VET Assessment Rules

 

• What is Competency Based Assessment?
• How do I Appeal an Assessment Result?
• How is my Assessment Marked?
• What do I Need to Know About Submitting My Assessment?
• What are the Types of Assessment Formats?
• What is Plagiarism?
• What do I Need to Know About Resubmitting My Assessment?
• How do I Apply for an Extension to my Assessment?

ANCHOR – What is Competency Based Assessment?

 

 

 

WHAT IS COMPETENCY BASED ASSESSMENT?

Vocational Education and Training (VET) assessment is based on national benchmarks, called competency standards, for the occupation or industry in which an individual is training.  A successful result in VET assessment is recorded as ‘Competent’ according to industry standards.

 

The emphasis in VET assessment is on the student’s ability to perform practical tasks and describe/explain how and why tasks are completed in particular ways.  While the emphasis on academic writing in VET courses is different to Higher Education courses, students are expected to have a good standard of literacy for Diploma level qualifications and need to be able to express themselves clearly in written English.

ANCHOR – How do I Appeal an Assessment Result?

 

 

 

HOW DO I APPEAL AN ASSESSMENT RESULT?

All students have the right to appeal their result of ‘unsatisfactory’ received for an assessment or for the feedback provided by their teacher. To appeal a decision the student will need fill in the Assessment Appeal Application Form and refer it to a VET Coordinator. The grounds for appeal must identify that the result received was not based on the assessment marking criteria as outlined in the assessment task. Other reasons for appeal may be considered. If the appeal is accepted as valid the paper will be marked by a qualified assessor external to the class. Any change in the results will be recorded in the ‘Grade Book’ by the VET Coordinator. If the student is dissatisfied with the appeals decision they may follow the Student Complaints and Appeals Policy and Procedure.

ANCHOR – How is my Assessment Marked?

 

 

 

HOW IS MY ASSESSMENT MARKED?

As a student progresses through a module and completes the various assessment tasks, they are assessed on each task as ‘satisfactory’ or ‘not satisfactory’. If a student is assessed as ‘not satisfactory’  they are given one (1) opportunity to resubmit. Once all tasks for the subject have been completed satisfactorily, the outcome result of ‘competent’ or ‘not yet competent’ is recorded.

 

Teaching staff  make decisions about whether a task has been satisfactorily completed based on the following considerations:

 

• all parts of the assessment task/s have been completed to a standard that satisfactorily meets the requirements set out in all of the marking criteria (as set out in the subject)
• the student’s work is of a standard to be acceptable in the workplace for an entry-level employee in the occupation in question, including acceptable formatting, expression, language, spelling and grammar
• the assessment and assessment tasks are the student’s own work, except as appropriately acknowledged by the use of referencing

The College achieves consistency in assessment marking through validation and moderation activities held regularly to improve the way assessment tasks are described and explained and to assist teaching staff to interpret and apply marking criteria consistently.

ANCHOR – What do I Need to Know About Submitting My Assessment?

 

 

 

WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SUBMITTING MY ASSESSMENT?

• All assessments must be submitted by the due date unless an extension has been granted by the Teacher of VET Coordinator. The due date is midnight Sunday at the end of the week specified by the module assessments requirements. All written assessments must be uploaded onto the online grade book in my.acap (for instructions about how to upload assessments click here)

 

Please also refer to:

• What is plagiarism?

ANCHOR – What are the Types of Assessment Formats?

 

 

 

WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF ASSESSMENT FORMATS?

Assessment is a broad term and it is used to describe all the assessment that are required to be submitted by a due date.  Assessments are completed under non supervised conditions. To achieve a result of Competent for a VET subject, a student must satisfactorily complete all assessments. It is the student’s responsibility to read and follow all instructions for all assessments.

 

 

Written Assessments

• All written assessments must be submitted in Microsoft Word format. PDF format or hand written assessments will not be accepted.
• All assessments must be named with the following file naming convention prior to uploading them for marking:   After selecting ‘save as’,  insert your  Surname_Assessment Number  and  Subject Code’.  An example of how this should look is: Jones_Assessment 1_CHC0321P_doc.

 

 

Audio-visual Assessments 

Audio-visual assessments (e.g. role-play sessions) are required to be submitted online or in hardcopy on DVD. Students must be aware of the following when completing audio-visual assessments:

• Online submission of audio visual assessment is required  (for upload instructions click here)
• There are no DVD hardcopy submissions: If you are having difficulty with uploading your DVD, please refer to the User Guide and/or the IT helpdesk.
• All audio-visual assessments need to include a recorded message at the beginning of the video stating your name, student ID, module name, assessment number and class teachers name
• To protect the privacy of individuals who consent to participate in recorded client sessions, role-plays or interviews that involve the disclosure of private information, the college requires  students to seek the informed consent of the client and/or interviewee
• Students are required to engage persons who are 18 years of age or over for the purposes of recorded sessions, role-plays and interviews and must not engage family members for the purposes of these recorded sessions, roles plays and interviews
• Upon completion of the program of study at the college, it is the responsibility of the student to ensure that the recorded role-play or interview is erased or disposed of appropriately

 

 

For more help and resources please visit our STUDENT LEARNING SUPPORT WEBSITE 

ANCHOR – What is Plagiarism?

 

WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?

Plagiarism is defined as taking, using, and passing off as your own, the ideas or words of another person by failing to give appropriate acknowledgement.  This includes material from any source, staff, students, the Internet – published and unpublished works.

 

Examples of Plagiarism:

• using another  author’s work which is paraphrased or presented without a reference to that author
• copying other students’ work; including items of the assessment which are written in conjunction with other students (without prior permission of your teacher/educator/lecturer)
• submitting work which has already been submitted for assessment previously in another course
• re-presenting  the same assessment for more than one module in the course
• presenting as their own work an assessment completed by another person
• presenting as their own work information, text, figures, statistics, artwork, graphics or other material taken from any source
• quoting or paraphrasing  material from a source without acknowledgment

 

The best way to avoid plagiarism:

Make notes of where you find information, and then acknowledge the source of the information used in the assessment.   Such work may include sections of text, quotations, original ideas, graphics, diagrams, charts, tables and figures.  It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that full acknowledgement is given to the use of another person’s work, thoughts and/or intellectual property.

 

Turnitin

All written assessments must be submitted through Turnitin.  This is an automated process. Turnitin compares a text with a range of sources including the internet, electronic journals, books, databases, literature, works of art, bibliographies and any student assessment which have been submitted previously through Turnitin. Draft assessments are able to be checked through Turnitin and are able to be reviewed and reworked by the student prior to final submission. When an assessment is submitted through Turnitin the system will colour code the sections which appear in other sources and will produce a similarity score expressed as a percentage. The similarity score indicates how much of the assessment is found in other sources. All written assessments must be submitted to Turnitin in Microsoft Word format.  PDF format will not be accepted.

 

Frequently asked questions about Turnitin can be found on the Student Portal

 

Referencing

While a variety of referencing styles and systems are in use, the College requires all Higher Education students to use the APA Referencing Style.   For this reason, VET students should also use this style when referencing.  However, students will not be penalised in their overall assessment result for inconsistency in referencing style.   Poor referencing alone will not result in a ‘not yet competent’ result unless referencing has not been attempted, resulting in plagiarism. Students should refer to the Referencing Guide for details and examples of this referencing style.

 

Students must acknowledge the work of others whenever they include it in their assessment  tasks, both to acknowledge the work and ideas of the originator and also to enable the reader to follow up the original work if required. It is the student’s responsibility to follow The American Psychological Association Publication Manual (6th edition) style for any referencing that is included in assessments.

ANCHOR – What do I Need to Know About Resubmitting My Assessment?

 

 

 

WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT RESUBMITTING MY ASSESSMENT?

Students enrolled in VET qualifications are able to resubmit an assessment should they be assessed as ‘not yet satisfactory – more evidence required’. Teachers provide feedback to the student outlining the gaps in knowledge and skills required for competency and students are given two weeks to resubmit. No further resubmits are allowed unless there are special circumstances.

ANCHOR – How do I Apply for an Extension to my Assessment?

 

 

HOW DO I APPLY FOR AN EXTENSION TO MY ASSESSMENT?

Requesting an Extension of Time for an Assessment

Students are notified of assessment details well in advance of due dates. All students are expected to submit their assessments by the due date. In rare circumstances a student may be granted an extension of time for the submission of an assessment.
The timely submission of assessment or the appropriate negotiation of an extension is the responsibility of the student. As students are notified of assessment details well in advance of due dates, extensions will not be granted without demonstrated serious cause.

 

ALL EXTENSION REQUESTS are made using the official form below:

 

ASSESSMENT EXTENSION REQUEST FORM

 

The assessment policy applies to all current students of the College. This policy does not apply to assessment resubmissions which must be submitted by the due date.

 

Extensions will only be granted in extenuating circumstances and will only be considered on medical, compassionate or other serious grounds. The request must be accompanied by supporting documentation. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure all relevant supporting documentation is forwarded with the extension application. Submitting a request for an extension does not automatically mean that the extension will be granted.

 

Types of Extensions Available and How to Apply

Extension requests are made directly to the Academic Administration Team via the online form.

 

The unit/subject teacher will be informed via email if the extension is granted. No requests for extension should go to the teacher directly.

 

Extensions will only be granted if the request is made 48 hours prior to the assessment due date.

 

The College must be satisfied that unforeseen special circumstances apply and will not give extensions on other grounds, such as, poor time management or over commitment in terms of workload.

 

Students can apply for:

• Seven calendar days extension from the original due date
• An additional seven calendar days extension from the re-negotiated due date, if special circumstances apply

 

 

Required Supporting Information

Supporting information will depend upon your circumstances, but may include medical certificates, reports from a treating practitioner, or a police report.

 

If you are requesting an extension due to religious obligations you should provide a letter from your religious leader who is an authorised leader or your local faith or spiritual community, which includes:

 

• Your name and student number
• Details of the religious event, including name, dates and times
• How this impacts on your studies
• Specific assessments impacted, including unit code and name, assessment number and name, and the due date
• Details of your religious leader, including name, title, location, signature and contact detail.

 

 

Limitations of Extensions

• The maximum extension granted is 14 calendar days
• No extensions can be granted beyond the end of a trimester; this may mean that the maximum extension may not be available to all students in all assessments tasks.
• Extension requests can be made up to 48 hours before the assessment due date
• No extensions are available for resubmitted assessment tasks.

 

Notifications of Extensions

Students, and their teacher, will be notified of the outcome of their application within 5 business days by email. Students who have not received a response within this timeframe, should email [email protected] to follow up on their application.

 

Unsuccessful Extension Applications

If the application for an extension is unsuccessful the Assessment Late Submission Guidelines in Attachment 3 allows a student to submit their assessment for marking up to 10 calendar days after the original due date; however, an academic penalty of 5% per day will apply.

 

A student may appeal a decision to refuse an extension by following the College’s Student Complaints and Appeals Policy and Procedure.