What is VET?
A different way to learn, build skills and prepare for what comes next.
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VET stands for Vocational Education and Training
It focuses on practical skills and demonstrated competency, with nationally recognised qualifications. What matters is not only what you have studied, but what you can show you are able to do.
Instead of only asking…
“What do you know?”
VET also asks…
“Can you do it?”
How is it different from a school subject?
The two sit side by side in Years 11 and 12, but they are built and assessed differently.
School subjects
• Subject knowledge
• Academic assessment
• Grades A–E
• School syllabus
• Senior subjects
VET
✓ Workplace skills
✓ Competency-based assessment
✓ Competent / Not Yet Competent
✓ Units of Competency
✓ Nationally recognised qualification
VET is not simply another school subject. It is a nationally recognised vocational qualification delivered within the senior secondary education environment.
Three words you will meet from here on
Unit of Competency
The building block of a VET qualification: one defined skill or area of knowledge you learn and are assessed on.
Competency
The judgement made through assessment: you are either Competent, or Not Yet Competent and can keep working towards it.
Qualification
What you hold once all the required units are complete: a Certificate III, Certificate IV or Diploma recognised across Australia.