Study of Board Developed and Board Endorsed VET courses: units of study and indicative time
ACE 8065
Last Updated: 1 April 2019
VET courses are described in terms of their HSC indicative hours rather than their HSC unit value. One HSC unit of study comprises 60 indicative hours.
HSC VET courses are stand alone courses and are not specified as Preliminary or HSC courses. An HSC VET course may be delivered in one year or over more than one year.
Flexibility of delivery
To facilitate flexibility of VET in the HSC, courses may be delivered as Preliminary units, as HSC units or as a combination of Preliminary and HSC units.
The HSC unit credit counts towards the student’s overall HSC pattern of study. The unit credit is initially accredited to the Preliminary or HSC pattern of study according to the year in which the student is undertaking the course, but it is automatically reallocated if required for the student to be eligible for their Higher School Certificate. For example, a 240-hour VET course is worth four units of credit towards the HSC. The HSC unit credit may be counted as:
- one Preliminary plus three HSC units; or
- two Preliminary plus two HSC units; or
- three Preliminary plus one HSC unit; or
- four Preliminary units; or
- four HSC units
regardless of whether the course has been completed in one or two calendar years.
A Specialisation Study or Extension course in a VET Industry Curriculum Framework may be undertaken by a student who is enrolled in, or has completed, the corresponding 240-hour course. The student must complete the 240-hour course before the Specialisation Study or Extension course will be reported on the Record of School Achievement or the Record of Achievement and count towards the requisite number of units for the Preliminary and/or HSC patterns of study.
Students must complete a minimum of two units (120 hours) of any VET course before the course can be accredited to their Preliminary or HSC program of study (except in the case of 60-hour Specialisation Study and Extension courses).