Skill Sets

What are Skill Sets?

The VET system in Australia uses units of competency as its basic building blocks. Each unit of competency has defined learning outcomes (knowledge, skills and their application parameters), which are measurable in their own right, but which also contribute to larger education outcomes. When units of competency are combined into an interrelated set below the level of a full qualification, they are now commonly referred to as ‘skill sets’. Skill sets enable performance of job tasks or functions. By comparison, whole qualifications produce learning outcomes that enable performance of a whole VET occupation. The Australian VET system began to use units of competency as its basic building blocks in the late 1980s, and these were incorporated into the design of a national VET system, over and above the state-based systems, in the early 1990s.

Commonly, Skill Sets are chosen when the student may not need the full Certificate IV in Training and Assessment to meet their job requirement. To check if a Skill Set is appropriate for your role or job requirement, visit https://www.asqa.gov.au/standards. Specifically, clauses 1.13 – 1.20