The Gift of Giving

We're celebrating our 20th year in the sector this year, and the holiday season will be here before we know it!

So, we have a gift for you as our way of saying thanks for being there.

With Self-Assurance being a key focus for all RTOs moving forward, many undertake a process called a Training Product Review. We've put together some handy hints and tips on this process along with some supportive videos and a fantastic template that you can use to conduct your own Training Product Review.

What is a Training Product Review?

A Training Product Review should not be confused with a full Internal Audit or self-assessment, which measures an RTO’s level of compliance against all the Clauses of the Standards for RTOs 2015, across all aspects of its operations.

The results of a Training Product Review provide input into the full Internal Audit process and outcomes, but it is essentially a 'mini-audit' of sorts, designed to review the training and assessment practices associated with each training product on scope. It focusses on Standard 1.

Undertaking a Training Product Review for each training product can assist in:

Embedding a culture of continuous improvement
Making the Internal Audit/self-assessment process ‘manageable’
Allowing for immediate identification and implementation of review findings

A quality review process is an essential part of an RTO’s monitoring and evaluation of quality training and assessment services, and provides a pathway to continuous improvement by identifying areas requiring attention.

Why conduct a Training Product Review?

The Standards for RTOs 2015 require RTOs to systematically monitor their training and assessment strategies and practices to ensure ongoing compliance with Standard 1 (Clause 2.2a). It is also a requirement for RTOs to systematically evaluate and use the outcomes of the evaluations to continually improve the RTO’s training and assessment strategies and practices.

While Training Product Reviews are not specifically required under the AQTF Standards (for Victorian RTOs registered with VRQA) the Standards do require RTOs to collect, analyse and act on relevant data for continuous improvement of training and assessment (AQTF Essential Conditions and Standards for Continuing Registration, Element 1.1, p6).

Watch John Dwyer's video below on why you conduct a Training Product Review:

How to prepare for a Training Product Review?

There are a number of different ways to approach the review process, and each RTO needs to select the process that is most suitable for their needs. However, it's important to consider the following 7 administrative steps in the lead up to the actual review activity.

The people who will be involved in the review need to understand the purpose of the review, the process that will be followed, the type of evidence that will be examined and what the expected outcomes of the review will be (in the form of recommendations).

Depending on the level of experience of the participants it may be necessary to provide information to them beforehand on what to expect and what they need to consider in preparation for the meeting (depending on their role in the process).

Documenting the Review

It is important utilise a detailed document to record the review process and outcomes, referred to as a Training Product Review Report. The Training Product Review report that is utilised in this process is a formal record of what was reviewed, the findings and outcomes which will become part of the rectification action plan. As the Training Product Review is an internal process there is no mandated method for recording the evidence reviewed or recommendations for action. There are many templates available or the RTO can develop their own.

Depending on the template utilised, there may be the need to tick boxes, answer yes or no in places, or complete tables. Regarless of the template used, the document should:

assist in providing a clear record of evidence presented
allow for additional comments and notations with the use of free-form text fields or similar
contain sufficient space for recommendations detailing how to achieve compliance and/or for continuous improvement.

DOWNLOAD OUR FREE TRAINING PRODUCT REVIEW TEMPLATE!

Watch John Dwyer's video below on documenting Training Product Reviews:

Additional Considerations for Training Product Reviews

When conducting a Training Product Review it is important to consider information from a variety of sources to ensure the review encompasses all aspects. The Standards for RTOs 2015, Clause 2.2b,Links to an external site. requires that the RTO systematically evaluates data from:

Quality indicator data
Validation outcomes
Client feedback
Trainer and assessor feedback
Complaints and appeals

It's also important to consider how the outcomes are recorded.

A Training Product Review Report is of most benefit when findings of the review are captured with a clear and detailed explanation.

On the right is an example of a completed Training Product Review Report. This shows the type of content that should be included in the report.

It details what evidence has been sighted, a summary of non-compliances and rectifications required to demonstrate compliance.

This component of the report also allows for opportunities for improvement identified and for the report to indicate the outcome options of compliant, non-compliant and/or an opportunity for improvement (OFI).

Further evidence received can be noted with the final outcome of compliant, non-compliant detailed.

Watch John Dwyer's video below on additional considerations:

CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VIEW

We hope you found this page helpful!

We also wish you the very best with the remainder of 2023 and look forward to working with you next year.

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