National Qualifications Framework - Australia

• Acronyms
• Overview
• Objectives
• Definition of the NQF
• Structure of the Framework
• Organisational Structure
• Standard Setting
• Assessment
• Quality Assurance
• Impacts and Achievements
• Issues for Effective Implementation
• Contacts

Acronyms:

• ANTA Australian National Training Authority
• AQFAB Australian Qualifications Framework Advisory Board
• ATP Australian Training Products Limited
• DETYA Department of Education, Training and youth affairs
• DESTA Department of Education, Science and Training, Australia
• MCEETYA Ministerial Council for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs
• MINCO Ministerial Council for Vocational Education and Training
• National ITABs National Industry Training Advisory Boards
• NCVER National Centre for Vocational Education Research Ltd
• State/territory ITABs State/territory industry training advisory boards

Overview

The Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) was introduced across the country in January 1995. The framework has established a system where work based qualifications and academic qualifications have become part of a single structure. However, achieving a seamless national qualification framework remains a major challenge as qualifications are prepared by each educational sector, often with different criteria. The federal structures of the country also make it difficult to implement the ‘national’ framework. It is argued that the AQF is a policy-orientated framework based on consensus rather than regulatory framework¹.

Background

• The AQF evolved out of a meeting of the State, Territory and Commonwealth Education and Training Ministers with the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) ² in 1993.
• The AQF was developed to support reforms in vocational education and training³.
• The AQF replaced the Register of Australian Tertiary Education (RATE)⁴, which had been in effect since 1990. Prior to the RATE system, the Australian Council on Tertiary Awards (ACTA) registered tertiary awards in all States and Territories. Before the ACTA, States and Territories had their own State and Territory-based awards⁵.
• In 2001 MCEETYA’s ‘New Framework for vocational education in schools’, introduced vocational qualifications into schools under the National Qualification Framework. The framework was developed around the following⁶:

• Vocational education and training;
• Enterprise and vocational learning;
• Student support services;
• Community and business partnerships;
• Effective institutional and funding arrangements;
• Monitoring and evaluation;

Objectives

The AQF was developed to provide a comprehensive, nationally consistent yet flexible framework for all qualifications in post compulsory education and training⁷. The framework is to encourage individuals to progress through the levels of education and training by improving access to qualifications, clearly defining avenues for achievement, and generally contributing to lifelong learning. The framework is to promote national and international recognition of qualifications offered in Australia.

In summary, the main objectives of the AQF are:

• To bring together the qualifications issued by the schools, VET and the higher education sector into a single comprehensive system of titles and standards;
• To support flexible education and training pathways between sectors and lifelong learning;
• To encourage parity of esteem between academic and vocational qualifications;
• To offer flexibility to suit the diversity of purposes of education and training and provide for the differences in the constitution of the sectors;
• To encourage cross-sectoral partnerships;
• To underpin national policies, in particular on quality assurance and articulation and credit transfer.

Definition of the NQF

The AQF comprises:

• Agreed national guidelines for each of the current thirteen national qualifications issued in the schools, vocational education and training and higher education sectors;
• Principles for articulation and credit transfer;
• Registers of authorities empowered by governments to accredit qualifications and to issue qualifications
• Protocols for issuing qualifications and a structure for monitoring implementation of the AQF and advising Ministers, including recommending any changes.

Structure of the Framework

From its introduction in 1995, the Australian Qualification Framework has comprised of thirteen national qualifications in three sectors⁸.

• The secondary schools sector
• The vocational education and training sector (TAFE and registered private providers)
• The higher education sector (mainly universities).

The table below⁹ indicates how the qualifications are grouped according to the educational sector in which they are most commonly used.

Qualifications by the Educational Sector in which They Are Most Commonly Used

Certificate I: The AQF Certificate I is a preparatory qualification focussing on a range of basic employment-related skills. The competencies demonstrate the ability to perform a defined range of activities or basic practical skills under direction, most of which would be routine and predictable.

Certificate II: The AQF Certificate II competencies demonstrate the ability to carry out a specific range of routine functions and procedures with some complex or non-routine activities. They include basic operational knowledge and a defined range of skills. They also demonstrate the ability to apply known solutions to a limited range of predicable problems. Many New Apprenticeships or Traineeships lead to a Certificate II.

Certificate III: The AQF Certificate III competencies demonstrate some relevant theoretical knowledge and the ability to perform a defined range of well-developed skills within an area of related activities. They involve known routines, methods and procedures, but with some discretion and judgment required. Responsibility for own work and the work of others is required. They are roughly the same level as the former trade certificates offered by the States and Territories but include a much broader range of occupational areas. A large number of New Apprenticeships lead to a Certificate III. In some cases a Certificate III will provide an early exit point in a Diploma programme.

Certificate IV: The AQF Certificate IV competencies demonstrate understanding of a broad knowledge base incorporating some theoretical concepts. They include the ability to perform a broad range of skilled applications, including evaluating and analysing current practices, developing new criteria and procedures for performing current practices, and providing supervision and leadership in the workplace. The Certificate IV competencies demonstrate the skills needed for some technician-level and first-line supervisory or management occupations. A broad range of occupations and fields of study are covered at this level as well as a small number of New Apprenticeships. In some cases a Certificate IV will provide an early exit point in a Diploma programme.

Diplomas: There are two levels of Diplomas in the AQF - Diploma and Advanced Diploma. If undertaken in the VET sector, the Diplomas are either a component of a nationally endorsed Training Package or, where there is no Training Package, are accredited on an individual basis by the relevant State or Territory Training Authority. The State and Territory training authorities delegate the responsibility for assessment and issuing of the qualification to the RTO which may be a TAFE college or institute, a university RTO, or a private/community RTO. From time to time, Diplomas may still be referred to in terms of a level which derived from the Australian Standards Framework competency level descriptors which were used in the early development of the National Training Framework and AQF. These levels did not match exactly the subsequent levels in the AQF but generally a qualification described as AQF Level 5 or Diploma 5 refers to an AQF Diploma, and a qualification described as AQF Level 6 or Diploma 6 refers to an AQF Advanced Diploma. If the Diplomas are undertaken as a higher education award, the university develops the programme and assesses and awards the qualification. The Diplomas are usually awarded on the basis of an academic programme at the sub-degree level. In many cases, the Diplomas have an applied focus.

Advanced Diploma: The AQF Advanced Diploma is a professional-level qualification for those working as technologists or managers or professionals depending on the occupation or field. In the VET sector, the competencies demonstrate an understanding of specialised knowledge with substantial depth in some areas, and the ability to apply a significant range of fundamental principles and complex techniques across a wide, highly specialised variety of contexts. They also demonstrate the ability to generate ideas through the analysis of information and concepts at an abstract level. Contribution to the development of a broad plan, budget or strategy may be involved, as well as accountability and responsibility for the work of others. On achievement of the competencies, students have highly developed analytical, diagnostic, technical and/or creative abilities that can be applied in specialised areas. Advanced Diplomas can provide advanced standing or credit transfer into a specified Bachelor degree programme at a university. Two years of advanced standing is the most common. Only a few Advanced Diplomas are offered as higher education awards. An Advanced Diploma usually comprises units from a Bachelor degree programme, providing an early exit point with a stand alone qualification but with the option of continuing to the Bachelor degree. Entry is usually based on normal university entry requirements, and most Advanced Diplomas require two years of full-time study.

Degrees: The Bachelor degree and the postgraduate degrees - Master degree and Doctoral degree - are briefly described here in terms of the Australian Qualifications Framework. For detailed descriptions, see Awards and Programmes in the Higher Education section.

Bachelor Degrees: The Bachelor degree is an academic or professional level qualification. It indicates the acquisition of a systemic and coherent body of knowledge, the underlying principles and concepts, and the associated problem-solving techniques. It involves the development of the academic skills and attitudes necessary to comprehend and evaluate new information, concepts and evidence from a range of sources. It also involves the development of the ability to review, consolidate, extend and apply the knowledge and techniques acquired. The section Bachelor Degrees in Higher Education earlier in this Profile describes the different types of Bachelor degrees in Australia.

Master Degrees: The Master degree is a postgraduate qualification. A Master degree may involve the enhancement of specific professional or vocational skills through directed coursework and/or research. Alternatively, a Master degree may indicate the acquisition of in-depth understanding in a specific area of knowledge through research. The section Master Degrees in Higher Education earlier in this Profile provides more information about Master degrees.

Doctoral Degrees: Doctoral degrees are the highest level of postgraduate study. They usually involve a searching review of the literature, experimentation or other systematic approach to the relevant body of knowledge. An original research project is undertaken resulting in a significant contribution to knowledge and understanding and/or the application of knowledge within a discipline or field of study. A substantial and well ordered thesis is prepared, demonstrating the relationship of the research to the broader framework of the discipline or field of study. The section Doctoral Awards in Higher Education earlier in this Profile provides more information about Doctoral degrees, including PhDs, Professional and Higher Doctorates.

Graduate Certificates and Diplomas: Graduate Certificates and Diplomas are postgraduate qualifications below the level of Master degrees. They can involve the broadening of skills already gained in an undergraduate programme or developing vocational knowledge and skills in a new professional area. The Graduate Diploma may also provide further specialisation within a systematic and coherent body of knowledge. The section Graduate Certificates and Diplomas in Higher Education earlier in this Profile provides more information.¹⁰

An important aspect of the Australian Qualifications Framework is the development of closer connections between Vocational Education Training (VET) and higher education. There has been a development of structured arrangements to link qualifications across the sectors thus building closer inter-sectoral relationships. Qualification linkages enable individual learners to move from one qualification to another, and provide a mechanism for creating a system of lifelong learning¹¹.

The AQF encourages cross-sectoral linkage programs such as:

• VET in Schools, which allows schools across the country to offer industry-based units of learning which can contribute to both the Senior Secondary Certificate of Education and Certificate I – IV qualifications.¹²
• Certificate I - IV qualifications are also issued in the higher education sector and there is also a vocational education and training pathway to the Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma.
• The Diploma and the Advanced Diploma are offered in both the VET sector and the higher education sector.
• Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) by which credits are granted towards qualifications through assessment of an individual’s knowledge and skills gained through education, training, work and life experience¹³.

AQF Pathways Diagram¹⁴

Coverage

Vocational Certificate Pathways

Certificates I - IV recognise achievement of specified national industry competencies at four levels in wide range of trades, industries and enterprises.

The chart bellow shows the examples of the skills and knowledge recognised by the Australian Qualifications Framework:

Certificate I - IV Qualifications:¹⁵

Diploma to Degree Pathways

There are an increasing number of partnerships between registered vocational education and training providers and universities, which have been set up to enhance the pathways from an industry qualification to a higher education qualification. This also ensures that the maximum amount of credit is given to avoid repetitive and inefficient education and training. Some examples of articulated courses are¹⁶:

Examples of Articulated Courses

Credit Transfer¹⁷

The AQF has identified the following as a guide in developing articulation arrangements and dual award qualifications in the same fields between Diploma and Bachelor qualifications. Depending on the actual number of awards being linked, actual credit levels may be greater or less than the recommended level:

• 50% credit for an Advanced Diploma when linked to a three year Bachelor Degree;
• 37.5% credit fir an Advanced Diploma when linked to a four year Bachelor Degree;
• 25% credit for a Diploma when linked to a four year Bachelor Degree.

The responsibility for developing qualification linkages, between VET and higher education and vice-a-versa is the responsibility of the universities in partnership with:

• Individual Registered Training Organisations;
• Training Package Developers;
• State Accreditation Authorities.

Where credit is an outcome of the formal linkage, it is standardised, that is, the quantum of credit is predetermined as part of the linkage process.

The quantum of standardised credit in qualification linkages will vary with each linkage and is dependant upon the level of agreed overlap, equivalence and the agreed relationships between the awards.

Credit can be granted in different forms. These include specified credit, unspecified credit and block credit. The form of credit will depend on the circumstances and context. Variables may include:

• The linkage process;
• The qualifications being linked;
• The discipline areas;

The AQF provides a general guide:

• Specified credit is most relevant to credit transfer based linkages based on specific context linkages, ie module Y in VET is equivalent to X in higher education;
• Specified credit is also the most appropriate form for incomplete qualifications;
• Unspecified credit is most appropriate in articulation arrangements based on agreed relative value of awards being linked and/or linkages between generic qualifications;
• Unspecified credit taken as a block is most appropriate in dual and nested awards.

Recognition of Prior Learning¹⁸

The AQF system of recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) means that an individual is able to receive recognition and credit for the knowledge and skills they have, regardless of how and where they were attained, including overseas. This can include skills from:

• Previous study (including courses at school or college, through adult education classes or training programs at work);
• Work experience (including both work that is paid and unpaid);
• Life experience (for example leisure pursuits or voluntary work).

One of the key stated objectives of the AQF is to facilitate pathways to formal qualifications that are based on, or include, prior learning that has occurred outside formal education and training, as such the AQF Advisory Board is currently conducting a project to:

• Research existing policies and practices relating to RPL in post-compulsory education;
• Develop proposed common national RPL principles and operational guidelines.

RPL is an important element of the Australian Qualifications Framework and its function in the vocational Education and Training sector is to assist learners to move through qualification levels.

Organisational Structure

Major Organisations (as of August 2000)¹⁹

Standard Setting

Standards are set by the Australian Qualifications Framework Advisory Board (AQFAB), which reports to MCEETYA and provides the means of facilitating and monitoring the Australian Qualifications Framework. The policy guidelines created by the AQFAB provide common ground for qualifications across the sectors. However, the AQFAB plays no role in the accreditation of qualifications and the operational role of approving institutions is the responsibility of the Commonwealth, States and Territories (which are members of MCEETYA). In the VET sector, AQF qualifications are accredited through National Training Packages process endorsed by the National Training Quality Council or accredited by the State and Territory Recognition Agencies²⁰.

Standards of the Vocational Education and Training sector are developed by relevant industry, enterprise, community or professional groups and standards of the Higher Education sector are set by universities.

The three education sectors operate under their own distinctive arrangements for accrediting qualifications as follows:²¹

• Higher education qualifications are accredited by the self-accrediting institutions mainly universities and the state government accreditation agencies;
• Vocational education and training qualifications are accredited both at a national level through national industry advisory bodies subject to endorsement by the national government agency (known as the training package process), and at state level, through government agencies (which may delegate accreditation powers to institutions;
• The schools qualification is accredited through state government statutory bodies.

Assessment

The AQF has 5 sub-categories of institutions that provide assessment at individual and organisational level:

• Government Accreditation Authorities (all sectors);
• Universities and other self-accrediting Higher Education Institutions;
• Non-Self Accrediting Higher Education Institutions and the qualifications that they provide which have been approved by the AQF;
• Registered Training Organisations and their AQF approved qualifications (VET sector);
• Overseas Higher Education Institutions and their AQF comparable approved Qualifications.

A statement of attainment may be issued in the event that only part of a qualification is completed, as a formal record of achievement towards an AFQ qualification. A statement of attainment may also be issued for short courses accredited in accordance with national principles in the vocational education and training sector²².

Quality Assurance

There is no central accreditation and assessment authority in Australia, which is a federated political structure of eight States and Territories and a Federal government, each with different legislation and administrative structures. MCEETYA has established an AQF Advisory Board to protect the AQF qualifications guidelines and to promote and monitor national implementation of the AQF.²³ The AQFAB has representatives form the three educational sectors, the community, the Federal Government, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Certification Authorities, an observer from New Zealand, and an independent chair and reports to MCEETYA²⁴. As such, AQFAB acts as a key national policy instrument to protect the quality of Australian education and training.

The Australian Higher Education Quality Assurance Framework

UNIVERSITITES

• Universities are 'self-accrediting'; and as such, are authorised to accredit their own courses and are responsible for their academic standards.
• Universities must have appropriate quality assurance processes in place, including peer assessment processes, external examination of higher degrees and the involvement of professional bodies in the accreditation of particular courses.
• Universities are listed on the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) Register. Listing on the Register indicates that MCEETYA vouches for the quality of the institution.

Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA). The AUQA is an independent body established by MCEETYA to audit teaching, learning, research and administration in Australian universities on a five yearly cycle. The AUQA will also audit the processes of State and Territory higher education accreditation authorities. State and Territory government accreditation authorities also accredit higher education courses delivered by approved non self-accrediting providers, and these are also listed on the Register.

The Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) publishes a range of comparative data to inform both students and institutions about the characteristics and performance of universities. DEST publishes university quality assurance and improvement plans annually, provides awards for innovative teaching practice and funds projects which promote quality and excellence in teaching and learning through the Australian Universities Teaching Committee (AUTC).

Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee: University chief executives meeting as the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee (AVCC) also have a long-standing role in developing guidelines relevant to quality assurance, including the following:

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING

AQF status of qualifications: Australian States and Territories and the Commonwealth have, over time, enacted a range of legislation to govern the provision of vocational education and training, including Vocational Education and Training Acts, Trade Practices and Consumer Protection legislation and Industrial Relations legislation. During the past decade, through the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA), a national system of vocational education and training has developed, under which State and Territory governments have agreed to implement a series of national policies in the interests of an improved outcome for the sector. In particular, governments have agreed that to issue an AQF qualification in the vocational education and training sector, the institution or agency must be registered by a State or Territory government recognition authority as a Registered Training Organisation (RTO).

The quality assurance cycle for registration comprises four elements: initial registration, self-assessment and evaluation, compliance audit and re-registration. Registration may be in respect of training delivery, assessment and issuance of AQF qualifications and Statements of Attainment, or for assessment and issuance services only. To gain registration, organisations must comply with generic national registration standards, including all relevant legislative and regulatory requirements (eg occupational health and safety, anti-discrimination, equal opportunity), quality management of services, product and operations, external monitoring and audit processes, quality financial and records management, and ethical marketing. Registration specific to training services (and assessment-only services) involves compliance with training delivery standards covering staff qualifications and experience, training facilities and client support services to deliver the training and conduct the assessment to the standard required for the qualification. Registering training agencies is a key critical quality assurance mechanism for the vocational education and training sector.

SCHOOLS

There are three levels of quality control typically exercised in the interaction between the statutory authorities and the schools:

• Curriculum development to achieve the best possible range of skills and knowledge and to identify explicit standards as a basis for reliable assessment;
• A process of registration and accreditation to control consistency of standards and the currency of the qualification; and
• Moderation procedures to achieve comparability of student results.

AQF status of qualifications: Government statutory bodies in each State and Territory issue senior secondary certificates of education which meet the requirements of the AQF. The statutory authorities are responsible for the integrity, credibility and authenticity of the qualification, which has both a state title and a national AQF title as the Senior Secondary Certificate of Education (SSCE). Schools also provide vocational education and training recognised under the range of AQF Certificates I-IV and are required to have the same compliance, including with the relevant legislation, as in the vocational education and training sector (see "Vocational Education and Training" above), either directly with the State or Territory training authority or through some delegated arrangement.

Quality assurance processes underpinning the SSCE include external examinations and tests, external moderation, marker monitoring and a wide range of checks and cross-checks on the reliability and validity of student’s results. In all States and Territories, various combinations of these quality assurance processes are used by the statutory boards which, meeting as a national agency (ACACA), have developed national guidelines for assessment quality and equity, and a set of national principles for certification. The national principles support the AQF guidelines for the SSCE to achieve national consistency of outcomes (including certification of vocational education and training completed in senior secondary school), national portability, flexible pathways to the qualification and across sectors, and protocols for issuing the qualification.

Quality assurance activities at a national level are supported by a broader context of overall national objectives for schooling. For over a decade, States, Territories and the Commonwealth have collaborated in a process of annual national reporting on schooling in Australia, including reporting against a comprehensive set of common and agreed national goals which range from universal literacy and numeracy to the capacity for informed and active citizenship in the twenty-first century. The national goals cover all the years of schooling, constitute a basis for establishing measurable targets, monitoring and evaluation, and provide a framework for public accountability to underpin the quality outcomes reflected in the SSCE qualification marking the final years of schooling.

Impacts and Achievements

The following points highlight the most influential changes that the AQF has had on education and training in Australia:

• Vocational qualifications are now industry-based, with specified combinations of units of competency required by each industry for each qualification;
• Qualifications are designed in a sequence, allowing individuals to move steadily from one qualification to the next. It is possible to mix and match units of competency: that will accumulate towards a record of achievement;
• A lot of training is in the workplace, and individuals can be assessed for skills and knowledge that they previously acquired.

Issues for Effective Implementation

Despite the above achievements there are a number of problems that have been highlighted:

• Workplace based competence assessment is considered reductive by educators and potentially a source of de-skilling;
• Grouping several occupations into an unique training package may result in overlooking the context-specific nature of certain competencies;
• While the system was meant to improve consistency and articulation, the introduction of training packages has (so far) failed to make the collaboration between the vocational and the higher education sectors any easier;
• Some observers also denounce the excessive industry-orientated nature of the system, while establishing a learning society also involves taking into account individuals’ demands and ensuring that students become active citizens.²⁵

It has been argued that the AQF is essentially an agreement between the States and the Territories within Australia. Therefore the AQF is essentially a descriptor based framework for nationally recognised VET awards. In addition, it appears to have little or no impact upon articulation between upper secondary, VET and higher education awards, and it is not capable of achieving the type of seamlessness, transparency and coherence that some other countries desire from their qualifications frameworks²⁶.

The Australian Qualifications Framework remains predominantly State and institutionally based. The lack of coherence makes it very difficult to establish a coherent post-16 funding system and the VET sector suffers from severe status disadvantages compared to the higher education sector, especially amongst school leavers.

Contacts

Australian Qualifications Framework Advisory Board Secretariat
Level 3,
15-31 Pelham Street,
Carlton,
Victoria 3053.
PO Box 609,
CARLTON SOUTH 3053,
Victoria,
Australia
Tel: (03) 9639 1606
Fax: (03) 9639 1315
Email: aqfab@aqf.edu.au

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