Education terms in plain English
The words you will meet on course pages, enrolment forms and official sites.
- Accredited course
- Vocational training developed where training packages do not meet a need, recognised by a regulator and published on the National Training Register.
- AQF
- The Australian Qualifications Framework: the national policy that sets ten levels and the qualification types at each one.
- ASQA
- The Australian Skills Quality Authority, the national regulator for vocational education and training. It does not regulate some providers that operate only in Victoria or Western Australia.
- Census day
- For a loan, the last day to apply or to withdraw without incurring a debt for that unit of study.
- Commonwealth supported place
- A subsidy where the government pays part of your higher education fee and you pay the remaining student contribution. It is not a loan.
- Credit transfer
- Getting credit for study you have already completed, using formal evidence, so you do not repeat it.
- CRICOS
- The official list of Australian providers and courses offered to people studying here on student visas.
- Elective unit
- A unit you choose from the options a qualification allows, alongside its core units.
- FEE-HELP
- A loan for all or part of the fees for full fee-paying higher education at approved providers.
- HECS-HELP
- A loan that pays the student contribution for a Commonwealth supported place.
- LLND
- Language, literacy, numeracy and digital skills.
- Nationally recognised training
- Training that leads to credentials recognised across Australia. Only RTOs can deliver and assess it, and it is listed at training.gov.au.
- Recognition of prior learning (RPL)
- An assessment of what you have learned through work, life or study, to decide what credit you receive.
- RTO
- A registered training organisation: a provider approved to deliver and assess nationally recognised training and issue the resulting documents.
- Scope of registration
- The specific qualifications, skill sets, units and accredited courses an RTO is registered to provide.
- Skill set
- One or more units, smaller than a qualification, linked to a licence, a regulatory need or a defined industry need.
- Statement of attainment
- A document confirming you met the requirements of the units listed on it.
- Superseded
- Replaced by a newer version. Check how long you would have to finish a superseded product.
- TEQSA
- The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, the regulator for higher education.
- Third party
- Another organisation that recruits students or delivers training on an RTO's behalf.
- Training package
- The set of competencies an industry needs and how they fit together into nationally recognised qualifications.
- Unit of competency
- A set standard of workplace performance. Qualifications are built from units.
- USI
- A Unique Student Identifier: your free education number for life.
- VET
- Vocational education and training: study focused on skills for work.
- VET Student Loans
- An income contingent loan for eligible students at diploma level and above, through approved providers and approved courses.
- Volume of learning
- The notional time a typical student needs for everything a qualification involves, including individual study and assessment.