Education

While there are no formal education entry requirements, Open Colleges suggests you should have completed: 

• Year 10 and a minimum of one year of vocational experience, or
• A nationally recognised qualification at the Certificate III level or higher, or
• At least two years of relevant vocational experience.

Minimum age

You will need to be at least 18 years old.

English

This course requires you to read comprehensive learner workbooks, undertake a range of written assessments and engage in online discussion forums. Furthermore, the delivery mode relies on the extensive use of written communication.
As such, entry to the course requires English proficiency to Year 11 level or equivalent:

• A qualification at the Certificate III level or higher; or
• 2 years of work experience in a role that requires the use of written documentation and communication.

Open Colleges recognises that not all people are able to read, write and perform calculations to the same standard. See the Language, Literacy and Numeracy Considerations section for more information on tools, resources and support services provided to by Open Colleges.

Computing

You will need access to a computer and the internet and have basic computing skills. Minimum specifications for your computer are:

All users:

• Microsoft Office 2010 or equivalent
• Broadband internet connection
• 2GB of RAM
• CD-ROM or DVD drive
• Adobe Reader XI or equivalent
• Adobe Flash Player 10 or higher
• Access to printer and associated software
• Access to scanner and associated software
• Digital imaging software
• File compression software

Windows users:

• Microsoft Windows 7 or higher (Windows 8 recommended)
• 1 Ghz or faster processer (2GHz recommended)

Mac OS users:

• Mac OSX v10.5 or higher (Mac OSX v10.6 recommended)
• 1 Ghz or faster processer (2GHz recommended)

Equipment

You will need access to a digital video recording device and/or a digital camera and associated software to save and upload video, audio and image files to OpenSpace. Many mobile phones and smart phones include this technology.

You will also need access to software to view online videos and images. Software such as Adobe Reader, Windows Media Player, Windows Photo Viewer etc are available as a download from the internet.

Some assessments include a component for you to record an audio or video. The requirements for these vary depending on the assessment. If you are unable to conduct these in the workplace and this is a requirement of the assessment, you have the option of engaging with friends, family and other students to record this via other means, such as Skype.

Equipment

You'll also need access to a telephone for some of the activities in this course.

Skills

To successfully complete this course, you will require basic computing skills. This includes:

• Creating, saving and editing Microsoft Office documents
• Accessing and searching the internet
• Downloading and saving documents from websites
• Uploading documents through websites
• Participating in online discussions
• Connecting digital cameras and downloading and storing images and audio files
• Connecting digital video devices and downloading and storing videos
• Compressing image, audio and video files.

Language, Literacy and Numeracy

Our free online assessment tool can help give you an idea of the language, literacy and numeracy skills needed to study a VET course. This tool can also help you determine your learning level and help you plan your future studies. You can access the Language, Literacy and Numeracy tool here.