A great range of Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses are offered to students attending The Geelong College. There are two forms of course delivery:
Internal delivery by Geelong College staff (VET Music)
External delivery by staff at one of the Registered Training Organisations (RTOs in the Geelong area offer over 40 courses).
Geelong College offers VET to students who want to include practical work-related skills in their education. It helps make them more employable and work ready. As such, VET is very much a hands-on educational pathway that will suit some, but not all students.
VET can be regarded as one of the required number of subjects for students at Years 10, 11 and 12, although as places are limited, priority is often given to students who are starting their two-year course at Year 11. Applications are usually processed on a 'first in, first served' basis, so it is important to apply as soon as possible (starting in early August).
The teaching or delivery of VET courses occurs in two places:
External delivery at RTOs: Most VET Courses are taught and delivered externally through a Registered Training Organisation (RTOs), see list below.
Internal delivery at Geelong College: Geelong College only offers one internal VET subject; VET Music. This is a two-year course for students is taught by our music staff and is delivered internally in the same way as any other VCE study. Internal delivery is possible through our auspicing partnership with COSAMP (RTO 41549).
There is an annual fee on a parent’s account when a student chooses to study an external VET course. This is over and above normal College fees. The cost is equal to what TGC is billed by RTOs and covers the cost of tuition, materials, and equipment. External VET fees and charges costs vary between courses and RTOs (using this year as a rough guide). Exact fee information for next year will be available early in Term 4.
Assume that you have found an external VET course that you would like to start (or continue) next year. In ADDITION to completing the normal Geelong College subject selection process online (where you can select VET as one of the required number of studies), you ALSO need to make a SEPERATE VET APPLICATION, involving one of two approaches (depending on your chosen RTO and VET course):
VET applications at the Gordon Institute: For VET courses at the Gordon, you must apply online directly through the Gordon Institute's web site. Online applications are scheduled to open in August, and usually close in September. In addition, so that our records here at TGC are complete, can you please collect complete and return to Student Administration, a hard copy of the special VET Application Form (forms available from Student Admin).
VET applications at other RTOs in Geelong: For VET courses at any other RTO in the Geelong Region (other than the Gordon Institute), you must complete and return to the VET Coordinator, a special hard copy VET Application Form. You can collect one of these forms from Student Administration, the Careers Centre or from the VET Coordinator. This needs to be completed and returned to the Student Administration Office at TGC as soon as possible, by early August.
Please note the following:
It may be possible to make a late VET application after these dates, but applications are usually processed by the order of their submission, and places are limited- so it’s best to be early.
To complete any VET application, you will first need to obtain a USI or Unique Student Identifier beforehand, by going to https://www.usi.gov.au/students/create-your-usi .
In addition, when you complete your normal on-line subject preferences for The Geelong College, you should also indicate, that you hope to do VET subject.
During Term 4, RTO's will notify student applicants of their success or otherwise in gaining a place. They will also provide students with details such as RTO enrolment requirements, any information sessions, and starting dates for Term 1 in the next year.
If you are still in doubt right now about whether you really want to do an external course, it may be best to apply for a place, and when/if a place is forthcoming later in Term 4, you can then either accept the offer or withdraw your application.
Information relating to most external VET courses available in the Geelong Region can be found by clicking on the weblinks below (the updated links for the coming year will be added when available):
HLT33015 VETDSS - Certificate III in Allied Health Assistance~ *
ACM20121 VETDSS - Certificate II in Animal Care
AUR20720 VETDSS - Certificate II in Automotive Vocational Preparation (Mechanical)
SHB30121 VETDSS - Certificate III in Beauty Services*
22338VIC VETDSS - Certificate II in Building & Construction (Bricklaying) Pre-app*
22338VIC VETDSS - Certificate II in Building & Construction (Carpentry) Pre-app*
SIT20421 VETDSS - Certificate II in Cookery
CHC32015 VETDSS - Certificate III in Community Services~
CUA30720 VETDSS - Certificate III in Design Fundamentals (Design Basics)
CUA30720 VETDSS - Certificate III in Design Fundamentals (Graphic Design)
CHC30121 VETDSS - Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care*
22589VIC VETDSS - Certificate III in Emerging Technologies
22470VIC VETDSS - Certificate II in Engineering Studies
22499VIC VETDSS - Certificate II in Electrotechnology (Pre-vocational)
MSF20516 VETDSS - Certificate II in Furniture Making Pathways~
SIT20322 VETDSS - Certificate II in Hospitality
ICT30120 VETDSS - Certificate III in Information Technology
MSL30118 VETDSS - Certificate III in Laboratory Skills~
SHB30221 VETDSS - Certificate III in Make-Up*
22569VIC VETDSS - Certificate II in Plumbing (Pre-apprenticeship) *
SHB20216 VETDSS - Certificate II in Salon Assistant
22567VIC VETDSS - Certificate I in Transition Education*
CUA31020 VETDSS - Certificate III in Screen and Media
Applications involve the completion of a hard copy VET Application Form. Applications are expected to open in late July to early August, and the range of courses offered may change each year.
22246VIC - Certificate III in Equine Studies
ICT30120 - Certificate III in Information Technology
10949NAT - Certificate II in Applied Language (Italian)
CUA30920 - Certificate III in Music Industry (Performance)
SIS30115 - Certificate II in Outdoor Recreation
SIS20312 - Certificate II in Sport and Recreation
ACM20121 - Certificate II Animal Care
AHC20116 - Certificate II Agriculture
AHC20416 - Certificate II Horticulture
CUA30915 - Certificate II in Dance
CUA30915 - Certificate III Music Industry (Sound Production)
AUR20716 - Certificate II in Automotive Vocational Preparation
22338VIC - Certificate II in Building Construction (Carpentry)
22209VIC* - Certificate II in Engineering Studies (Ford Program)
SBH20216 - Certificate II in Salon Assistance
SIT20416 - Certificate II in Kitchen Operations
SBH20116 - Certificate II in Retail Cosmetics
CUS40109 - Cert IV Music (Sweethearts)
SHB30121 - Certificate III in Beauty Services
CUA31120 - Certificate III in Visual Arts Photography
Some advantages of taking VET externally:
VET may broaden your educational pathways and expand your opportunities beyond those provided by traditional Year 10 and VCE subjects. Through VET, you may be able to develop better your areas of personal interest and gain more enjoyment and satisfaction from your studies.
Most VET courses have a ‘hands on’ or practical focus (as well as normal classroom-type learning). This appeals to some students.
Most (but not all) VET results can beneficially affect, your VCE/ATAR for acceptance into tertiary study. Here, VET is usually treated as any 5th/ 6th subject and students gain a bonus 10% of the best four scored studies. Our VCE Coordination can answer specific queries in this regard. Alternately, VET can help you gain an apprenticeship or traineeship with an employer.
You can obtain a VET Certificate, as well as the VCE. This can help students gain valuable industry training that may make them more employable in full-time or even part-time work, perhaps while they are studying at university.
VET is conducted in a more adult learning environment. Here, students must assume a greater measure of responsibility for the completion of their work and individual performance.
Some disadvantages of taking VET externally:
There is an extra financial cost to parents of students starting an external VET course, on top of normal College fees. There is no extra charge for the internally delivered VET Music course.
For external VET courses, there is no refund of the year’s fees if a student withdraws after the first 2 – 3 weeks of Term 1 classes (the free trial period). Hence, please be sure to consider your choice carefully.
So as not to fall behind in their other subjects, external VET students need to be able to effectively use the extra 3-4 study periods each week that they gain from taking one less normal subject on their timetable. These study sessions are taken in the George Morrison Library and should be used to catch up any class work that has been missed or VET tasks.
Taking an external VET study means that students are out of school once a week, usually on a Wednesday afternoon. This is likely to cut across normal class lesson time. For example, most external VET classes start at 1.30pm and go all afternoon so it is likely you would miss out on P5. Unfortunately, it is not possible to avoid this clash on the timetable.
VET students need to be organised and be prepared to accept responsibility for monitoring their completion of work.
VET is normally a two-year commitment. As with all Year 10 or VCE studies, VET is not a way out of hard work. Additionally, if students drop their VET course during the year, they will be required by the College to take up another subject immediately to make up the full subject load.
If Year 10, 11 or 12 students select an external VET course, it normally means that they will take one less subject at Geelong College (e.g., one less elective at Year 10, only 5 other VCE subjects in Year 11 and 4 other subjects as Year 12).
There is some travelling involved each week to get to external VET classes that are delivered outside the College. Transport arrangement will usually need to be organised by parents of students (although some RTOs offer limited bus services). Boarders or day students requiring transport will normally be charged extra for taxis or bus fares.
Some VET courses involve compulsory Work Placement or catch-up classes during one of the term holidays. For other courses, Work Placement is optional.
Although most VET courses add to your ATAR (often 10% of your four best scored studies), a couple do not. This might be an important consideration for those wanting a scored VCE. If you are in doubt, please check this out carefully with the VCE Coordinator before deciding.
Some RTOs run special information briefings and Open Days. More information about these should soon be available online from the Gordon Institute and some other RTOs.
It is worth checking out the web sites for RTOs in the Geelong Region, click the following links:
Additionally, if you have any questions, please contact
Careers Centre (Adrian Blades)
VET Co-ordinator (Richard Morris)
Assessment in VET is ongoing and varies depending on the course selected. To gain your VET Certificate, you need to satisfactory complete and demonstrate various competencies (often based on self-paced written and practical tasks completed and submitted throughout the year). As previously mentioned, most VET courses can contribute to the ATAR, typically using an addition of 10% of the student’s best 4 scored studies.