Assessment Information

You are expected to complete assessments for all units in your qualification. You will need to submit assessments by the due date for a result to be recorded. You will receive full and detailed instructions on the requirements for each assessment, including its context and purpose; ensure you talk to your trainer and/or assessor to clarify anything that is not clear to you.

Resubmissions

If you receive feedback to say your submission was ‘Unsatisfactory’, you will need to provide more evidence to support your claim for competency. This may mean re-doing some of the theory questions, putting extra or more relevant information into your portfolio, or demonstrating a task again. RPS does charge a fee for resubmission of assessments after two (2) unsuccessful resubmissions. If, after two (2) resubmissions your work is still ‘Unsatisfactory’, you will be charged a fee of $199 per resubmission for a further two (2) resubmissions after which if your work is still ‘Unsatisfactory’, you will be awarded a result of ‘Not Competent’ and required to re-enrol in, and re-do the work for the unit, in order to achieve the full qualification.

Talk to the RTO Coordinator for more information. The staff at RPS will take every reasonable effort to help you succeed in your course.

You will receive feedback regarding the outcome of each of your assessment items. To be deemed ‘Competent’ against a nationally accredited unit, you must meet the requirements for all elements that comprise that unit.

Competency Based Training (CBT) is an approach to teaching that focuses on allowing a student to demonstrate their ability to do something. Used in the VET sector, CBT is used to develop concrete skills and is typically based on a standard of performance expected in the workplace and industry.

CBT programs deliver qualifications that are made up of Units of Competency. Each unit defines the skills and knowledge required to effectively perform in the workplace. Assessment is based upon the learning outcomes expected from each Unit of Competency.

How Does Assessment Work in CBT?

Unlike the traditional school system of grading assessments on a scale ranging from A to Fail, assessment of CBT determines if you have the required skills and knowledge or are not yet competent.

Assessment is specifically conducted to determine if a student can deliver essential outcomes related to the performance criteria within each Unit of Competency. Basically, this means assessment is conducted to see whether or not a student has the required skills and knowledge to perform effectively in the workplace. If a student’s performance in the assessment does not demonstrate the requirements the student is marked as ‘Not Competent’, while successful performance will result in the student being deemed ‘Competent’. Assessors will look for evidence against which to base their judgements of competency.

The ways to demonstrate to our qualified assessors that you can perform to the required standard and be classed as ‘Competent’ or ‘Meeting Requirements’, include:

• Being observed as you work/perform the tasks and activities
• Responses to verbal questioning
• Written responses to theory questions
• Responding to a role play or case study
• Conducting a project
• Submitting a written report
• Compiling a portfolio of work samples
• A combination of the above.

RPS has a Training and Assessment Strategy for each of the qualifications we deliver and we outline our approaches for conducting assessment in those strategies.

All work that you submit must be your own. You will have signed a declaration at the start of each assessment that this will be the case.

Plagiarism is taking someone else’s work and/or ideas and passing them off as your own. It is a form of cheating and is taken seriously by RPS. To help you understand, the following are examples that constitute plagiarism:

• Copying sections of text and not acknowledging where the information has come from
• Mashing together multiple ‘cut and paste’ sections, without properly referencing them, to form an assessment response
• Presenting work that was done as part of a group as your own
• Using information (pictures, text, designs, ideas etc.) and not citing the original author(s)
• Unintentionally failing to cite where information has come from.

When it comes to properly acknowledging where information has come from, students should be aware of, and be able to properly use, referencing protocols.

Whilst as a student, you are able to lodge an appeal if you disagree with a decision regarding an assessment outcome, you are encouraged to speak with your assessor in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of that discussion, you may request a formal review of the assessment decision. Following is RPS’s procedure for lodging an appeal.

1. All formal appeals must be received in writing. Appellants must use the RPS Energy Appeals Form. This can be obtained by emailing RTOinfo@rpsgroup.com
2. RPS Energy will acknowledge receiving the appeal form within 3 working days of a student emailing it back to the email stipulated on the RPS Energy Appeals Form
3. RPS Energy will appoint a representative form RPS Energy management to work with an independent assessor from RPS Energy to examine the appeal and make a decision
4. Following completion of an investigation, the decision will be emailed to the appellant
5. An appellant not satisfied with the written outcome provided by the independent assessor may seek further assistance form the VET regulator, ASQA.

RPS staff are appropriately qualified and have sufficient, relevant industry experience to train and assess the courses delivered. On occasion, a subject specialist may conduct assessment in conjunction with a fully qualified assessor. You will be advised of specific instances in your course where this may be the case.

Our methodologies regarding training and assessment work toward ensuring our processes meet national assessment principles including Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), Recognition of Current Competencies (RCC) and Credit Transfer (CT).

Flexible Learning and Assessment

Included in our training and assessment strategies are practices that promote flexibility in learning and assessment. This means we will work with you to provide options that are responsive to your individual needs, and that maximise learning outcomes and access to learning activities.