Australian Quality Training Framework
Overview
Australian Quality Training Framework (2007)
Quality indicators
What are the quality indicators?
Excellence Criteria
Where can I find out more information?
Overview
The Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) is the quality system that underpins the national vocational education and training sector and outlines the regulatory arrangements in the states and territories. This framework provides the basis for a nationally consistent, high-quality vocational education and training system.
Australian Quality Training Framework (2007)
The Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) has been revised to improve the quality of training and assessment in the VET sector, with changes implemented on 1 July 2007.
Some of the principles underpinning the changes include:
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Reducing the regulatory burden
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Streamlining and standardising processes for national consistency
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Ensuring stakeholder confidence in quality skills outcomes
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Continuous improvement of training & assessment.
AQTF 2007 focuses on the quality of services and the outcomes achieved for clients. This provides RTOs with more flexibility in demonstrating their methods in providing quality training outcomes.
The new arrangements encourage greater participation of licensing and industry regulatory bodies in ensuring the quality of training, and will also achieve greater national consistency through new standards for State and Territory registering bodies.
In July 2007, all RTOs were required to sign a declaration to declare that the RTO will operate in accordance with the Vocational Education, Training and Employment Act 2000, guidelines made under the Vocational Education, Training and Employment Act 2000 and the Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) Essential Standards for Registration, which include the Conditions of Registration.
Quality indicators
A component of the Essential Standards for Registration is the quality indicators. The indicators provide a way of measuring the RTO's performance against the standards. Information gathered against these indicators will be used by RTOs to support continuous improvement and by registering bodies as part of their risk assessment.
RTOs with high quality outcomes can expect less regulatory intervention from registering bodies. Where the AQTF quality indicators raise questions about the performance of an RTO, there will be full opportunity given to the RTO to discuss the quality indicator data with auditors as part of the audit process.
What are the quality indicators?
The three quality indicators agreed by the National Quality Council are:
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Employer satisfaction (this includes competency development and training & assessment quality). This indicator will focus on employer evaluations of learner competency development, its relevance to work and further training and the overall quality of the training & assessment.
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Learner satisfaction (this includes learner engagement and competency development). This indicator will focus on the extent to which learners are engaging in the types of activities which are likely to promote high quality skill outcomes, as well as learners' perceptions of the quality of their competency development and the support they receive from RTOs.
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Competency completion rate This will be calculated for qualifications and units of competency/modules delivered, based on data provided by RTOs on the number of enrolments in the previous calendar year as well as the number of qualifications completed and/or units of competency/modules awarded in the previous calendar year. This suite of information will be used by RTOs to support continuous improvement, and by registering bodies as part of their risk assessment.
Most RTOs already collect data under these categories and use it for a range of purposes including continuous improvement. AQTF 2007 will make this data collection nationally consistent. RTOs will be expected to record data about competency completion rates from 1 July 2007 and to report this to registering bodies in 2008.
Excellence Criteria
Those RTOs wishing to have their performance recognised at a higher standard will be able to do so using the Excellence Criteria, to be introduced in January 2008. Draft documents are available on www.training.com.au/AQTF2007/.
Where can I find out more information?
More information on the framework and the resources to support the framework is available on www.training.com.au/AQTF2007/ which is regularly updated.
Contact Apprenticeships info 1800 210 210 or Training Queensland 1300 369 935
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