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Training — Practice Guide

ASQA Practice Guide · Quality Area 1 — Training and Assessment · Standards 1.1, 1.2 · Published 17 June 2025 · Version 1.0

Verbatim reproduction of the ASQA Practice Guide, extracted from the source PDF with layout preservation (via pdftotext -layout). The body below preserves the original two-column table structure — performance indicators on the left, example activities and known risks on the right.

Source: https://www.asqa.gov.au/for-providers/standards-for-RTOs/practice-guides

Companion docs: - standards-outcome.md / standards-compliance.md — the underlying legislative text - standards-explanatory.md — the Explanatory Statement commentary - compliance-reference.md — RTOpacks module × standard mapping


Practice Guide
Training
(Standards 1.1, 1.2)
S
Ver 1.0
Published 17 June 2025
          Outcome Standards for NVR Registered Training Organisations
                         Quality Area 1 – Training and Assessment

What are the key concepts?
The following key concepts are covered in this practice guide:

 Standard 1.1                                             Standard 1.2

 •   Training product requirements                        •    Identifying and engaging industry, employer
 •   Mode of delivery, structure and pacing                    and community representatives
 •   Clustering                                           •    Frequency of engagement
 •   Training techniques                                  •    Using feedback
 •   Work placements


Achieving these Standards in practice
The following table lists examples of activities that may demonstrate compliance with the Standards,
as well as risks to mitigate or control. These examples are not a complete list of every activity or risk,
nor do all the activities listed need to be completed to achieve compliance. Rather, they are a guide
and should be considered within the context, size, scale and student cohorts of your RTO’s
operations.

 Standard 1.1: Training is engaging, well-structured and enables VET students to attain skills and
                          knowledge consistent with the training product.
            Performance indicators                            Example activities and considerations for
                                                                             compliance
An NVR registered training organisation               •   You can demonstrate that your training is
demonstrates:                                             consistent with the training product requirements
 a. training is consistent with the requirements          as outlined on the National Register, including
    of the training product;                              meeting packaging rules and any pre-requisite
                                                          requirements.
 b. the modes of delivery enable VET
    students to attain skills and knowledge           •   You can evidence how your chosen mode of
    consistent with the training product;                 delivery (e.g. face-to-face, online, workplace,
 c. training is structured and paced to support           traineeship, blended methods, etc) is engaging
    VET students to progress, providing                   and appropriate for the skills and knowledge
    sufficient time for instruction, practice,            being delivered and has been considered against
    feedback and assessment;                              VET student needs.
 d. training techniques, activities and               •   You can show how your delivery structure and
    resources engage VET students and                     pacing is designed in the context of your student
    support their understanding; and                      cohort, the complexity of skills and knowledge to
                                                          be acquired, resources available and industry
 e. where the training product requires work              expectations.

placements or other community-based        •   You provide students with sufficient opportunity to
learning, necessary skills and knowledge       reflect on and absorb the knowledge, apply
are able to be attained in that                feedback, and practice their skills in different
environment.                                   contexts / environments before they are assessed.
                                           •   Where you are delivering similar or complementary
                                               units at the same time and have decided upon
                                               ‘clustering’, you have documented your rationale
                                               before proceeding.
                                           •   You can demonstrate how students are given
                                               sufficient time and access to training support
                                               services and relevant resources to support their
                                               learning.
                                           •   You can demonstrate how you incorporate relevant
                                               and appropriate techniques, activities and
                                               resources in your training to engage students and
                                               support their understanding.
                                           •   You ensure that any work-integrated learning, work
                                               placements or other community-based learning
                                               has been incorporated in the training delivery at
                                               appropriate times to support and develop student’s
                                               skills and knowledge.
                                           •   You can demonstrate how you select appropriately
                                               supervised environments for work placements or
                                               other community-based learning.
                                                     Known risks to quality outcomes
                                           •   Assuming each student has the same skills,
                                               experience, and learning preferences.
                                           •   Applying an approach that does not take a holistic
                                               view of the student cohort, learning environment
                                               and training product requirements when designing
                                               training.
                                           •   Failing to consider Australian Qualifications
                                               Framework requirements regarding volume of
                                               learning, including taking into account the time
                                               required to increase students’ likelihood of
                                               successfully achieving the learning outcomes and
                                               ensuring that the integrity of the qualification
                                               outcomes is maintained.
                                           •   Failing to have sufficient regard to industry
                                               regulator licencing requirements in designing
                                               training.
                                           •   Insufficient assurance that online training or
                                               assessment will deliver quality outcomes – for
                                               example:
                                               o compliance with the training product when it
                                                  requires skills to be attained in a physical
                                                  environment
                                               o the appropriateness of online practical skill
                                                  development for high-risk courses or industries
                                               o the potential for condensed or diluted training
                                                  engagement, compromising the depth and
                                                  quality of learning
                                               o insufficient personalised support or guidance
                                                  critical for effective learning.
                                           •   Failing to review your design and delivery of
                                               training after cohorts have completed the training
                                               product, and missing opportunities to incorporate
                                               lessons learnt and continuously improve.
                                           •   Accelerating or shortening training without allowing
                                               students sufficient time for skill development and
                                               knowledge application.
                                                   •       Not undertaking a review of purchased resources
                                                           to ensure full coverage of training product
                                                           requirements or failing to contextualise purchased
                                                           resources to reflect your RTOs specific training
                                                           delivery practices.


 Standard 1.2: Engagement with industry, employer and community representatives effectively
 informs the industry relevance of training offered by the NVR registered training organisation.
           Performance indicators                          Example activities and considerations for
                                                                          compliance
An NVR registered training organisation                •    You can show how you identify and routinely
demonstrates:                                               review the industry, employer and/or community
a. how it identifies relevant industry, employer            representatives you engage with about your
   and community representatives and seeks                  services.
   meaningful advice and feedback from those           •    You can demonstrate how your engagement with
   representatives;                                         these representatives generates meaningful
b. it uses relevant advice and feedback to                  advice and feedback on, for example:
   inform changes to training and assessment                o the type and complexity of training you deliver
   strategies and practices; and                            o industry-specific licencing, accreditation and
c. training reflects current industry practice.                legislative requirements
                                                            o the structure and size of the industry.
                                                       •    You can demonstrate how training delivery is
                                                            informed and continuously improved by direct
                                                            and ongoing industry engagement – for example,
                                                            in response to industry innovation, regulatory
                                                            changes or emerging local skills needs. You can
                                                            demonstrate how this informs your approach to:
                                                            o offering courses that will best meet the
                                                                needs of industry, employers and the
                                                                community
                                                            o structuring the most relevant electives for the
                                                                training (in accordance with any training
                                                                product packaging rules)
                                                            o verifying foundational skill and training
                                                                product entry requirements
                                                            o verifying the skills and knowledge required by
                                                                your trainers and assessors
                                                            o determining the appropriate mode of delivery,
                                                                training techniques and activities
                                                            o establishing the amount of training necessary
                                                                to ensure students sufficiently develop skills
                                                                to an industry standard
                                                            o designing your assessment strategies and
                                                                practices in line with industry standards.
                                                               Known risks to quality outcomes
                                                       •    Relying on a generic strategy that is insufficient
                                                            to demonstrate genuine engagement with
                                                            industry, employer and community groups.
                                                       •    Failing to engage with the relevant industry,
                                                            employer and community representatives that
                                                            can provide contemporary feedback and input
                                                            into the VET courses you offer.
                                                       •    Only participating in once-off engagement with
                                                            an industry representative to ‘sign off’ training,
                                                            without any broader consultation.
                                                       •    Failing to ensure that your engagement is
                                                            sufficient and timely to capture current industry
                                                            practices, particularly in rapidly evolving
                                                            industries.

                                                   •   Not systematically incorporating the feedback
                                                       received into improved training strategies and
                                                       practices.


Self-assurance questions
     How do you know your training design and delivery is fit-for-purpose and consistent with the
 1
     requirements of the training product?
     How do you identify relevant industry, employer and/or community representatives and engage with
 2
     them to ensure your training reflects current industry requirements, expectations and practice?
     What has informed your understanding that the structure and pacing of training allows students to
 3
     achieve the outcomes set out in the training product? How do you adjust this for different student
     cohorts?
     How do you ensure trainers are appropriately skilled, qualified and resourced to deliver training in
 4
     an effective and engaging way?
     How do you collect industry, employer and/or community representatives and student feedback and
 5
     use this to inform improvements to training design and delivery?
     How do you evaluate whether work placements provide students with sufficient opportunity to gain
 6
     the necessary industry-relevant skills and knowledge?

Source: ASQA Practice Guide — Training. Published 17 June 2025, Version 1.0. Authority: Australian Skills Quality Authority. These guides interpret the Standards for RTOs 2025 into practical compliance guidance. The PDF was extracted with pdftotext -layout to preserve the two-column table structure of the original document.