🚨 RTO’s - Want to attract ASQA's attention quickly?

ASQA has already told the sector where they’re looking in 2026.

Risk Area 1: Shortened Course Durations.

One of the fastest ways is this:

Running qualifications in timeframes unrealistic for the learner cohort.

I continue to see this issue in audits and reviews — particularly where:

• learners are new to the industry

• the qualification is in a higher-risk sector

• the course duration has been significantly shortened “fast tracked”

• there is little evidence showing why that duration is appropriate

• RTO’S who are in competition who RTO's “getting away with it”

Particularly ASQA are concerned in industries such as:

• Early Childhood Education and Care & Adult Care

• Aviation

• High Risk Work Licensing industries

Common red flags include:

• Shortened course durations with no clear rationale

• Compressed delivery models applied to inexperienced learners

• Delivery and Assessment Plans that don’t reflect actual delivery

• Practical skills, supervision, or workplace application not realistically built in

• Assessment clustered into unrealistic timeframes

• No evidence showing how the amount of training was determined for that cohort

• Lots of online and/or self-paced training with no monitoring of volume of learning

Quick self-check:

✔️ Can you justify the duration for each relevant learner cohort?

✔️ Does it reflect learner entry capability, support needs, and industry risk?

✔️ Would your rationale stand up if ASQA reviewed it tomorrow?

Compliance tip:

If your rationale only makes sense because “that’s how we’ve always run it” — it needs a review.

Be Audit ready with your course durations:

we can share our Course Duration Review Checklist.

#RTO#ASQA #RTOCompliance #StandardsforRTOs2025 #VETCompliance #TrainingAndAssessment #AmountOfTraining #CourseDuration #AuditReadiness #CRICOS #InternationalEducation

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