33. Evidence required to show academic suitability

33.1 - Acceptable as evidence

Students must provide one of the following:

a copy of a Senior Secondary Certificate of Education showing they’ve completed year 12. It must have been awarded to the student by an agency or authority of a state or territory.
a copy of a diploma showing the student has completed the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
a copy of a certificate issued by a body that awards qualifications in the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) showing that they’ve been awarded:
a qualification at level 4 or above in the AQF, or
a qualification at level 4 or above in a framework that preceded the AQF (see Qualifications issued before 1995)
an assessment that shows the student has passed a literacy and numeracy competence test [part 34] at or above Exit Level 3 in the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF) (using an approved assessment tool) and you reasonably believe the student displays that competence
a letter or certificate showing that a federal, state or territory government agency (or a contracted organisation) that assesses overseas qualifications has assessed the student’s qualification (see Overseas qualifications equivalence) and determined that:
it’s equivalent or comparable to a qualification in the AQF (or a framework that preceded the AQF) at level 4 or above
the course for the qualification to meet this requirement was delivered in English.

33.2 - Not acceptable as evidence

The student cannot provide as evidence:

a letter from their school confirming they completed year 12
a lower-level VET qualification
a Tertiary Preparation Certificate
any program with reading and numeracy components that allow students to achieve Exit Level 3.

Student can’t provide a certificate

If a student can’t provide a copy of a qualification certificate for their AQF level 4 or above qualification, you may accept a copy of their authenticated Unique Student Identifier (USI) transcript from the Student Identifiers Register as proof. This transcript must show completion of the relevant qualification.

Student Identifiers Regulation 2014 (section 5) specifies what a USI transcript must include. The USI transcript will only ever reflect study undertaken since 1 January 2015 that has been reported by a training provider through the AVETMISS (Australian Vocational Education and Training Management Information Statistical Standard) process.

In some circumstances, the student may have successfully completed their study but it might not show on the individual’s USI transcript. This might happen, for example, where:

the training provider has not yet reported training through the AVETMISS reporting cycle (private providers only report annually, whereas TAFEs report quarterly)
the individual has requested and received a personal exemption from the Student Identifiers Registrar from obtaining a Unique Student Identifier
the training provider has obtained an exemption from the Regulator from reporting the training to the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER)
the training provider has closed and has not reported training outcomes
the training provider did not include USI when reporting training outcomes to NCVER.

33.3 - Qualification at level 4 or above in a pre-AQF framework

A qualification at level 4 or above in a framework that preceded the AQF is either:

an Advanced Certificate or above, as issued by the Australian Council on Tertiary Awards (ACTA) or the Australian Education Council Register of Australian Tertiary Education (RATE), issued from 1985 onwards
an Associate Diploma or above, as issued by the Australian Council on Awards in Advanced Education (ACAAE) between 1971 and 1984.

If you rely on a qualification issued under the AQF or a predecessor framework as evidence of a student’s academic suitability for a course, you must still satisfy the general requirement to reasonably believe the student is academically suited to the course.

33.4 - Qualifications issued before 1995

A framework that preceded the AQF includes:

Australian Council on Awards in Advanced Education (ACAAE) [1971–1984]: Nomenclature and Guidelines for Awards in Advanced Education (1972) and Guidelines for the National Registration of Awards in Advanced Education
Australian Council on Tertiary Awards (ACTA) [1985–1989]: Guidelines for the National Registration of Awards
Australian Education Council Register of Australian Tertiary Education (RATE) [1990–1999]

You can find these documents on Australian Qualifications Framework - Previous versions and pre-AQF equivalencies.

33.5 - Overseas qualifications equivalence

Each state and territory, except NSW, has its own Overseas Qualifications Unit that can help Australian citizens and permanent residents to see how their overseas qualification compares in Australia. Information on these Overseas Qualification Units can be found at Qualifications Recognition.

For NSW, and for people who aren’t Australian citizens or permanent residents, the Australian Government Department of Education assesses overseas qualifications. Information on this service can be found at Services for individuals.

33.6 - Victorian Senior Secondary Certificate of Education

If a student got their year 12 certificate in Victoria, you can access this through Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) online services (rather than getting a hard copy from the student).

VTAC will give you electronic confirmation that a student has been awarded a Senior Secondary Certificate of Education on completion of year 12.

Please see the QualCheck tool on VTAC.

In your enrolment procedures you should give guidance on how to interpret, use and record the information you get from VTAC.

Students who have completed the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) Vocational Major (VM) meet the requirement of an Australian Year 12 Certificate. For students who have attained a Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL), only the VCAL Senior and VCAL Intermediate levels meet this requirement.

Legislation: Rules s 80