• Section 1 - Summary
• Section 2 - Scope
• Section 3 - Policy/Regulation
• Section 4 - Procedures
• Part A - Roles/Responsibilities
• Part B - Identifying Students for Completion
• Part C - Conferral of Awards
• Certification Documentation
• Authenticity
• Part D - Academic Transcript
• Part E - Statements of Attainment
• Part F - Certificate of Participation
• Part G - Australian Higher Education Graduation Statements (AHEGS)
• Part H - VU Extra Transcripts
• Part I - Statement of Results
• Part J - EPSILON Completion
• Part K - VDSS Progress Report
• Part L - Replacing Certification Documentation
• Part M - Revoking an Award or Statement of Attainment
• Part N - Aegrotat and Posthumous Awards
• Section 5 - HESF/ASQA/ESOS Alignment
• Section 6 - Definitions

Section 1 - Summary

(1) This Procedure describes the process for the issuing of Higher Education and VET Awards, Testamurs, Transcripts, Statements of Attainment and Certificates.

Section 2 - Scope

Section 3 - Policy/Regulation

(3) Awards Regulations 2018

Section 4 - Procedures

Part A - Roles/Responsibilities

Part B - Identifying Students for Completion

(4) VU identifies those students who have potentially fulfilled the course requirements based on the course completion rules. Each College representative assesses eligibility by checking the student's academic record and formally approves or rejects eligibility.

(5) Students approved for completion are conferred with an Award of the University, as defined within the Register of Awards. 

(6) All eligible students receive email notification of their successful course completion and conferral of the Award.

Part C - Conferral of Awards

(7) All University Awards are conferred by the Council and certified through the issuance of a Testamur. The Vice-Chancellor, acting on behalf of the Council, approves the conferral of awards following a memo from the Chief Student Officer.

(8) Conferral of Higher Education awards will be aligned with the publication of results for each study period, ensuring that awards are conferred only after final results are officially released and verified.

(9) Awards are conferred to HE Graduands at the next graduation ceremony round or in absentia. VET Awards are conferred on a weekly basis to ensure students receive their award within 30 days of completion, in accordance with ASQA guidelines. If a HE graduand does not elect to attend a graduation ceremony or apply to graduate in absentia, the Testamur will be held by the University until the graduate arranges to collect it.

(10) On completion of the requirements for a:

1. single Award course students will be eligible to receive a Testamur for that Award;
2. double Award course students will be eligible to receive a Testamur for each Award;
3. dual Award students will be eligible to receive a Testamur from VU and the partner institute.

(11) Students who are enrolled in a nested Self Accredited Award, and who are continuing their studies towards a higher qualification, will receive a Notification of Completion and Testamur as evidence of completion of the first Award.

(12) Students who are not continuing their studies towards a higher Award must withdraw and by exiting their studies, may be eligible to receive a Testamur for the completed qualification.

(13) VU will not confer an award, and students are not eligible to receive a Notification of Completion, Academic Transcript, AHEGS, Statements of Attainment or Testamur if they have:

1. Outstanding fees and/or debt;
2. an invalid Unique Student Identifier (USI) (unless an exemption applies under the Student Identifiers Act 2014).

Certification Documentation

(14) Upon conferral:

1. Higher Education Graduates receive:
   1. Testamur
   2. Academic Transcript
   3. Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement (AHEGS)
   4. Notice of completion
2. VET Graduates receive:
   1. VE Qualification Testamur
   2. Academic Transcript
   3. Notice of Completion

(15) VET students who partially complete an award course or who complete a non-award course with accredited units are eligible for a Statement of Attainment. Upon completion of a Competency such as First Aid, or non-award courses with accredited units, the TAFE Course Manager finalises the student’s results on the day and students can obtain a Statement of Attainment from a VUHQ service location.

(16) VU maintains a Graduation Register of all Testamurs issued to graduates. The records are retained for a minimum period of 30 years. This register contains sufficient information to identify correctly the:

1. holder of the Award;
2. Award by its full title (and code for externally registered VET Awards); and
3. date of issue/conferral.

Authenticity

(17) The use of the University Seal deems that the Award has been conferred by Council. For hard copy testamurs the seal will appear in raised relief on the front of the secure stationery. A unique identifier is also printed on the Testamur. This number is recorded on the register of all awards conferred in accordance with the AQF Qualifications Issuance Policy.

(18) Digital versions of the Testamur may be issued instead of/in addition to a hard copy testamur. A digital version has the same status as a hard copy version but is provided to the student via a secure login. Students can share the digital testamur with third parties as they choose.

(19) Testamurs must include all information as specified in the Awards Regulations 2018, Part 6.

Part D - Academic Transcript

(20) An academic transcript is available to any student who has enrolled in a course at Victoria University (VU) (award or non-award) and has completed at least one unit. The student does not need to have completed the course and a transcript can be obtained at any time during their study, free of charge. Standard transcript charges will apply once the student has completed.

(21) Students who have completed an Award course are entitled to receive an electronic copy of their official academic transcript free of charge at the time of conferral. Offshore students will receive access to their Academic Transcript via the off campus administration centre when semester results are released. Additional copies are available and the standard transcript charges apply.

(22) Academic Transcripts will contain detail in accordance with the Higher Education Standards Framework (Threshold Standards) 2021 (Cth) Standards 1.5.4, 1.5.6 and 1.5.7.

(23) The cost of Certification Documentation is reviewed annually as part of the Student Services Ancillary fees.

Part E - Statements of Attainment

(24) A VU Statement of Attainment will be issued to VET students after any of the following events:

1. Partial completion of a VU Award course and upon withdrawal.
2. Successful completion of a:
   1. VU non-Award course with accredited units; or,
   2. A nationally accredited skill; or,
   3. Unit/s of competency that relates to licensing or regulatory requirements. For example, Responsible Service of Alcohol, First Aid; or,
   4. a nationally accredited 'Course in'.

(25) A Statement of Attainment can only be issued when a student:

1. Has partially completed an award course or fully completed a non-award course in which units of competency have been successfully completed; and,
2. has no outstanding fees; and,
3. has final results recorded on the student management system.

(26) Statements of Attainment for VET non-award courses (Clause 24b) will be issued on the day that training is completed or within 10 working days of the delivery area entering the final result in the Student Management System. Statements of Attainment for students withdrawing from an award course (Clause 24a) will be produced within 30 calendar days if all requirements have been met.

(27) Statements of Attainment, both digital and hardcopy, are provided free of charge for the first copy. Once the course is completed, additional copies will be subject to the standard charge.

(28) All Statements of Attainment are produced on official VU stationery with unique security features to ensure that they cannot be reproduced or fraudulently misused.

(29) Statements of Attainment for VET Award courses must be produced in accordance with AQF requirements.

(30) Statements of Attainment are issued by the Awards and Graduations department and VUHQ.

(31) A report containing details of all Statements of Attainment issued by VU can be extracted from the Student Management System for audit or quality assurance purposes.

(32) Details of all issued Statements of Attainment are recorded in the Student Management System.

Part F - Certificate of Participation

(33) A Certificate of Participation is issued to a student who has participated in a non-award course with no accredited units.

(34) Upon completion, the teacher records the final result achieved by each student. TAFE issue Certificates to students upon completion of the course.

(35) Under no circumstances can the terms AQF, Victoria University RTO number (3113) or the NRT logo be included on these certificates.

Part G - Australian Higher Education Graduation Statements (AHEGS)

(36) The AHEGS provides a description of the nature, level, context and status of studies that were pursued by a student of a Higher Education (HE) Award course, and are only available to students who commenced their current qualification from semester 1, 2008 and completed it in, or after, semester 2, 2011.

(37) The AHEGS complies with the Department of Education’s Guidelines for the Presentation of AHEGS and is available in hard copy or digitally. Upon conferral, students will be provided with a secure login to access a digital version. Students may order and pay for a hard copy at any time.

Part H - VU Extra Transcripts

(38) A VU Extra Transcript provides evidence of involvement in approved extra-curricular programs contributing to University life, the personal and professional development of the student and attaining the VU Graduate Capabilities.

(39) The Director, Admissions, Enrolments, and Graduations will determine if programs meet the criteria for inclusion on the VU Extra Transcript according to the following criteria:

1. Programs must require a significant level of involvement by students (usually a minimum of 20 hours per program, including training time);
2. Programs must assist students in developing skills associated with VU’s graduate capabilities, such as:
   1. Effective communication,
   2. Responsible and ethical citizenship,
   3. Intercultural-understanding and;
   4. Creative life-long learning.
3. Programs will ideally be those which prepare students for employment or other entrepreneurial endeavours;
4. A student’s attendance/participation must be recorded and verifiable by the Program Coordinator;
5. Only University and TNE partner programs are eligible;
6. Participation must be on a volunteer basis and from July 2017 onwards. Paid activities are not eligible.
7. Activities which form part of the student’s course requirements or contribute to formal assessment must not be included.
8. Program Coordinators wishing to have programs considered for inclusion on the VU Extra Transcript must complete a VU Extra Transcript Nomination Form.

(40) Students must have a current enrolment at the time they undertake and complete their VU Extra eligible programs, otherwise they will not be able to receive a VU Extra Transcript.

(41) Eligible students will have access to an official VU Extra Transcript free of charge upon graduation.

(42) Students with outstanding debts or other encumbrances will not receive a VU Extra Transcript.

Part I - Statement of Results

(43) Statement of Results are issued to apprentices upon request if they are changing registered training providers and have units where Victoria University was not able to obtain employer verification.

Part J - EPSILON Completion

(44) Apprenticeship and Traineeship Support Unit staff complete an apprentice or trainee in the EPSILON government database.

(45) Completion is only actioned in EPSILON if a student has:

1. met all requirements of the course and employer has signed completion training plan;
2. a ‘PASSED’ course status in the Student Management System;
3. no outstanding fees;
4. provided a valid USI.

Part K - VDSS Progress Report

(46) VDSS Progress Reports are generated through the Student Management System by the VDSS Support Team and are sent to secondary schools at mid year and at the end of the year.

(47) The progress reports detail:

1. all units required to be studied by the student;
2. status of each unit eg. Passed, failed, in progress or not yet started;
3. any comments that teachers enter in relation to the student and their training.

Part L - Replacing Certification Documentation

Part M - Revoking an Award or Statement of Attainment

Part N - Aegrotat and Posthumous Awards

(49) Aegrotat or Posthumous Awards apply in the event that a student has been prevented from completing their studies, or has completed studies but not yet graduated, due to an incapacitating illness, missing status, injury or death.

(50) As per ASQA regulations, VET students are eligible for Posthumous awards but not eligible for Aegrotat awards.

(51) The Chief TAFE Officer, Executive Dean of the College, or Dean, Graduate Research for HDR students will recommend the conferral of:

1. a posthumous award where the student has completed all the requirements for the course or degree but has passed away before the award or degree was conferred; or,
2. an aegrotat award where the student is deceased or has sustained a permanent incapacitating injury or illness that precludes the completion of an award course and:
   1. had satisfactorily completed at least half of the course leading to the award in question;
   2. had been enrolled at VU for at least one academic year in total, or at least half the length of their course where enrolled in course of one year’s duration;
   3. received results whilst studying at VU (or, in the case of a research degree, the candidate has made satisfactory progress) that would lead to the reasonable conclusion that the student would have successfully completed the course and qualified for the award in question.

(52) The recommendation and Application for Graduation is submitted to the Awards and Graduations Team. The Director, Admissions, Enrolments, and Graduations approves, or otherwise, the award as per criteria in the Awards Regulations 2018.

(53) It should be confirmed that the conferral of an award will not cause offense or undue distress to the relatives of the deceased, the incapacitated student or to others within VU or the community. Where a student has completed all course requirements and passes away after conferral the relevant college will liaise with the family to arrange attendance at the ceremony to receive the award on the student’s behalf. In the case of an aegrotat award to a living person, the student should be invited to participate as fully as practicable in the appropriate graduation.

(54) Posthumous and aegrotat awards should be conferred at the next conferral round after approval, or – if possible – at the point in time when the student might otherwise have expected to graduate, providing this is within two years of the death of the student.

Section 5 - HESF/ASQA/ESOS Alignment