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Australian Government Australian Skills Quality Authority

Practice Guide - Training

 

Key concepts

The following key concepts are covered in this practice guide:

 

Standard 1.1

  • Training product requirements
  • Mode of delivery, structure and pacing
  • Clustering
  • Training techniques
  • Work placements

Standard 1.2

  • Identifying and engaging industry, employer
  • and community representatives
  • Frequency of engagement
  • Using feedback

Download a PDF copy: Practice Guide - Training.pdf (241.61 KB)

 

Achieving these Standards in practice

The following table lists examples of activities that may demonstrate compliance with the Standards, as well as risks to mitigate or control. These examples are not a complete list of every activity or risk, nor do all the activities listed need to be completed to achieve compliance. Rather, they are a guide and should be considered within the context, size, scale and student cohorts of your RTO’s operations. 

To help determine whether you have achieved the Standards refer to the self-assurance questions below.

 

Standard 1.1: Training is engaging, well-structured and enables VET students to attain skills and knowledge consistent with the training product.

 

Performance indicators

An NVR registered training organisation demonstrates:

  1. training is consistent with the requirements of the training product;
  2. the modes of delivery enable VET students to attain skills and knowledge consistent with the training product;
  3. training is structured and paced to support VET students to progress, providing sufficient time for instruction, practice, feedback and assessment;
  4. training techniques, activities and resources engage VET students and support their understanding; and
  5. where the training product requires work placements or other community-based learning, necessary skills and knowledge are able to be attained in that environment.  
  • Example activities and considerations for compliance
    • You can demonstrate that your training is consistent with the training product requirements as outlined on the National Register, including meeting packaging rules and any pre-requisite requirements.
    • You can evidence how your chosen mode of delivery (e.g. face-to-face, online, workplace, traineeship, blended methods, etc) is engaging and appropriate for the skills and knowledge being delivered and has been considered against VET student needs.
    • You can show how your delivery structure and pacing is designed in the context of your student cohort, the complexity of skills and knowledge to be acquired, resources available and industry expectations.
    • You provide students with sufficient opportunity to reflect on and absorb the knowledge, apply feedback, and practice their skills in different contexts/environments before they are assessed.
    • Where you are delivering similar or complementary units at the same time and have decided upon ‘clustering’, you have documented your rationale before proceeding.
    • You can demonstrate how students are given sufficient time and access to training support services and relevant resources to support their learning.
    • You can demonstrate how you incorporate relevant and appropriate techniques, activities and resources in your training to engage students and support their understanding.
    • You ensure that any work-integrated learning, work placements or other community-based learning has been incorporated in the training delivery at appropriate times to support and develop student’s skills and knowledge.
    • You can demonstrate how you select appropriately supervised environments for work placements or other community-based learning.
  • Known risks to quality outcomes
    • Assuming each student has the same skills, experience, and learning preferences.
    • Applying an approach that does not take a holistic view of the student cohort, learning environment and training product requirements when designing training.  
    • Failing to consider Australian Qualifications Framework requirements regarding volume of learning, including taking into account the time required to increase students’ likelihood of successfully achieving the learning outcomes and ensuring that the integrity of the qualification outcomes is maintained.
    • Failing to have sufficient regard to industry regulator licencing requirements in designing training.
    • Insufficient assurance that online training or assessment will deliver quality outcomes – for example:
      • compliance with the training product when it requires skills to be attained in a physical environment
      • the appropriateness of online practical skill development for high-risk courses or industries
      • the potential for condensed or diluted training engagement, compromising the depth and quality of learning
      • insufficient personalised support or guidance critical for effective learning.
    • Failing to review your design and delivery of training after cohorts have completed the training product, and missing opportunities to incorporate lessons learnt and continuously improve.
    • Accelerating or shortening training without allowing students sufficient time for skill development and knowledge application.
    • Not undertaking a review of purchased resources to ensure full coverage of unit requirements, or contextualising purchased resources to reflect your RTOs training delivery practices.

    • Standard 1.2: Engagement with industry, employer and community representatives effectively informs the industry relevance of training offered by the NVR registered training organisation.

     

    Performance indicators

    An NVR registered training organisation demonstrates:

    1. how it identifies relevant industry, employer and community representatives and seeks meaningful advice and feedback from those representatives;
    2. it uses relevant advice and feedback to inform changes to training and assessment strategies and practices; and
    3. training reflects current industry practice.  
  • Example activities and considerations for compliance
    • You can show how you identify and routinely review the industry, employer and/or community representatives you engage with about your services. 

    • You can demonstrate how your engagement with these representatives generates meaningful advice and feedback on, for example:

      • the type and complexity of training you deliver

      • industry-specific licencing, accreditation and legislative requirements

      • the structure and size of the industry.

    • You can demonstrate how training delivery is informed and continuously improved by direct and ongoing industry engagement – for example, in response to industry innovation, regulatory changes or emerging local skills needs. You can demonstrate how this informs your approach to:

      • offering the courses that will best meet the needs of industry, employers and the community

      • structuring the most relevant electives for the training (in accordance with any training product packaging rules)

      • verifying foundational skill and training product entry requirements

      • verifying the skills and knowledge required by your trainers and assessors 

      • determining the appropriate mode of delivery, training techniques and activities

      • establishing the amount of training necessary to ensure students sufficiently develop skills to an industry standard

      • designing your assessment strategies and practices in line with industry standards.

  • Known risks to quality outcomes
    • Relying on a generic strategy that is insufficient to demonstrate genuine engagement with industry, employer and community groups.
    • Failing to engage with the relevant industry, employer and community representatives that can provide contemporary feedback and input into VET courses you offer.
    • Only participating in once-off engagement with an industry representative to ‘sign off’ training, without any broader consultation.
    • Failing to ensure that your engagement is sufficient and timely to capture current industry practices, particularly in rapidly evolving industries.
    • Not systematically incorporating the feedback received into improved training strategies and practices. 

    • Self-assurance questions

    1

    How do you know your training design and delivery is fit-for-purpose and consistent with the requirements of the training product?

    2

    How do you identify relevant industry, employer and/or community representatives and engage with them to ensure your training reflects current industry requirements, expectations and practice?

    3

    What has informed your understanding that the structure and pacing of training allows students to achieve the outcomes set out in the training product? How do you adjust this for different student cohorts?

    4

    How do you ensure trainers are appropriately skilled, qualified and resourced to deliver training in an effective and engaging way?

    5

    How do you collect industry, employer and/or community representatives and student feedback and use this to inform improvements to training design and delivery?

    6

    How do you evaluate whether work placements provide students with sufficient opportunity to gain the necessary industry-relevant skills and knowledge?

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