Reminder—providers must view the correct documentation showing students have completed prerequisites

ASQA has recently noted some providers are not meeting the requirement to ensure students have completed necessary prerequisites.

For example, CPCCOHS1001A Work safely in the construction industry and CPCCWHS1001 Prepare to work safely in the construction industry are prerequisites in other units of competency, such as CPCCDE3014A Remove non-friable asbestos.

Some providers are accepting students’ presentation of their general construction induction ‘white card’ as evidence of completing CPCCOHS1001A or CPCCWHS1001 (and making claims in marketing to this effect).

Training providers that award a unit of competency without having obtained the required evidence are in breach of their obligations under the Standards for RTOs 2015 (the Standards).

What are my requirements in relation to student claims to have met prerequisites?

Training providers must not:

• accept a student’s claim to have met a prerequisite without proper evidence
• state or imply in their marketing materials that other forms of evidence will be accepted
• ask students to provide additional forms of evidence beyond what is required by the Standards.

What evidence must my RTO obtain to show a student has completed the necessary prerequisites?

Under clause 3.5 of the Standards, training providers can provide credit to students for completion of prerequisites only when there is evidence in the form of:

• AQF certification documentation issued by an RTO or other AQF-authorised issuing organisation, or
• an authenticated VET transcript issued by the Registrar.

These are the only acceptable forms of evidence.

What forms of evidence are unacceptable?

Unacceptable forms of evidence include:

• A non-AQF certification document, e.g. a license or similar document, such as a General Construction Induction ‘white card’
• a non-authenticated VET transcript.

Without obtaining acceptable evidence, the training provider cannot give recognition for completion of the prerequisite unit of competency.

Note that a training provider can enrol a learner in a prerequisite unit of competency without proper evidence, but cannot award that dependent unit until evidence that the prerequisite unit has been obtained.