Statement of VET Tuition Assurance

(Refer to paragraph 3.6.1 of the VET Provider Guidelines)

Under the provisions of Schedule 1A of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA) and Chapter 3 of the VET Provider Guidelines TrainSmart Australia (the First Provider) must comply with the VET Tuition Assurance requirements. This is to protect VET students (as defined at subsection 1.1.3 of the VET Provider Guidelines) in the event that TrainSmart Australia ceases to provide a VET course of study in which a VET student is enrolled. The meaning of “ceasing to provide a VET course of study‟ is set out at paragraph 3.5.2 of the VET Provider Guidelines. A copy of these is available from: www.deewr.gov.au

In the event that TrainSmart ceases to provide a VET course of study in which a VET student is enrolled the VET student is entitled to a choice of:

• An offer of a place in a similar VET course of study with a Second Provider without any requirement to pay the Second Provider any VET tuition fee for any replacement VET units (this is known as the “VET Course Assurance Option”); OR
• A refund of his or her up-front VET payments for any VET unit of study that the VET student commences but does not complete because TrainSmart ceases to provide the VET course of study of which the VET unit forms part (this is known as the “VET Tuition Fee Repayment Option”)

TrainSmart has met the VET tuition assurance requirements as specified in the VET Provider Guidelines through its current membership of the Australian Council for Private Education and Training (ACPET) Australian Student Tuition Assurance Scheme (ASTAS) – VET. Contact details for the Australian Council for Private Education and Training are:

Australian Council for Private Education and Training (ACPET)
PO Box 551 East Melbourne, Vic 8002
Tel: 1800 657 644
Fax: (03) 9416 1895
Email: acpet@acpet.edu.au

If TrainSmart ceases to provide a VET course of study, ACPET will send a VET student enrolled in the VET course of study a Written VET Tuition Assurance Offer (the Offer) advising the VET student of the options available under the VET tuition assurance requirements. The Offer will include directions that the VET student must follow in order to notify ACPET of the choice they have made for each affected VET unit. ACPET will provide this Offer within twenty Business Days after it knows, or should know by reasonable enquiries that TrainSmart has ceased to provide the VET course of study.

For the purposes of VET FEE-HELP, all courses offered by TrainSmart in accordance with the course requirements of clause 45 of Schedule 1A of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 are covered by ACPET ASTAS – VET ("the Scheme") as part of TrainSmart membership of the Scheme.

A VET student may choose either:

Under the VET course assurance option, a VET student will be offered a place in a similar VET course of study by ACPET. If the VET student accepts this option, ACPET will make all necessary arrangements to ensure a VET student is able to enrol with the Second Provider in the similar VET course of study. This offered VET course will lead to the same or a comparable qualification without any requirement on the part of the VET student to pay the Second

Provider any VET tuition fee for any replacement VET units (that is, units that the student had commenced but not completed because the VET course ceased to be offered). A VET student will receive full credit from the Second Provider for any VET units of study successfully completed at TrainSmart

The Second Provider nominated by ACPET may have different VET tuition fees to the fees the VET student would have paid for VET units of study which were part of the VET course of study TrainSmart ceased to provide but which the VET student had not yet started studying.

A VET student is not obliged to enrol in a VET course of study with a Second Provider offered by ACPET under the VET Course Assurance Option. However, if he/she enrols with any other VET provider there is no obligation on that VET provider to offer full credit transfer for the VET units of study completed with TrainSmart or to offer replacement VET unit/s free of charge.

OR

The VET Tuition Fee Repayment Option

Under the VET Tuition Fee Repayment Option, ACPET undertakes to pay the VET student the total of any up-front VET payments already paid by the VET student for any VET units of study the VET student has commenced but not completed because the VET course ceased to be offered. VET Students selecting this option will also have their FEE-HELP balance re-credited for the uncompleted VET unit/s free of charge.

This Statement of VET Tuition Assurance is made publicly available on the TrainSmart website. The Student Handbook also contains reference to this policy, and VET students will be advised of its location as part of their enrolment information.

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