Glossary of Terms

Common terms and abbreviations

• Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders (ATSI)

  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are encouraged to study any TAFE SA course. TAFE SA also offers a number of accredited courses specially designed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

• Advanced Standing

  Advanced Standing  is a form of credit for any previous learning. (AQF 2^nd Edition Jan 2013 glossary)
  See also Articulation Arrangements, Credit Transfer and Recognition of Prior Learning.
  

• Competency (also Competence)

  The ability to perform tasks and duties to the standard expected in employment.

• Apprenticeships and Traineeships (Contracts of Training)

  Apprenticeships and traineeships are jobs that combine work and structured training. Although they vary from one industry to another, apprenticeships and traineeships include:

  • Paid employment under an appropriate industrial arrangement (for example, an award or enterprise agreement).
  • A Training Contract that is signed by both the employer and apprentice or trainee and registered with Traineeship and Apprenticeship Services.
  • A qualification, delivered by a Registered Training Organisation (RTO), such as TAFE SA, that meets the requirements of a declared apprenticeship or traineeship and leads to a nationally recognised qualification.

  Apprenticeships
  Structured programs, usually of four years duration that lead to becoming a qualified tradesperson. The training combines practical experience at work with complementary off-the-job training with TAFE SA. Financial incentives are available to eligible employers to encourage them to take on an apprentice.

  Traineeships
  Are structured programs, usually for a nominal duration of twelve months or more, which are available either on a part-time or full-time basis, and generally in non-trade related areas. Financial incentives and access to flexible training arrangements are available to meet the needs of business and the trainee.

• Assessment

  The process of collecting evidence and making judgements on whether competency has been achieved, or whether specific skills and knowledge have been achieved that will lead to the attainment of competency.

• Assessor

  The TAFE SA officer responsible for conducting assessment activities. An assessor must be qualified in the nominated competencies as specified in the AQTF standards to conduct assessment activities.

• Authenticity

  Acceptance that the evidence used to make an assessment judgement is the applicant's own product or performance. Ensuring authenticity may involve checking records, obtaining confirmation from the workplace, questioning the applicant, third party verification and sighting of original documents and qualifications.

• Award Courses - SATAC application process

  Application for admission to these courses is via the South Australian Tertiary Admissions Centre (SATAC) or by applying to your local campus. Applicants must meet the Course Admission Requirements (CAR) for an offer to be made into a course. Some courses are competitive, and no guarantee is given that places will be available for all students. Selection criteria are applied to help score and rank applicants for competitive courses.

• Articulation Arrangements

  Articulation arrangements enable students to progress from a completed qualification to another with admission and/or credit in defined qualification pathways. (AQF 2^nd Edition Jan 2013 glossary) See also Credit Transfer. 

• Census date

  The census date is the deadline for various requirements regarding enrolment.

  • It is the last day a student can withdraw from a course or subject without incurring the relevant fee
  • It is the last day a student can withdraw from a subject and receive no mark on their academic record (non-attendance or failure to submit work after this date may result in a fail mark being recorded)
  • It is the last day a student can submit a Request for Commonwealth assistance form for a HELP loan

• Course

  A structured sequence of vocational education and training that leads to a student learning a range of skills and knowledge (competencies).

• Course credit

  Course credit is the value assigned for the recognition of equivalence in content and learning outcomes between different types of learning and/or qualifications.  Credit reduces the amount of learning required to achieve a qualification and may be through credit transfer, articulation, recognition of prior learning (RPL) or advanced standing.  (AQF 2^nd Edition Jan 2013 glossary)
  For further details applying to international students visit www.tafesa.edu.au/international/

• Course packaging

  Combining more than one Award course is known as course packaging. Examples of this could include combining a Diploma with an Advanced Diploma, or combining an ELICOS (English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students) course with an Award course.

  International students may package courses but it can affect the visa class under which they must apply.

• Credit arrangements

  Credit Arrangements are formal negotiated agreements within and between issuing organisations or accrediting authorities and are about student entitlement to credit. They may also be formal arrangements made between issuing organisations and students.  Credit can be given in the form of block, specified or unspecified credit.

• Credit Transfer

  Credit Transfer  is a process that provides students with agreed and consistent credit outcomes for completed components of a course of study based on identified equivalence in content and learning outcomes between matched courses of study.    (AQF 2^nd Edition Jan 2013 glossary)

• Currency (of skills and knowledge)

  Skills and knowledge that is applicable in present workplace practices. The applicant must be able to present evidence that skills and knowledge previously acquired have been used and/or updated in current workplace environments. Currency may also relate to technology or processes.

• Customised Training

  These courses are customised for industry or a particular vocational context and are charged at fixed rate.

• Direct Evidence - also referred to as Primary Evidence

  Direct evidence is anything you have either produced yourself or for which you have been primarily responsible. First hand information about your competencies. eg Certificates/ documents from other courses, including workplace courses. Work that you have produced such as reports/plans/designs/presentations that you have made.

• Element of Competency

  A critical part of what you are expected to be able to achieve after studying a unit of competency.

• Evidence

  A collection of information you present or demonstrate to show that you have a particular level of skills and knowledge or have achieved specific competencies. Evidence may take many forms and be gathered from different sources.

• Indirect Evidence - also referred to as Secondary Evidence

  Information from somewhere else about what you can do, eg description of work you have undertaken in relation to presentations/plans/designs and speaking either in a work or community situation. Letters from employers/co-workers or testimonials stating work you have undertaken or skills/knowledge you have displayed.

• Inherent Requirements

  The Inherent Requirements (of a course or program) are those that students must demonstrate in order to complete a course or program. They are those components, which if removed or substituted would substantially impact on the learning outcomes.

• International Students

  TAFE South Australia is a government owned and operated vocational and technical training organisation based in the Capital City of Adelaide. Adelaide is a welcoming city with a mild Mediterranean climate that provides a relaxed, healthy and welcoming study environment.

  TAFE South Australia is a part of the Australian National network of technical institutions that offer a large range of courses from Certificate to Degree level. All courses are developed and reviewed in consultation with universities and industry. All courses are fully accredited by the Skills Australia and have clearly defined pathways to further study at University. TAFE South Australia operates a highly recognised and achievement-oriented ELICOS (English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students) Centre in South Australia.

• Module

  The minimum unit of learning for which recognition can be granted. A self-contained component of a course by which progress through the course is measured. Accredited courses are often structured to include 'core' and 'elective'.

• National Recognition

  The acceptance by Registered Training Organisations (RTO's) throughout Australia of the decisions and qualifications or partial qualifications issued by other RTO's. Any RTO - for instance, TAFE SA - must recognise the qualifications and units of competency awarded to a student by another RTO.

• Outcome

  A unit of what you are expected to be able to achieve after studying a module.

• Performance Criteria

  The part of a competency standard specifying the required level of performance in terms of a set of outcomes which need to be achieved in order to be deemed competent.

• Portfolio

  A collection of evidence that is provided to an assessor as proof of skills. The portfolio may include references, certificates, reports and examples of work you have done. Once the portfolio is completed it then becomes the evidence that the assessor uses to determine recognition.

• Recognition

  A broad term that covers a range of services that recognise an individual's current skills and knowledge acquired through previous education and/or training and/or work and/or life experience.

• Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

  Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)  is an assessment process that involves assessment of an individual’s relevant prior learning (including formal, informal and non-formal learning) to determine the credit outcomes of an individual application for credit.   (National Quality Council Training Packages glossary)
  TAFE SA applies a fee charge for the RPL application. Generally it is less than that for a complete course.

• Registered Training Organisation (RTO)

  A training organisation formally recognised and registered by a state or territory registering body. Each TAFE SA Institute has RTO status.

• Result Transfer

  Recognition through TAFE SA credit transfer in an exemption from a particular module or unit of competency. Where the student is exempted from the same TAFE SA module for which they have a previous result (or a module deemed by a TAFE SA Curriculum Centre to be equivalent to another TAFE SA module), PASS or GRADED RESULT appears on the student's transcript. Result transfer is not granted for national recognition, pre-arranged RPL or RPL.

• Pathways

  Pathways allow students to move through AQF qualification levels with full or partial recognition for the completed course of study and/or learning outcomes they already have.

• Self Assessment

  Self assessment is a process that allows students being assessed to collect and provide evidence on their own performance against the competency standards. Self assessment is often used as a tool to help the student and assessor to determine what evidence is available and where the gaps might be.

• Short Course

  A short course is any single unit of study offered by TAFE SA that can be taken without the need to enrol in an award course. One particular subject or area of knowledge is usually the focus of a short course.

  Short courses usually run a maximum of one semester, though durations may vary depending on the course. For example, some courses run as little as six hours over one day; others may run full-time for two weeks; while others may run one night a week for up to 40 weeks.

  Some short courses provide accreditation that can be used as credit for further study; some courses provide an industry-specific award or registration, while others may not be assessed but merely provide skills and knowledge in the subject area.All short courses require application be made directly to the campus offering the course.

  Fees will vary, depending on the duration and materials needed in the course. Concession prices are available for some courses.

• Sufficiency

  The provision of evidence of the required quantity and quality to satisfy an assessor that the applicant is able to consistently achieve to the required standard.

• Transferability

  The ability of the skills and knowledge acquired to be applied outside the specific context in which they were learned.

• Trade Tests

  Trade tests are assessment events administered by TAFE SA as part of a contracted service to the SA Vocational Training Tribunal (formerly the SA Vocational Training Board). Trade tests provide a means for people to re-enter their trade or profession. Although principally designed for people with overseas qualifications, trade tests are also available to those who have partially completed an Australian trade qualification.

• Unit of Competency

  The specification of knowledge and skill and the application of that knowledge and the skill to the standard of performance expected in the workplace.

• Validity

  This occurs when the assessment process assesses what it claims to assess, where the evidence collected is relevant to the learning outcomes or units of competency concerned and demonstrates that these have been met.

• Vocational Preparation

  These courses will provide the necessary skills to enter or re-enter the work force or prepare for further study. Literacy, numeracy, personal development and job readiness skills will ensure that the key competencies of communication, managing and organising information, plan activities, using maths in everyday work and living, working in groups, problem solving and using technology can be met.

  Preparatory Studies
  Preparatory courses teach the necessary skills to work and learn in today's world. Job readiness courses along with personal development training equip the student with the tools and knowledge to find and keep a job in a competitive working environment.

  English and Language Studies
  English language courses assist a variety of people including migrants, refugees and overseas visitors to improve and/or enhance their English skills. Study options such as learning in the classroom, studying and tutoring at home or a combination of both provide flexibility to meet the demands of family and/or work commitments.

• Workplace Assessment

  The observation, collection and judgement of evidence during the performance of normal work activities, in order to determine whether a required competency standard has been achieved. Workplace assessment is often conducted as an upfront assessment to identify existing skills in relation to training needs, or as an assessment independent of training, to recognise existing skills for the purpose of issuing a qualification or statement of attainment.