has been achieved.

A formal review is held each Friday to provide feedback. Review sheets are signed by both parties and retained in both the mentor’s and the new staff member’s human resources files. When the new trainer has completed the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, the mentor is also required to confirm that the person has met the requirements of PQR Education to provide unsupervised training and assessment. The trainer under supervision cannot determine assessment outcomes until they have completed the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment and have met PQR Education’s requirements.

Case study No.2

Outline of the Trainer Under Supervision (TUS) program

A TUS is an approved recruitment strategy to attract industry professionals into hard to fill trainer positions.

The defining feature of the TUS program is that through merit selection a successful candidate can be appointed as a Trainer Under Supervision, without the required training and assessment credential.

On commencement of a TUS, an agreed arrangement between all involved staff must be developed.

This will involve:

Establishing the terms of supervision, including number and frequency of meetings, number and frequency of classroom or workplace observations, assessment arrangements and timeframes.
Schedule to complete the New Trainer Induction Program.
Agreed strategies for monitoring delivery/assessment and progress to achieving the required training and assessment credential.
Defining benchmarks for evaluating the outcomes of the arrangement and the records maintained.

Trainer Under Supervision Arrangement must ensure:

Planning, reporting, behaviour management and duty of care remain the responsibility of the Trainer Under Supervision, with support provided by the Supervising Trainer, Qualified Assessor and Education Manager.

Supervision of training must be ongoing throughout the period of the arrangement, regularly reviewed, records maintained of all supervision activities, and training provided where required.

The Supervising Trainer can be any qualified trainer. A Qualified Assessor would need to hold appropriate vocational competency and currency. Alternatively, the Supervising Trainer and the Qualified Assessor could be the same person.

Duration and frequency of supervision may be more intense to begin with and then decrease in frequency as the TUS develops skills and confidence. A Supervision Schedule needs to be agreed before the commencement of the arrangement.

Assessment is undertaken according to Training Package and regulatory, legislative and quality requirements.

NOTE - The Qualified Assessor is the one who makes the assessment judgement, confirming competency has been attained and ensures that the assessment methodology used is consistent with quality and training package/accredited course requirements. The Qualified Assessor is responsible for the final sign off on all assessments in this arrangement.

Review of the Trainer under Supervision Arrangement:

review of the Supervision Schedule
review of Supervision Plans completed by the Supervising Trainer. Completed Supervision Plans should be stored in the Trainer Under Supervision’s Staff File.
outline future goals or changes arising from the outcomes and evaluations.
confirmation that the required training and assessment credential has been obtained or progression point achieved.