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Focus on... Quality in VET

Quality in the vocational education and training (VET) sector plays a vital role in ensuring learners gain the practical skills and knowledge needed to succeed in the workforce. It involves maintaining high standards in curriculum design, training delivery, assessment, and industry relevance. A strong focus on quality helps build employer confidence, supports learner outcomes, and aligns training programs with evolving labour market needs. This issue of Focus on... presents recent research on quality across the education and training system, including VET providers and the teaching and learning process.

Quality in education and training systems

Quality assurance in Australian training and education systems is progressive. Governments have continuously introduced reform to respond to changing conditions, to uphold high training and education standards. The Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) has released the Revised Standards for Registered Training Organisations: final policy draft, due to take effect from 1 July 2025. The standards were developed by working extensively with the VET sector, aiming to deliver outcomes that are more achievement focused. The revised standards are designed to make expectations for registered training organisations (RTOs) clearer and easier to navigate while allowing flexibility to deliver quality, innovative training. There are three aligned elements to the standards, developed in response to stakeholder feedback: (1) Outcome standards − defines the standards required for RTOs to achieve quality training and assessment outcomes such as training delivery; (2) Compliance requirements − describes the administrative and regulatory requirements that RTOs must comply with to maintain registration and enhance the integrity of VET systems; and (3) The Credential Policy − outlines the minimum requirements needed to deliver training, assessment and validation activities for trainers and assessors. Navigating the revised standards for RTOs is critical to understanding compliance obligations, ensuring the ongoing delivery of high-quality vocational training and meeting the expectations of students and employers.

Quality assurance (QA) and assessment criteria are internationally recognised as being essential elements of effective governance systems, driving continuous improvement in VET and higher education. The OECD's recently released policy paper Ensuring quality in VET and higher education: getting quality assurance right was prepared as part of a broader project that evaluated Lithuania's education system, focusing on quality assurance in VET and higher education. The policy paper is part A of a two-part series that explores the issues and trends in external quality assurance. The OECD paper goes beyond an instructional guide and analyses how governments can use QA structures to enhance educational quality by posing challenges such as mission definition for quality assessment agencies, agency relevance and impact on quality assurance, and consistent quality assurance across different agencies. It explores these challenges by focusing on the approaches of 10 European countries experiencing similar policy developments relating to quality assurance in VET and higher education. The features of different quality systems are also compared providing valuable insights.

Education evolves with the needs of a dynamic labour market and career motivated learners. The report The importance of understanding non-degree credential quality investigates the trend of non-degree credentials (NDCs) increasing in both variety and volume. NDCs, including certificates, microcredentials and badges, provide cost effective pathways offering accessibility, relevance and flexible learning experiences. They can be used to reskill, upgrade existing skills and provide an opportunity for career advancement. However, the report by The Burning Glass Institute poses questions about transparency, standardisation, effectiveness, value and ultimately quality. It highlights that few NDC specific resources exist to align career aspirations with potential courses. Also, the report notes a lack of evidential data to compare course relevance and quality outcomes for those investing in NDCs. The report recommends building robust quality assurance frameworks to tackle issues with NDCs such as trust, quality and return on investment. It is anticipated that this will better serve the needs of learners and the broader workforce.

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Quality for VET providers

Quality for VET providers can be demonstrated in a multitude of ways and, for RTOs, quality is more than compliance with the regulatory environment, as reported in Delivering high-quality VET: what matters to RTOs? This research aimed to determine how quality in VET is defined and measured and what metrics are used by RTOs to determine quality. The research found that different RTOs hold different definitions of quality in VET, depending on a range of variables including their purpose, their size, the types of students they cater for and courses they offer. However, there were some accepted views of what constituted good-quality VET, including being transformational for students, being student-centred, meeting employer needs, being adaptable to changing needs, and achieving successful outcomes, including employment. The report found that RTOs use a broad range of measures to monitor quality, including feedback, rates of engagement and progression, outcomes data, and retention of skilled teachers.

Released the following year, Beyond the standard: motivators of high-performing RTOs, sought to identify what motivates RTOs to pursue high performance and how they self-assess their performance. The research suggests that understanding motivations may lead to increased quality in VET. Definitions of high performance by RTOs ranged from measurable outcomes to more personalised, intention-based activities. Interestingly, the research found that RTOs often valued these intangible efforts more than concrete metrics, such as completion rates, as they saw their role as altruistic - their role was not just to be a 'business'. The report provides a 'concept map' of the elements RTOs see as contributing to high performance. This includes both output-based themes relating to stakeholder satisfaction and outcomes, to intention-based themes, which include being a 'public good' and the efforts taken by RTOs to pursue quality, such as leadership, which is perceived to be associated with high performance. The research outlines how high performance is embedded in business practices, the ways students and employers know an RTO is high-performing, and the methods and mechanisms RTOs use to track their own performance.

In Quality ratings of PTEs: an analysis of private training establishments' external evaluation and review reports 2009−2022, the external evaluation and review (EER) reports of private training establishments (PTEs) in New Zealand are analysed. EER reports were introduced to measure educational performance and the capability of the organisations to self-assess. The aim of the analysis is to identify patterns and trends in the quality ratings for educational performance and self-assessment and to understand what characteristics of PTEs are associated with higher quality ratings. The research showed that the overall quality ratings of PTEs was generally high and the confidence of PTEs improved over time. The PTEs that were assessed to have higher quality were more experienced, larger, could enrol international students, and were government funded. The report also provided an analysis of quality ratings by level of study and field of study with the most 'excellent' ratings received for level 7-10 qualifications and for the fields of Creative Arts, Education, and Engineering and related technologies.

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Quality in training and assessment

Quality delivery of training and assessment in VET is essential for positive student outcomes, with broader implications for employers, communities, and the economy as discussed in Unpacking the quality of VET. The 2021 paper by NCVER explores quality in an Australian context, highlighting that quality in VET spans the entire student journey, from pre-enrolment through to completion, and beyond. Drawing on Australian and international literature, how the concept of quality is applied and measured across various settings is investigated. The paper aims to define good-quality delivery and explores how to enhance its assessment, sustainability and improvement. The authors note that defining quality is inherently complex, requiring delivery processes that are localised and tailored to specific contexts. Key influences on delivery include policy and regulatory impacts, quality of training packages, students, educator availability, leadership and culture quality, and the effectiveness of workforce development. The paper underscores the importance of a nuanced approach in defining and measuring training and assessment quality in VET, one that reflects the diversity of the sector and meets the needs of all stakeholders.

Ingredients for success: what we can learn about embedding excellence in teaching, learning and assessment for young people studying technical and vocational skills at levels 3-5 aims to build an evidence base of excellence in teaching, learning and assessment, with the overarching goal of raising standards of educational practice across the further education (FE) sector. Commissioned by WorldSkills UK, the report focuses on teaching, learning and assessment at Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) Levels 3-5 (Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework - SCQF - Levels 6-8) for 16-24-year-olds in the UK's FE and skills sector. The report investigates what enables institutions to successfully embed excellence in teaching, learning and assessment for young people, identifies common barriers, and studies mechanisms beyond WorldSkills UK's own programmes that support high-quality outcomes. It also considers how WorldSkills UK can incorporate these elements in its programmes and future work. Drawing on interviews, focus groups, and case studies, the research highlights that excellence in technical and vocational education goes beyond technical proficiency. Instead, requiring an all-encompassing commitment from industry, institutions, trainers, employers and other stakeholders to ensure high-quality outcomes. The report provides several recommendations for WorldSkills UK, for education providers, and for future initiatives and research.

How student perceptions of quality influence their learning experience and outcomes was considered in Quality of initial vocational education and training: perceptions of disenchanted, enthusiastic, moderate and fluctuating apprentices. The paper analysed data from a survey of 333 apprentices in the retail and commercial sectors. It identified four clusters of students, based on their perceptions of the value of their training, these are: enthusiastic, disenchanted, moderate and fluctuating. Within the enthusiastic cluster, positive perceptions led to better motivation, engagement and self-efficacy, with those apprentices who believe in the value of their training showing more commitment and better performance. These apprentices are more likely to invest greater effort, enhancing their learning outcomes and further reinforcing their positive perception. In the 'disenchanted' cluster, low expectations of value are associated with low engagement and self-efficacy at both school and in the workplace. Quality in VET is tied directly to how learners perceive and value their training experience, meaning apprentices perceptions of their learning experience are powerful indicators of quality.

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Special focus: Quality's conceptual journey in VET: insights from NCVER's landmark documents and beyond

Quality has been a continuing theme throughout Australia's vocational education and training (VET) sector's history. Quality's conceptual journey in VET, authored by prominent VET researchers Melinda Waters and Hugh Guthrie, traces the evolution of quality through the lens of the VOCEDplus Landmark Documents, which are considered to have provided a vision for VET and/or led to significant reforms or attitudinal change in the sector. This paper is part of a collection of 10 Landmark Document historical overviews which are available in the VOCEDplus VET Knowledge Bank.