Issuance

Issuance Policy:

This policy sets out the guidelines for issuance of qualifications and statements of attainment to ensure:

• Students receive the certification documentation to which they are entitled

• AQF qualifications are correctly identified in certification documentation

• AQF qualifications are protected against fraudulent issuance

• A clear distinction can be made between AQF and Non-AQF qualifications

• Certification documentation is used consistently

• Students are confident that the qualifications they have been awarded are part of Australia’s national qualifications framework – the AQF.

Unique Student Identifier

As part of issuance procedure, no qualification or statement of attainment is issued without the Unique Student Identifier (USI), Learners must either:

• Provide the USI to Strategix for verification, or

• Strategix gets permission from the student to apply for USI on their behalf

Outstanding Accounts

Qualifications or SOA’s are not to be issued to students who have overdue accounts.

Issuing Qualifications

A learner at Strategix who has successfully completed all of the required units of competency (as specified in the training package qualification or accredited course) is entitled to receive the following certification documentation on award of the qualification:

• A qualification, and

• A record of results.

The record of results is located on the back of the qualification.

Strategix will include the following information on the qualification, in addition to the requirements of the AQF Qualifications Issuance Policy:

• The name, National RTO code and logo of the issuing organisation

• The code and title of the awarded AQF qualification, and

• The NRT Logo in accordance with the current conditions of use contained in Schedule 4 (Standards for).

The following elements are to be included on the qualification as applicable:

• The State / Territory Training Authority logo (only where use of the logo is directed by State / Territory Training Authorities, e.g. Within User Choice contracts)

• The industry descriptor, e.g. Engineering

• The occupational or functional stream, in brackets, e.g. (Fabrication)

• Where relevant, the words, ‘achieved through Australian Apprenticeship arrangements’, and

• Where relevant, the words, ‘these units/modules have been delivered and assessed in English’ followed by a listing of the relevant units/modules.

Issuing a Statement of Attainment

A statement of attainment should only be issued if a learner successfully completes one or more units of competency or modules or an accredited short course, but does not meet the requirements for a qualification (as specified in the training package). 

The statement of attainment will list all of the units of competency achieved which includes the record of results including which qualification its part of.

Strategix will include the following information on a statement of attainment:

• The name, National RTO Code and logo of the issuing organization

• A list of units of competency (or modules where no units of competency exist) showing their full title and the national code for each unit of competency

• The authorised signatory

• The NRT Logo

• The issuing organisation’s seal, corporate identifier or unique watermark

• The words ‘A statement of attainment is issued by a Registered Training Organisation when an individual has completed one or more accredited units’

The following elements are to be included on the statement of attainment as applicable:

• The State/Territory Training Authority logo (only where use of the logo is directed by State/ Territory Training Authorities)

• The words ‘These competencies form part of [code and title of qualification(s)/course(s)]’

• The words, ‘These competencies were attained in completion of [code] course in [full title]’, and

• Where relevant, the words, ‘these units / modules have been delivered and assessed in English’ followed by a listing of the relevant units/modules.

All qualification/statement of attainment issuance at Strategix is undertaken in aXcelerate Student Management System. This system carries qualification/statement of attainment templates which is used accordingly to produce student credentials.

Certification documentation is issued to the learner well within 30 days of the learner being assessed meeting the requirements of the training product.

Strategix maintains a records management system both in aXcelerate and scanned file method, to allow records to be accessible to current and past learners.

Register of AQF qualifications Templates

Strategix maintains a register of the AQF qualifications that it has issued. The register will contain sufficient information to identify correctly the holder of the qualification, AQF qualification by its full title, and date of issue/award/conferral.

The register is stored in aXcelerate in the following location: Courses/Certificate Templates, the Certification Audit Checklist Spreadsheet also contains a register of the Certificate Templates used.

Security Statement

In order to preserve authenticity and protect from fraudulent copies, Qualifications and Statement of Attainments issued by Strategix contain multiple security features, each certificate contains:

• A unique certificate number, this can be used to verify the authenticity of the Qualification or Statement of Attainment. Verification can be completed by contacting Strategix by phone or for those issued electronically this can be done through https://strategix.edu.au/validate/ on Strategix’ website.

• A Watermark

• Signature

• Security Seal (Diplomas)

Limited staff have access to generate/create certificates and the student management system has the ability to report on who a certificate is created/issued by and when.

All Qualifications/SOA’s go through quality, validity and accuracy checks to ensure:

• The Correct Certificate Type has been issued

• The Correct Certificate Template has been used

• The date and content is correct

• The Certificate is being issued to the correct student

• The Details of the course are checked

Issuance Procedure

Completion/Cancellation/Withdrawal Checks

Student files, assessments, attendance, record books etc. must be finalised/signed and all results must be entered in a timely manner to ensure the timeframe is met.

Upon Completion, Cancellation or Withdrawal, checks must be completed by the Course Coordinator or Student Liaison Officer to ensure a student is ready to receive their Statement of Attainment (SOA) or Qualification. Withdrawals/Cancellations must be completed as per the Student Withdrawal Procedure prior to being finalised for Issuance.

Upon Completion, Withdrawal or Cancellation, a SOA or Qualification should be issued to a student as soon as possible. The Course Coordinator must ensure it is issued well within 30 days, the only allowance to this timeframe is when:

• All monies/fees have not been paid and/or

• A valid USI has not been provided by the student (USI’s must be obtained upon enrolment and prior to commencement)

aXcelerate has built in validation software which will prevent a Qualification or SOA from being created unless the above two requirements are met.

Creating/Generating Certificate

Certificates and Statement of Attainments are generated through aXcelerate in the “Issue Certificates” area. The Issue Certificate function is located in the student’s enrolment area (when issuing a single certificate) or in the class area (when issuing certificates in bulk).

To generate a Certificate:

• Click Certificates, then Issue Certificate

• Select and update the following fields:

  • Certificate Type (Completed Qualification or Statement of Attainment)

  • Certificate Template (Select which option applies, either PRINT CERT or DIGITAL CERT, then the type of certificate ie. Qualification)

  • Tick the Hide Internal Units box (removes Induction, VP, Practical Days etc)

  • Tick the box next to the student’s name for the Enrollees field

• Click on Preview to check

• Click Submit to issue the certificate.

The Qualification/SOA will be automatically sent by aXcelerate after the Close of Business (COB) that day. Once created, quality checks must be conducted prior to COB that day to ensure validity and accuracy.

Quality Checks

Once the Qualification/SOA has been created it must be checked to ensure the following:

• The Correct Certificate Type has been issued

• The Correct Certificate Template has been used

• The Completion date is correct – This is the date in which the Certificate was Generated/Created (this must always be within 30 days of the completion date)

• The Certificate has been created for the correct student

• All units are correct and accounted for (now units missing and no extra units)

Issuance

Qualifications/SOA’s are digitally sent to students via email on the initial Issuance. Printed copies are issued upon request. The email is automatically sent once the qualification Qualification/SOA has been created.

The email is triggered to send by the following actions:

• Award Issued Date entered and,

• Enrolment Status set to Completed or Cancelled

The email template sent (Completion or SOA Template) is determined by the:

• Completion Status and,

• Domain

Complete Enrolment with State Authority (where applicable)

Re-Issues/Reprints

With the exception of students who completed First Aid and were issued a SOA as evidence prior to completion, there should be no reason to regenerate/create a new certificate or update/change the “Issue Date” when re-issuing or re-printing a Qualification or SOA.

To re-issue a Digital Qualification/SOA:

• Navigate to the student's profile

• Click/Open the original Qualification/SOA

• Download a copy to the computer (to be attached later)

• Hover over “Actions” in the student's profile and click “Template”

• Select the same template of the email which was originally sent and click Submit

• The email template will open, Click email

• Update the Subject line

• Select the enrolments@strategix.edu.au email in the Email From field

• Attach the original Qualification/SOA which was downloaded to the computer

• Click Send.

To reprint

• Charge/receive payment from the student

• Navigate to the student's profile

• Click/Open the original Qualification/SOA

• Print and Send.

Costs

Costs involved in the Issuance/Re-Issuances of a Qualification/SOA:

• STG 1.038 - Student Records Management Policy and Procedure

• STG 1.010 - Fee Collection Policy and Procedure

• STG 3.001 - Fee Refund Policy Procedure

• STG 3.023 - Student Withdrawal Procedure

• Student Withdrawal Form

• FORM 7.029 - AQF Certificate Requirements

• State Training Authority – Completion Form

• State Training Authority – Cancellation Form

• State Training Authority – Web Interface Update for Completion/Cancellation