Standards for Certification, Assessment and Accreditation in the Senior Secondary Sector

There are no external, national standards for accreditation and certification bodies, such as the Office of Tasmanian Assessment, Standards and Certification (TASC), concerning their functions in the senior secondary sector.

Standards are valuable benchmarks against which to measure performance. They are particularly worthwhile for certifying bodies where public confidence in the certificates issued is of paramount importance.

Consequently, in the absence of any such external standards, the Tasmanian Qualifications Authority developed guidelines and these will be used by TASC until the new Accreditation Framework is developed. The guidelines were developed by drawing on existing documentation in the area of standards, principles and guidelines.

For more detail see Standards for certification, assessment and accreditation in the senior secondary sector

Through the new legislation, TASC, in consultation with the Framework Advisory Council, will develop a Senior Secondary Accreditation Framework. This framework will be comprehensive and public and will, at a minimum, include:

• priorities for the accreditation of senior secondary courses;
  
• the processes for determining whether or not to accredit any senior secondary course;
  
• the standards which must be met by a senior secondary course for it to be accredited as a senior secondary course; and
  
• any other matters the Minister thinks are appropriate.