VET for learners and jobseekers

Vocational education and training is focused on gaining skills for your job or career. You can start a VET course at many schools in years 9-12, or as an adult through a registered training organisation (training provider).

VET has courses that help people into careers such as Building, Hospitality, Business, Engineering, Hairdressing, Mechanical, Care Sectors and Creative Industries.

It is a great option to start learning, or if you need skills to change direction.

In Tasmania, students in some schools can access VET courses from years 9-12, with most schools offering VET in years 11-12.

• A VET course at school or college, as part of your studies (ask the school you will be attending about the course options. You can also use this tool of the Department of Education’s site to work through options.
• School-based apprenticeship. This is a more formal arrangement where you start your apprenticeship under a training contract, with the view of continuing on to gain a nationally recognised qualification. You can combine this work with your studies to also gain your Tasmanian Certificate of Education (TCE).

Talk to your parents and your school to explore the full range of options and any requirements you should be aware of. In many cases, VET courses can count toward your TCE but if you’re unsure, ask your school for advice.

The Australian Government has released information resources on the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Standards). The resources provide easy-to-use information about the Standards and offer practical advice on how to navigate education systems from early childhood through to tertiary education, including VET.

You can find the resources on the Department of Education website.

There are currently four resources, with more planned for later release:

• Disability Standards for Education in Practice: Action Plan – for students who are in high school or tertiary education.
• Explaining the Disability Standards for Education –  outlines the Standards are and what they are designed to do.
• Milestones and Transitions – helps students and their parents and caregivers make their way through their education journey.
• Advocating with and for your child: Primary School –  for parents and caregivers of primary school students.

The resources include fact sheets, workbooks and action plans to help students and all young people with disability and their carers understand their rights about education and training.

Here are the steps to getting start:

1. Work out what you’re interested in
2. Research who offers the course in Tasmania
3. Contact them for more information
4. Ask them all the questions you are wondering about (eg. how long is the course, how much will it cost, what does study look like and anything else you’re wondering)
5. Find out what you need to do to sign up.

If you are unsure what course you should be doing, search Tasmanian government funded courses.

The Australian Government also has some resources that may help.

• Your Career has tools to help you plan your career and provides industry information.
• MySkills has information that will help identify the courses and training providers in your area.

Should I ask my employer about training?

If you are employed and want to gain a qualification or more skills, you can also talk to your employer to see if there is a traineeship or apprenticeship that you can do. Find out more about apprenticeships and traineeships here.

If you know what direction you want to take, you can also contact the training provider that delivers the courses you are interested in and find out when the next intake of students starts.

The Tasmanian Government contributes to the cost of training in a wide range of industry areas to ensure that Vocational Education and Training (VET) is available to and as affordable as possible for Tasmanians.

The Government has a number of training funding programs that provide the funds for training directly to the organisations that provide the training to learners. These organisations are known as registered training organisations (RTOs).

Some training, such as the JobTrainer Fund, is free to learners.

Other training, including training that has been funded by the Government, may require learners to pay a fee to the RTO. These fees may be called administration fees or enrolment fees and are set by the RTO.

JobTrainer Fund training courses are available to eligible learners at no cost. To be eligible, learners must be:

1. individuals who are out of work or
2. individuals who are in receipt of income support payments or
3. individuals who are underemployed, which is defined as employed people who would prefer, and are available for, more hours of work than they currently have, including part-time workers or
4. school leavers and young people aged 17 to 24, regardless of their employment status.

You can find out what JobTrainer Fund training courses are available here. If you see a course that interests you, you should contact the RTO listed to see if training places are still available and if you are eligible to access this training.

If you are an apprentice or trainee and are required to travel within Tasmania or interstate to attend training, you may be able to be reimbursed for some of the costs of travelling by applying for Travel and Accommodation Allowances.

Generally, your Registered Training Organisation can recognise your existing training where it is relevant to your study area.

The training organisation would assess your skills to work out if you have gained an appropriate level of skills and knowledge relevant to your area of study.

These skills and knowledge may have been gained through some form of study, through previous training with a Registered Training Organisation, or through work or life experience.

As a result, you may be able to gain:

• a nationally recognised qualification or units of a qualification without attending the usual training program
• formal recognition of your skills, increasing the chance of career progression.

Registered Training Organisations generally apply skills recognition in two ways - Recognition of Prior Learning or Credit transfer.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Recognition of prior learning (RPL) is an assessment process that assesses your informal learning to determine the extent to which you have achieved the required learning outcomes, competency outcomes, or standards for entry to, and/or partial or total completion of, a qualification.

RPL recognises both your current and prior knowledge and experience and measures it against the course in which you are enrolled. You may not need to complete all of a training program if you already possess some of the competencies taught in the program.

RPL has many benefits:

• you can finish your course earlier
• training loads and costs are reduced
• you can take on additional study leading to a second qualification
• by identifying your current competencies, RPL can effectively target training requirements.

You need to provide your Registered Training Organisation (RTO) with evidence of your prior learning if you want to have your knowledge and skills recognised under RPL.

RTOs take previous experience and training into account whether it was achieved in Australia or abroad.

RTOs can also grant RPL to apprentices and trainees as part of their training plans.

Credit Transfers

Credit transfer assesses any previous qualification or units that you are using to claim credit towards another qualification. The assessment determines the extent to which your previous qualification or units of competence are equivalent to the required learning outcomes, competency outcomes, or standards in a qualification.

Need more information?

Your Registered Training Organisation will provide you with information about skills recognition, and the skills assessments they conduct in relation to the qualifications or units they deliver.

Any unit of nationally recognised training you complete is recorded centrally and those records are available for you to access.

If you have completed one or more units of competency, you should receive a Statement of Attainment detailing the units you have achieved. If you complete a full qualification, you should receive a certificate of testamur demonstrating that you have completed the qualification. If you did not receive, or have lost, a copy of your statement, record or certificate, you may wish to obtain another copy.

Copies of your statement, record or certificate are available from a few different places:

1. First, contact the training organisation who delivered the training to you.
2. If this is not possible in your case, you can contact the Office of Tasmanian Assessment, Standards and Certification (TASC).
3. Another option would be to contact the Australian Government, Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), who may be able to provide confirmation of the studies you completed if the provider that issued your qualification or statement of attainment has closed, or you have lost your original copy.

Note: These organisations may charge a fee for copies of certificates or results.

Skills Tasmania is unable to issue certificates, records of results or statements of attainment.