Standard 10.2 and 10.3 – Enterprise units of competency

VET accredited courses must be based on nationally endorsed units of competency or modules developed specifically for inclusion in the course. A VET accredited course must include skills and knowledge components expressed as a unit of competency or module.

This Standard relates to Section C of the National course document template.

Developing units of competency

VET accredited courses comprise units of competency from nationally endorsed training packages and/or enterprise units of competency developed for that particular course.

Enterprise units of competency should be written to reflect the standard of skills and knowledge required by a competent person in the workplace, rather than focussing on how the unit will be trained and assessed by a training provider. This focus on the workplace outcome should be clear throughout the unit of competency.

Units of competency should be developed in close consultation with practitioners and technical experts from industry and the VET sector.

Each unit of competency should describe:

a specific work activity
the standard of performance required in the workplace
assessment requirements, specifying the required evidence of competency, and required conditions under which assessment is conducted
other evidence that can be gathered to assist an assessor when judging competency.

In order to provide this information you will need to research and understand the:

work activity and what it involves
tasks, roles and skills that make up the work activity
generic work skills (or foundation skills) required
knowledge required to perform the work activity
performance evidence a student needs to demonstrate to be considered competent in the work activity
conditions and/or context in which the unit is to be delivered and assessed
resources that might be needed to gather the assessment evidence.

This information can be sourced from:

interviews
reviewing documentation e.g. position descriptions, procedures or standards
observing the work activity
consulting with internal and external stakeholders
consulting with subject matter experts.

Once you have clearly defined the outcome of the unit, you should review existing training package units of competency once again, to ensure the same outcome cannot be achieved. If a training package unit covers the same outcome, then that unit should be included in the course structure, rather than developing an enterprise unit of competency.

Writing enterprise units

Each enterprise unit of competency should be documented on a unit of competency template structured according to Table 4 below. You will also need to document the assessment requirements for each enterprise unit on the assessment requirements template, according to the structure set out in Table 5. Both tables should be circulated in draft form to key stakeholders for comment and revised as required. Stakeholders should then have the opportunity to review the revised unit of competency for comment.

Unit of competency template

This table sets out how enterprise units of competency should be structured in the course document. You can find additional guidance about each component of this template on the national course document template, on ASQA’s website.

Table 4: Unit of competency template components

Unit of competency template components
Unit code	ASQA will assign a unique code to each enterprise unit
Unit title	A title that concisely describes the outcome
Application	A brief description of the unit content, how the unit is applied and any licensing, legislative, regulatory or certification requirements that apply to the unit.
Pre-requisite unit (Optional)	A list of any units in which the student must be deemed competent prior to undertaking this unit. Note: As this component is optional, insert a row into the template if pre-requisite study is identified.
Competency field	Detailed (six digit) field of education (FOE) code is assigned to each unit to identify a type of work. Note: The FOE code assigned to training package units can be found on the National Register. For training package units, you will find the relevant code on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website.
Unit sector (Optional)	Relates to the categorisation of units of competency to a particular industry sector. Note: As this component is optional, insert a row into the template if industry sector information is being identified.
Elements	Describe the essential outcomes of the unit by breaking down the unit into actions or outcomes.
Performance criteria	Relate directly to the corresponding element, breaking down the element into tasks, roles and skills, and applied knowledge that reflect the required standard of performance in the workplace, education or community environment.
Range of conditions (Optional)	Specify different work environments and conditions that affect performance. This information is intended to provide additional context to assist training providers deliver the unit of competency. Note: As this component is optional, insert a row into the template if you are identifying range of conditions. Where a range of conditions is identified, they should represent mandatory requirements.
Foundation skills	Describes language, literacy and employment skills that are essential to performance in the workplace. If the foundation skills are essential to performance but not explicit in the performance criteria, include a brief description of how the skill is applied, presented as in the table below. If foundation skills are explicit in the performance criteria, you should include a statement to this effect in the course document. Note: Only skills applicable to the unit outcomes need to be identified in the table. Those skills that do not apply may be removed.
Unit mapping information	Specifies the code and title of any equivalent unit of competency e.g. a previous version of the unit.

Example table to show how essential foundation skills will be applied

Skill	Description
Reading skills
Writing skills
Oral communication skills
Numeracy skills
Learning skills
Problem solving skills
Initiative and enterprise skills
Teamwork skills
Planning and organising skills
Self-management skills
Technology skills

In addition, to the above, you will need to record the assessment requirements for each unit of competency using the assessment requirements template, set out as in Table 5 below.

You can also find additional guidance about each component of this template on the national course document template, published on ASQA’s website.

Table 5: Assessment requirements template components

Assessment requirements template components
Title	Specifies the code and unit title that the assessment requirements relate to.
Performance evidence	Specifies process and evidence, as well as the frequency or volume of evidence, that the assessor needs to collect to determine a student’s competency. Note: Elements and performance criteria should not be repeated here.
Knowledge evidence	Specifies the knowledge a student must have to perform the work tasks described in the unit of competency.
Assessment conditions	Specifies mandatory conditions, methods, contexts and resources required for assessment. This may also include: mandated assessment methods identified prerequisite relationships mandated assessment tools and their implementation requirements specialist vocational competency requirements for assessors. The information must align with the assessment strategy described in Section B: 6.1 of the National course document template.