2017 School Curriculum and Standards Authority VET Awards

A word from Angela Kiely, Principal Consultant – VET

Completing a VET qualification as part of your WACE (Western Australian Certificate of Education) is a great beginning to life after school.

As well as preparing you for the world of work, your VET qualification may make you eligible for this year’s VET Awards.

Applying for a VET award

You might be thinking about applying for this year’s VET Awards. If so, here are some things to consider.

Applying for the VET awards can be a great way to hone your interview and presentation skills and, if successful, you will be awarded with a Certificate of Excellence. The top student from an industry area may also be awarded a VET exhibition. Students awarded with a VET Exhibition are shortlisted for the Beazley Medal: VET.

Applying for the VET awards is also an excellent opportunity to develop your job application skills, even if you aren’t shortlisted for an interview. Enhancing your job application skills is something you will need to continually improve upon throughout your career so why not get a head start now?

Check your eligibility

To achieve a VET exhibition or Certificate of Excellence, you must meet some general criteria:

be an Australian citizen or a permanent resident of Australia
be enrolled as a full-time student in a registered secondary school
have satisfied the requirements for a WACE at the time of the determination of the award.

In addition, you will have completed in Year 12:

a nationally recognised VET qualification to a minimum AQF level 2*; and
at least two unit equivalents of the Authority-Developed Workplace Learning (ADWPL) Endorsed Program equivalent to 110 hours or more. (Make sure that the workplace is related to the industry area you submit your nomination in).

*If you have made reasonable progress towards the completion of a Certificate III or higher you are also eligible for nomination.

To be eligible for the Beazley Medal: VET, you must meet the general criteria and also have achieved a VET exhibition in one of the nine industry areas.

Shortlisting and interviews

Nominations received from eligible students are considered by a panel that prepares a shortlist of nominees. Shortlisted students are invited to an interview. The interview gives you an opportunity to showcase your skills, knowledge and experience in your chosen industry area. It also gives you an opportunity to reflect on your presentation skills for future interviews.

Advice from last year’s winner

The 2016 Beazley Medal: VET award recipient, Esperance Senior High School’s Tate Bertola, suggests if you are thinking of applying for this year’s VET awards to make sure you have an in depth understanding of the trade or industry you are studying ‘because it will be a lot easier when someone starts firing questions at you. Think about what questions you would be asked and the kinds of things that people (the panel) would want to know.’

The next step

Check out last year’s blog post for additional information on the nomination process and interview panel.

Download the VET awards brochure and Nomination Kit for full details.

Remember, nominations for the 2017 VET awards close at 4.30 pm on Monday, 4 September. If you’re interested in submitting a nomination, leave plenty of time to complete the nomination process.

If you have questions

If you have questions you should talk with the VET coordinator at your school.

You can also check out the School Curriculum and Standards Authority Exhibition and Awards webpage at http://senior-secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/certification/exhibitions-and-awards

If you have problems with the nomination process, you can email awards@scsa.wa.edu.au

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