What do competency standards describe

The competency field either reflects the way the units of competency are categorised in the Training Package or denotes the industry sector, specialisation or function. It is an optional component of the unit of competency. The industry sector categorizes the competency field and identifies the next classification for example an elective or supervision field.

The elements of competency are the basic building blocks of the unit of competency. They describe in terms of outcomes the significant functions and tasks that make up the competency. The performance criteria specify the required performance in relevant tasks, roles, skills and in the applied knowledge that enables competent performance. They are usually written in passive voice.

Critical terms or phrases may be written in bold italics and then defined in range statement in the order of their appearance in the performance criteria. The essential skills and knowledge are either identified separately or combined. Knowledge identifies what a person needs to know to perform the work in an informed and effective manner.

Skills describe the application of knowledge to situations where understanding is converted into a workplace outcome. The range statement provides a context for the unit of competency describing essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment depending on the work situation, the needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item and local industry and regional contexts.

As applicable the meanings of key terms used in the performance criteria will also be explained in the range statement. The evidence guide is critical in assessment as it provides information to the Registered Training Organisation RTO and assessor about how the described competency may be demonstrated.

The evidence guide does this by providing a range of evidence for the assessor to make determinations and by providing the assessment context. The evidence guide describes:. The detail and application of Employability Skills facets will vary according to the job-role requirements of each industry. It has many parts. If we can understand these components individually, then we are better able to understand how to use the Unit of Competency to plan, deliver and assess training.

It does not matter which Training Package it might come from, every Unit of Competency will have some common sections.

It is important that we understand all sections, because no single section is more or less important than any other section. Each Unit of Competency will have, as a minimum, the following parts, whose purpose is shown in the table below. Part of Unit What it tells me Description tells me in general terms what the unit intends to do: what it covers, and what skills and knowledge it involves Performance Criteria made of two parts: Elements, which tell me what I should be able to do if I am competent in the Unit; and, Performance Criteria, which tell me how I can show that I am competent in the Element Key Competencies this is an often overlooked section, although it is just as important as every other part.

It tells us about the generic work skills that are included in the Unit, with a number often 1 to 3 telling us the level of performance of this skill that is expected for each of these generic skills.

These are the things that we should be able to do which are transferable to other situations, and which overlap with other units of competency. Range Statement gives me more information to understand the performance criteria, by telling me some situations that could be included. It can give me a list of required knowledge and skills, and sometimes gives suggestions for how to assess the Unit.

This section tells us other units that I can combine this one with for assessment Resources Required not surprisingly, this tells us the main resources that we will need to be able to effectively assess competence in the Unit. Clicking on the link will open the Unit in another window so you can refer to it as part of this conversation.

To make sure that we make informed decisions about the Units of Competency to deliver for our clients, we must collect as much information as we can. Ways that we can collect this information include:. There are four dimensions:. Dimension What the Participant must Demonstrate Task skills The specific skills needed to do the task as described in the unit of competency Task management skills Effective management of a number of interrelated tasks, all of which make up the job outcome being assessed Contingency management skills The ability to cope with irregularities or breakdowns in routine Job or role environment skills Dealing effectively with the expectations of their work environment, working well with others and under instruction as required.

It is rare that we will be looking at delivering just a single Unit of Competency. The language of vocational education and training VET is complex and particularly prone to jargon and acronyms. The aim of this glossary is to provide a single up-to-date reference source for definitions of Australian VET-related terms, acronyms and organisations. TVET glossary: some key terms The most common and significant terms including acronyms are listed and, in some cases, national and regional variations have been included.

To maintain an international perspective, other national and international glossaries and thesauri were consulted in conjunction with current TVET literature from around the world. Where definitions have been written by other organizations, the source of that definition is acknowledged. For some terms, where, for example, there are regional differences, more than one meaning has been provided.