What Is A Graduate Certificate?
As the Graduate Certificate is deemed higher than a Bachelor’s Degree, to gain entry generally you must have graduated from a Bachelor’s Degree prior to undertaking studies or have significant skills and abilities in the field of study to exceed that of a Bachelor’s Degree (through work experience for example). The Graduate Certificate qualifies you to apply a body of knowledge in a range of contexts for professional or highly skilled work and or further learning.
Duration: Generally takes six months to one year to complete.
Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) Level: 8
About Certificate Courses
Certificates are Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualifications, they prepare students for community involvement, particular employment and further learning.
- Certificates are the basic, entry-level post-school qualifications (except for the Graduate Certificate, which sits a step above the Bachelor’s Degree)
- Certificates come in five levels, from lowest to highest, these are the Certificate I, Certificate II, Certificate III, Certificate IV and Graduate Certificate
- Certificates generally take between zero and two years to complete
- Certificates are nationally recognised Australian qualifications
- Certificates are typically delivered by Registered Trading Organisations (RTOs) and TAFE
- Certificate quality and overall standards are specified or ‘put forth’ by the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF)
- Certificate quality and overall standards are regulated by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), the national regulatory body for VET
- Certificates cover a huge-range of disciplines including make-up, business, agriculture and hospitality
As certificates are nationally recognised Australian qualifications, their standards (as specified in the AQF) are accredited, regulated and assured by ASQA. Furthermore, in order to deliver a certificate qualification, course providers must meet standards maintained by ASQA called the ‘Standards for Registered Trading Organisations (RTOs) 2015’. These standards are used to ensure national consistency of training and assessment for certificate courses. This means that certificate courses are of the same quality standard, value and assured recognition, regardless of where you earn them.
Useful Links
- To learn more about nationally recognised (accredited) qualifications, click here.
- To learn more about each accredited post-school qualification, click here.
- To learn more about the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), click here.
- To learn more about the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), click here.
- To learn more about the education providers who can deliver the Certificate I, click here.
