Differences Between TAFEs, RTOs And Universities.

TAFEs, RTOs and universities are the main Australian tertiary education (post-school education) course providers.

Here you can read about the differences between TAFEs, RTOs and universities.

Technical and Further Education (TAFE)

TAFE is an Australian government owned, financed and nationally operated system of colleges which offer a wide range of nationally recognised training and qualifications, predominantly Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses. Also called technical or career courses, these courses tend to have more emphasis on occupational skills for specific industries and roles rather than academic learning. Such courses consist of certificate and diploma courses. According to the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), which specifies the standards for educational qualifications in Australia, these are lower-level qualifications than higher education courses which are normally offered by universities (excluding the Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma which sit a step above the Bachelor’s Degree, and the Advanced Diploma which is the the same level as the Associate Degree). TAFE colleges are accredited and regulated by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), which is the national regulator for Australia’s VET sector.

Registered Training Organisation (RTO)

RTOs are privately owned and operated education providers (private colleges) which provide nationally recognised training and qualifications to the same standard, accreditation and with the same benefits as TAFE. Also similar to TAFE, RTOs typically offer Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses. Such courses consist of certificate and diploma courses. However, as RTOs are generally smaller in size than TAFEs, they tend to specialise in certain areas of study, focusing on a particular industry, sector or niche. RTOs are accredited and regulated by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), which is the national regulator for Australia’s VET sector.

University

Universities normally offer a wide range of internationally recognised training and qualifications, made possible as they are often large in size with many facilities. Unlike TAFE and RTOs, universities predominantly offer Higher Education courses. These courses tend to have more emphasis on academic learning, knowledge, theory, personal attributes, the development of professional and transferable skills, rather than industry specific occupational skills. According to the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), which specifies the standards for educational qualifications in Australia, these are higher-level qualifications than VET courses, which are normally offered by TAFE and RTOs (excluding the Bachelor’s Degree which is a step below the Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma, and the Associate Degree which is the same level as an Advanced Diploma). As such, Higher Education courses usually have more competitive entry requirements, are more in depth and among other things, are longer in duration than the VET courses. The most common Higher Education courses include the bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and doctoral degree. The doctoral degree, is more about creating new knowledge rather than studying existing knowledge. This encompasses another unique characteristic of universities, that they are also about researching and creating new knowledge alongside for providing training and qualifications. Universities are accredited and regulated by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), which is the national regulator for Australia’s Higher Education sector.

Useful Links

To read more about Australian Tertiary Education (which includes the VET and Higher Education sector), click here.
To read more about the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), click here.
To read more about the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) and the Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency (TEQSA), click here.
To read more about the courses provided by TAFEs, RTOs and universities, click here.

References

Australian Government, Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), “About ASQA“, retrieved 04/07/18
Australian Government, Australian Skills Quality Authority, “About RTOs“, retrieved 04/07/18
Australian Government, Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), “What we do“, retrieved 04/07/18