Guidelines for access to VET courses by students in Years 9 and 10

Undertaking a VET course is an option for students in Years 9 and 10 as a part of a broad general education. Students must also complete the mandatory curriculum requirements for Stage 5, including the development of essential literacy and numeracy skills.

The support of the relevant school system/sector authority and RTO is essential prior to schools offering VET courses to students in Years 9 and 10.

VET courses can only be delivered by registered training organisations (RTOs) that meet national standards and have the relevant qualification and units of competency on their scope of registration.

VET courses undertaken by students in Years 9 and 10 will lead to Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) VET qualifications. They will be delivered and assessed in accordance with the VET Quality Framework by an RTO which may be a school (as a part of a school system/sector RTO), TAFE NSW or other training provider. VET courses should create pathways that allow students the opportunity to achieve higher levels of training and VET qualifications by the time they complete their schooling, and should maximise further training and employment opportunities post-school.

Students in Years 9 and 10 should only undertake a VET course if it suits their individual needs. It is not necessarily appropriate for all schools, or for all students. It should be seen as one strategy within a suite of strategies used by schools to address engagement, retention and participation in education and training.

In considering offering access to VET courses to students in Years 9 and 10, schools should take into account:

• needs and interests of individual students identified through school-to-work transition planning
• local and regional workforce and community needs
• local infrastructure and partnerships
• availability of appropriate training pathways in different industry areas
• longer-term planning and logistics required to provide training pathways through Years 9 and 10 and into Years 11 and 12
• advice issued by their school system/sector.

For NSW school students in Years 9–12 (Stage 5 and Stage 6), VET is ‘dual accredited’. Students receive recognition towards their Record of School Achievement (RoSA) or Higher School Certificate (HSC), as well as a nationally recognised VET qualification (Certificate or Statement of Attainment).

Students in Years 9 and 10 may access VET courses through 2 curriculum pathways:

• Stage 5 VET Board Endorsed courses
• early commencement of Stage 6 VET courses.

Stage 5 VET Board Endorsed courses

Outcomes and content for Stage 5 VET Board Endorsed courses (VET BECs) are drawn from national Training Packages.

The VET qualification pathways available through Stage 5 VET courses are at a lower level than those available through Stage 6 (HSC) VET courses. Stage 5 courses would generally not include units of competency contained in Stage 6 courses.

NESA has endorsed a range of 100-hour elective Stage 5 VET BECs for delivery that lead to Certificate I VET qualifications.

Course descriptions for these Stage 5 VET BECs are available at Stage 5 VET Board Endorsed courses.

Schools wishing to offer other AQF VET qualifications that may be appropriate for endorsement at the Stage 5 level need to apply for a new course by the closing dates.

Year 9 and 10 students undertaking a Stage 5 VET BEC should be entered in the relevant course in Schools Online in the calendar year that the course is undertaken. Students should always be entered as a Year 10 entry. This applies to students doing the course in either Year 9 or Year 10.

Principals and training providers must check course exclusions (see course description) before entering students in a Stage 5 VET course.

A broad range of Stage 6 VET courses are available that contribute towards the HSC. These include courses from the VET Industry Curriculum Frameworks (Frameworks) and VET Board Endorsed courses (VET BECs).

Early commencement of a Stage 6 VET course means that a student in Year 9 or 10 undertakes a Stage 6 VET course while continuing to complete the NESA requirements for Stage 5 and any school system/sector curriculum requirements. These students will commence the accumulation of HSC units of credit while concurrently completing the requirements for Stage 5.

Students in Years 9 and 10 undertaking a Stage 6 VET course will be required to meet all Stage 6 VET course requirements listed in the syllabus or endorsed course description. These include studying a minimum 120 indicative hours of the course, addressing the HSC Content (Framework courses) and meeting mandatory work placement requirements.

Students in Years 9 and 10 undertaking a Stage 6 VET course must complete the All My Own Work (AMOW) program or its equivalent before the school submits students’ Year 11 (Preliminary) or Year 12 (HSC) VET course entries. Principals are required to certify students’ completion of AMOW in Schools Online.

Students in Year 9 or 10 undertaking a Stage 6 VET course will have 2 enrolments in Schools Online – their Year 10 enrolment and their Year 11 or 12 enrolment.

Schools are required to enter students in the relevant Stage 6 Framework course or VET BEC in Schools Online in the calendar year that the course is undertaken.

Important note: Schools must have accreditation to deliver courses leading to the award of the HSC to be able to offer early commencement of a Stage 6 VET course to students in Years 9 and 10. Junior secondary schools (Years 7 to 10) and junior secondary campuses (Years 7 to 10) of schools, are advised to discuss their intention to offer Stage 6 VET courses to students in Years 9 and 10 with their school system/sector authority before proceeding with planning for course offerings.

School-based apprenticeships and traineeships (SBATs) provide students with the opportunity to achieve a nationally recognised VET qualification and their HSC while gaining valuable work skills and experience through paid employment.

Students may commence an SBAT in Year 10.

Early commencement of a Stage 6 VET course is the appropriate curriculum pathway.

The requirements outlined in the NSW Department of Education’s School Based Apprenticeships and Traineeships in NSW Guidelines apply to all SBATs for students undertaking their HSC at a NSW government school, NSW non-government school or TAFE NSW.

Collaborative curriculum planning for students with disability

VET courses can be undertaken by any student including those with disability. For these students with disability, successful participation in VET courses requires:

• collaborative curriculum planning
• appropriate learning and assessment strategies
• consultation on whether the student needs support to undertake work placement
• ongoing partnerships between schools, students, parents, carers, teachers, employers and others in the community.

Planning considerations for early commencement

Factors to take into account when deciding whether to offer students early commencement of Stage 6 VET courses include the:

• need for students to complete the mandatory Stage 5 curriculum requirements during Years 9 and 10 while also studying a Stage 6 VET course
• age, maturity and motivation of students to commence a Stage 6 VET course
• genuine interest of students in a particular industry area
• readiness of students to commence a Stage 6 VET course given its curriculum standards, requirements, literacy and numeracy demands
• ability of some Year 9 and 10 students to cope with external delivery and work placement (if applicable)
• availability of potential training pathways in Stage 6 allowing students to undertake further HSC VET courses in the industry area, progressing to higher-level VET qualifications by the end of their senior schooling
• course exclusions which may impact on subject selection in Years 11 and 12
• alignment of the proposed Stage 6 VET course delivery and assessment with the Timetable of actions for secondary schools
• likely degree of support from teachers across the school and the parents or carers of the students involved.

Mapping training pathways

Pathways planning is a critical factor in the success of VET programs for students in Years 9 or 10.

To ensure viable pathways for the VET courses proposed to offer to Years 9 and 10 students, schools are strongly encouraged to map the VET qualification and VET curriculum pathways from Year 9 or 10 into Years 11 and 12 and post-school for each industry area in which they are planning to offer VET courses.