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VET assessment requirements

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Updated 02 Apr 2025

NESA has added a new footnote to Rule 14.5.1, clarifying that the requirement to advise a student’s school about units of competencies and competency outcomes is only applicable when a course is being delivered by an external provider (see paragraph 7.d) so that the student’s school can enter the data in Schools Online.

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NESA is authorised under section 20A of the Education Act 1990 (NSW) to prepare and distribute to schools information relating to the conduct of exams and other forms of assessment for the RoSA and HSC.

About VET assessment requirements

  1. Schools retain overall responsibility for monitoring course delivery and for duty of care while students are participating in courses conducted by an RTO.

Categories

HSC (assessment)HSC (curriculum)K–10MalpracticePreliminarySchools OnlineVET

Stage 5 assessment plan

  1. Schools and delivering RTOs must develop a Stage 5 assessment plan, such as a training and assessment strategy, for each VET course.

Stage 6 formal assessment program

  1. Schools and delivering RTOs must develop a formal assessment program for each Stage 6 VET course. 
  2. Schools must, at the commencement of a VET course:
    1. provide students with the formal assessment program. The formal assessment program must detail course-specific requirements, including:
      1. the number and type of assessment tasks, including units of competency assessed in each, and
      2. the timing of assessment tasks
    2. provide students with written advice about the school’s policies and procedures for assessment, which must include:
      1. the school’s malpractice policy, and
      2. details of administrative arrangements, including:
        1. student absences on the day of an assessment task
        2. late submission of assessment tasks
        3. the school’s illness/misadventure procedures for illness/misadventure suffered immediately before or during an assessment task
      3. procedures1 to be implemented if assessment tasks produce invalid or unreliable results, and
      4. procedures for reviewing student appeals arising from assessment tasks. The school’s review procedures must be based on feedback on a student’s achievement during the course.

Competency-based approach

  1. NESA and the VET Quality Framework require a competency-based approach to assessment for VET courses. 
  2. Assessment in VET courses must: 
    1. be standards-referenced, where performance is judged against a prescribed standard contained in each unit of competency
    2. meet the requirements of the Training Package or nationally accredited course on which the VET course is based
    3. be conducted by a qualified assessor under the RTO, and
    4. determine students as ‘competent’ or ‘not yet competent’.2  
  3. Schools/delivering RTOs must:
    1. meet the requirements of the VET Quality Framework, the relevant Training Package or nationally accredited course, and the HSC course
    2. determine units of competency for a course, and advise students
    3. maintain a record of the competency outcomes3 by each student 
    4. advise the student’s school4 of: 
      1. each unit of competency a student intends to study (competencies entered), and 
      2. outcomes for all competencies entered for each student (competency outcomes); and
    5.  ensure VET data is entered in Loading  by the due dates published in the Loading .
  4. Schools must:
    1. liaise with RTOs on assessment requirements, and
    2. ensure that for each student, the units of competency intended for study (competencies entered) and the competency outcomes, are entered in Loading  by the due dates published in the Loading .
  5. Students must:
    1. meet all performance criteria to demonstrate achievement of an element of competency, and
    2. achieve all elements of competency to demonstrate achievement of a unit of competency.

Grades

  1. Schools do not need to submit student grades or assessment marks in VET courses to NESA.

Online resources

Related ACE Rules

For further information

For enquiries about formal assessment programs, please contact Quality in Credentialling by email at qc@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

For enquiries about VET competency-based assessment, VET courses, and students with disability, please email curriculum@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

Footnotes

  1. Schools must retain all records of student assessment results as these may be used in the event of an appeal.

  2. Assessment requirements are outlined in individual units of competency.

  3. The outcomes are Achieved; Not achieved; Continuing; Withdrawn; RPL; Credit transfer; Did not start.

  4. When the course is delivered by an external provider.

Categories

HSC (assessment)HSC credentialHSC (curriculum)Schools OnlineVET

Entering an estimated HSC exam mark for Frameworks

  1. NESA’s Stage 6 VET Industry Curriculum Frameworks (Frameworks) have an optional HSC written exam, which is independent of competency-based assessment.
  2. Student participation and performance in the HSC exam has no impact on their eligibility for AQF VET qualifications.
  3. NESA requires schools/RTOs to submit an estimated exam mark for all students entered into an HSC VET exam. The estimated mark should reflect the student’s achievement on a task(s) similar to the HSC exam.
  4. This mark is not reported to students and is only used in the case of a successful illness/ misadventure application.
  5. Schools/delivering RTOs must:
    1. determine an appropriate estimated exam mark for each eligible student entered into the corresponding HSC VET exam, and
    2. ensure the estimated exam mark is entered in Loading  by the due date published in the Loading .

Online resources

Related ACE Rules

For further information

For Schools Online VET data enquiries, please contact Student Records on (02) 9367 8001 or by email at records@nesa.nsw.edu.au.

Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF)

The policy framework that defines all qualifications recognised nationally in post-compulsory education and training in Australia.

competency-based approach to assessment

NESA and the VET Quality Framework require competency-based assessment for VET courses. Assessment of competencies is standards-referenced, where a student's performance is judged against a prescribed standard contained in each unit of competency.

credit transfer (VET)

Granted by a registered training organisation (RTO) to students for units of competency (unit) completed at the same or another RTO.

estimated exam mark

An estimate of likely performance in the HSC exam, reflecting a student’s achievement in tasks similar to the HSC exam, such as a trial HSC exam. This mark is not reported and only used to calculate an HSC exam mark for students with an upheld illness/misadventure appeal.

formal assessment program (VET)

A program of assessment established by a school/RTO prior to the start of each Stage 6 VET course. It comprises school and RTO assessment policies and procedures, course-specific assessment schedules, assessment tasks, and retained documentation.

HSC exam mark

The exam mark for each course shows the student's performance in the HSC exam for that course.

illness

A medical incident or condition which allegedly impacted the student’s performance in the exam. For example, an asthma attack or bleeding nose during the exam.

invalid or unreliable results

Invalid results occur when an assessment does not measure the learning that it intends to. For example, if a maths task relies heavily on reading it may be assessing literacy and not maths. Unreliable results occur when the marking criteria does not align with the task or is not applied consistently. 

malpractice

Any attempt and/or dishonest behaviour to gain an unfair advantage over other students, and/or knowingly assisting other students to engage in malpractice.

misadventure

An incident or event that is unexpected; and is beyond a student's control; and prevents attendance or diminishes exam performance.

recognition of prior learning (RPL)

An assessment process that recognises skills, knowledge, understanding or experience an individual may have acquired through formal, non-formal and informal learning to determine the extent to which that individual meets partial or total completion of course or qualification learning outcomes and/or requirements.

registered training organisation (RTO)

A training provider registered by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), or a state registering and accrediting body, to deliver training, and/or conduct assessments, and issue nationally recognised AQF VET qualifications. RTOs delivering NESA VET courses must have the relevant qualification and units of competency on their scope of registration.

Stage 6 VET Industry Curriculum Framework (Framework)

Syllabuses developed by NESA to provide students with the opportunity to gain industry-recognised national vocational qualifications (Certificate or Statement of Attainment) under the AQF as part of their HSC. Courses within a Framework count as Board Developed unit credit for the HSC, and include an optional HSC exam which provides the opportunity for students to have this HSC exam mark contribute to the calculation of their ATAR.

Training Package

A nationally endorsed, integrated set of competency standards, assessment guidelines and AQF VET qualifications for a specific industry, industry sector or enterprise. Training Packages specify the knowledge and skills required by individuals to perform effectively in the workplace, which are expressed in units of competency, and detail how units of competency are packaged into nationally recognised and portable qualifications that comply with the AQF. NESA's VET Industry Curriculum Frameworks (Frameworks) and VET Board Endorsed courses (VET BECs) are based on Training Packages.

unit of competency

Component of a Training Package that can be assessed and recognised. It specifies industry knowledge and skill and the application of that knowledge and skill to the standard of performance expected in the workplace.

VET Quality Framework

A set of standards and conditions used by Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), the national VET regulator, to assess whether RTOs under its jurisdiction meet the requirements for registration. It includes: The Standards for Registered Training Organisations, the Fit and Proper Person Requirements, the Financial Viability Risk Assessment Requirements, the Data Provision Requirements, and the Australian Qualifications Framework.