Student work placement

Risk overview

Student work placement continues to be a high risk in the sector and the effective management of mandated work placement remains a challenge for some providers. Difficulties securing suitable placements, inappropriate scheduling of placements and inadequate support and assessment of students while on placement amplify the overall risk.

Poor quality placements that do not sufficiently prepare students for the workforce is another area of concern, resulting in barriers to completion, mental health issues, further financial costs due to course extensions and adverse career outcomes.

Key points from research

1. Some providers may be focused on maximising student enrolment numbers without considering the availability of suitable placements, or their capacity to support and assess students while on placement.
2. Students face the risk of non-completion or delayed progression due to challenges in securing suitable placement.
3. Some providers are falsifying work placement records to complete students who did not or could not undertake work placement.
4. Some providers fail to assess students while on placement, particularly in qualifications where direct observation is required.
5. Providers may over-rely on simulated work environments, supervisor observations or students digitally recording their work activities.
6. Providers who deliver training remotely may not have sufficient national industry links to support work placement in their students’ local communities.

Our regulatory response

We are focusing on provider behaviours that maximise student enrolment numbers without considering placement availability and their capacity to support students. Instances of providers falsifying student work placement records will not be tolerated. 

We are:

• educating providers to ensure that they are clear on their obligations and providing guidance on the importance of:
  • supporting students to secure work placement and clearly defining the roles of the student, workplace and provider in the placement arrangement
  • keeping students informed about providers’ complaints and appeals processes
  • being transparent with fees 
  • providers’ obligations for written agreements with overseas students
• sharing intelligence with a range of industry bodies, and encouraging tip off reports from the VET community and from students
• applying a broad range of regulatory actions, including audits and compliance activities that will include, where indicated, provider responsibilities in relation to student support, securing and participating in work placements and work-based assessments.