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Certification – Records
Standards: Clause 3.4
Records of learner AQF certification documentation are maintained by the RTO in accordance with the requirements of Schedule 5 and are accessible to current and past learners.
Related documents/links
Standards for RTOs – Schedule 5
ASQA website: Provide secure certification
Notice on ASQA website: here
Records of all AQF certification documentation issued by RTOs must be kept for 30 years. Where a qualification or statement of attainment is recorded in the Student Identifier scheme, your RTO will not need to retain additional records to demonstrate this, as the records required will exist within the Student Identifier scheme.
QCI considerations
A Certifications Record is the official record of all qualifications and statements of attainment issued to learners. It can be generated as a report from an AVETMISS-compliant student management system.
- Does your RTO have a documented policy about what is to happen to the Certifications Record in the case of closure?
- What security arrangements are in place to ensure that it can only be accessed by authorised personnel?
Scenario 1
The owners of XYZ RTO have run a successful operation for a long time. They are now ready to retire and have decided to close the RTO. They have submitted all information about qualifications and statements of attainment to the Student Identifier Registrar at the appropriate times, so they know that they can close the RTO without having to do anything else related to records.
Question
Is their assumption correct?
No. If an organisation ceases being an RTO, then it is required to provide ASQA with a digital record of all AQF certification documentation issued in the past 30 years.
Scenario 2
XYZ RTO’s Student Management System is used freely by all RTO personnel for a variety of reasons. Therefore, all personnel have the same access level to ensure ease of access.
Question
Is it appropriate that any member of the RTO can access the certification records of past learners?
No. There must be security measures in place to prevent this. This can be done with passwords and access levels.