Skills Education

ü  The Certificate IV in Training and Assessment is an entry-level qualification and it prepares graduates well to facilitate delivery of training and assessment however, although elements of clustering as a technique and RPL as an assessment pathway are included, the 'Cert IV' does not specialise in either of these areas - both of which address advanced practice servicing real-world demands

ü  Direct anecdotal feedback tells us a high percentage of trainer/assessors do not feel confident assessing an RPL application - let alone developing the tools

ü  RPL candidates are often left frustrated at the barriers within processes that make it difficult to have their existing skills and knowledge recognised. Many times, via processes that rely on a mountain of paperwork without needing to

ü  There is a shortage of qualified, skilled workers - many workers are skilled, but unrecognised. RPL, done well, is a meaningful way to effectively address this national issue

ü  Enterprise RTOs can use this method to map workers' skills to nationally recognised training products and easily support their workforce to achieve outcomes that result in nationally recognised qualifications. And all this can be done without massive amounts of time 'offline' to do training or fill out assessment paperwork

ü  RTOs with staff that can apply a pro-active candidate-centred approach to RPL are in high demand from industry - these courses show how to design and implement the tools and processes required

ü  Skills recognition is the preferred option when a person already knows how to do the job and already has the required competencies. The question becomes: Why are so many potential RPL candidates reporting they feel pressure in the process and end up thinking "it's just easier to do the course"?

These microcredentials show a pathway to a better way to offer and do RPL