04 _ Completion, withdrawal and certificate issuance policy and procedure
Purpose of the policy
Allara Learning is committed to the integrity and credibility of the certification it issues.
This policy sets out the internal procedures and controls Allara Learning will utilise to ensure that AQF certification issued for its training products under its scope of registration:
- Are issued only to learners following adequate assessment,
- Are issued to the learner within 30 calendar days of completion of the final assessment,
- Comply with the RTO standards 2025 (specifically Division 2 and Schedule 2),
- Comply with the AQF Qualifications Issuance Policy, including application of fraud prevention measures,
- Comply with the requirements of the Student Identifiers Act 2014, and
- Comply with any relevant state or territory government policies and requirements.
Policy
AAllara Learning has adopted a "Three lines of control" approach to certification issuance.
First line: Business operations are responsible for procedural compliance and ensuring student progress is monitored and accurate records are obtained prior to certificate issuance.
Second line: Quality assurance reviews are conducted on the student records to verify procedural compliance ensuring certificates are issued in accordance with required policies and legislative standards.
Third line: Quality assurance reviews are conducted on a sample of issued certificates as part of the RTOs annual Quality assurance (QA) and Continuous Improvement (CI) schedule. Where required, professional development is provided to staff to ensure compliance with this policy and the required legislative standards.
Using the "Three lines of control" approach, Allara Learning will ensure that:
- All certification is issued within 30 calendar days of a student’s final assessment date
- Sufficient controls are in place so that it issues AQF certification only to students validly assessed as competent in all units of competency contained within a training product.
- Student data is accurate and complete when entered in the Student Management System, and Quality Assurance (QA) checked before the certificate is issued.
- A student’s Unique Student Identifier (USI) is collected and verified at the time of enrolment and prior to issuance of certification to comply with the requirements of the Student Identifiers Act 2014.
- The Student Management System has an inbuilt capability to create and verify a student’s USI to prevent issuance of certification where there is no record of a valid USI (unless an exemption applies)
- Qualification certificates, statements of attainment and records of results templates comply with the requirements of the:
- AQF Qualifications Issuance Policy, and
- Standards for RTOs 2025, specifically:
- Division 2 – Integrity of Nationally Recognised Training Products, and
- Schedule 2— Nationally Recognised Training Logo Conditions of Use Policy
- Qualification certificates, statements of attainment and records of results templates include a scannable QR code used to verify the authenticity of issued certification and prevent their fraudulent production.
- Records for all qualifications and statements of attainment issued are retained for a period 30 years in accordance with Standards for RTOs 2025 Allara Learning’s Records management policy and procedure.
First line of control procedures
Progress monitoring
Student progress is monitored via a monthly training progress and forecasting report. The administrator uses this report to identify students with an expected enrolment completion date of less than three (3) months (near completion).
A request for progress review is issued to the training facilitator for all identified near completion students.
The Training Facilitator reviews the participant’s training progression to determine if completion is achievable within the student’s enrolment period, and:
- If completion is achievable, complete procedures as described at item 2, or
- If completion is not achievable:
- Complete a request for extension (see the Training and Assessment policy and procedure), or
- Request a course cancellation (see item 3 below)
If an extension of the enrolment period and training contract (if applicable) is required, the Training Facilitator is to notify the Client Relations Manager to lodge an extension form as soon as practicable in accordance with the procedures set out in the Training and Assessment policy and procedure
Completion of training
Prior to notifying of a student completion, the training facilitator is to:
- Finalise marking and submit all required assessment tasks,
- Where required (apprenticeships, traineeships and government subsidised training), finalise the student’s formal training plan by:
- Recording the achieved assessment outcome and outcome date against each unit of competency,
- Recording the assessment methods used for each unit of competency; and
- Obtaining employer support of competence by way of signature (if applicable).
If applicable the Training facilitator is to collect a signed completion form (state or territory specific) to confirm effective completion of traineeship or apprenticeship contracts.
Within five (5) business days of the final assessment date the training facilitator:
- updates the training forecast report to notify the administrator of a completion, and
- submits final assessments and associated completion documents to the administrator
Within two (2) business days of receipt of the completion notification and all required documentation, the administrator will undertake the Second line control procedures. (see below)
Withdrawal or cancellation of training
If due to monitoring, it is identified that the student is unlikely to complete the training product they may elect to cancel their enrolment.
A notification to cancel may be received by:
- Completion of an apprenticeship or traineeship cancellation form
- An email notification received from the student
- A notification of non-progression and/or communication from the training facilitator
Within two (2) business days of receipt of the withdrawal or cancellation notification the administrator will undertake the Second line control procedures. (see below)
For all Australian Capital Territory subsidised enrolments
Where a trainee or apprentice ceases employment or withdraws from training prior to completion of the qualification, the cancellation must be initiated within 30 days of notification of cancellation.
Where a student withdraws from training prior to completion of the qualification, the student record must be cancelled within 30 days of the decision. Where initiated by the RTO, evidence of student cancellation must be retained on the student file.
Second line of control procedures
Quality assurance
Within two (2) business days of a completion and/or cancellation/withdrawal notification the administrator will conduct a quality assurance review of the student’s file. This review includes:
- Confirming the students USI has been verified within the student management system (unless an exemption applies under the Student Identifiers Act 2014),
- Ensuring units of competency have been completed in accordance with the training plan and training product packaging rules,
- Verifying results for each unit of competency are accurately recorded within the Student Management System, and
- Confirming that documentation and evidence of assessment has been retained.
Where data entry errors, gaps in evidence and/or required documentation exist, the administrator is to notify the relevant Allara Learning stakeholder to complete rectification within five (5) business days.
Certification issuance
AQF certifications must be issued within 30 calendar days of the students’ final assessment being completed or cancelling/withdrawing from the training product, providing all fees have been paid.
Where a student file is deemed to have conformed to procedural compliance requirements, the administrator will:
- Issue a certificate or statement of attainment, whichever is applicable, using the appropriate certification template.
- Email the certificate or statement of attainment to the student and, where applicable, cc the student’s employer.
If requested by the student, the administrator may print and post the certificate or statement of attainment using the appropriate paper stock.
For all Australian Capital Territory subsidised enrolments
Within 30 days after the date on which a training contract, under its terms, is successfully completed, written notice is to be given stating the date on which the contract was successfully completed. To do so the relevant trainee or apprentice record is to be updated in AVETARS (online portal) including:
- Actual completion date
- RTO representative name
- Certificate issue date.
Where a trainee or apprentice has completed training but has not paid the required fee/s, or has other outstanding obligations to the RTO, the completion status and qualification issuance must be reported within 30 days of the date deemed competent and no later than the due to complete date even if certification is withheld from the student.
Certificate register
A record of all certifications inclusive of qualifications and statements of attainment issued by the RTO will be retained in the RTOs certificate register within the student management system.
A record of certifications issued will be retained for a period of 30 years.
Completion and withdrawal processing timelines
| Step in the process | Timeline |
| Final assessment records submitted to administration for processing | Five (5) Business Days from the date the student is assessed as competent in their final unit of competency |
| Conduct a quality assurance review and certificate issued | Within two (2) Business Days after notification for completion or withdrawal |
| The following steps are required where non-compliances are identified: | |
| Allara Learning stakeholder notified of non-compliances and rectification requirements | Within two (2) Business Days after notification for completion or withdrawal |
| Rectifications provided to Administration | Five (5) Business Days from the date the rectification notice is provided |
| Rectifications received and certificate issued | One (1) Business Day from the date rectifications received |
Third line of control procedures
Certification quality assurance
In accordance with the RTOs QA and CI schedule, the General Manager and RTO operations team will conduct a quality assurance review on a sample of issued certifications.
The review is used to determine if certificates and statements of attainment issued by the RTO:
- Are issued only to learners following adequate assessment,
- Are issued to the learner within 30 calendar days of completion of the final assessment,
- Comply with the RTO standards 2025 (specifically Division 2 and Schedule 2),
- Comply with the AQF Qualifications Issuance Policy, including application of fraud prevention measures,
- Comply with the requirements of the Student Identifiers Act 2014, and
- Comply with any relevant state or territory government policies and requirements.
For all Australian Capital Territory subsidised enrolments
To ensure that notification of completion has been provided within the 30-day period, a review of student records within AVETARS is conducted for any certification issued within the ACT.
Certificate recalls
If non-compliances are identified through the quality assurance review, certification issued may be recalled.
Where certification is to be recalled the administrator will:
- Notify the student via email of the certification recall (notification to include the certificate/document number), and
- Disable the original issued certification in the Student Management System, and
- Mark any hard copy certification as ‘Recalled’ along with a date of the recall and retain a copy in the student’s file, and
- Make necessary amendments to student records in the student management system
- Create a file note in the student management system and record:
- the reason for the recall,
- required rectifications and amendments made to student records, and
- the original certificate/document number of the cancelled certification.
If applicable, the administrator will reissue the certification following the Certificate Issuance procedure outlined in the second line of control procedures.
Fraud protection controls
Certification security features
Allara Learning has implemented the following security features to prevent the fraudulent production of its certificates:
Certificate template, each certificate has:
- A unique certificate number
- A unique QR Code (two-dimensional barcode) present on the certificate for real time authentication of certification documents, and
- Security stock paper for printed certificates preventing unauthorised copying of the template.
Related documents
Records management policy and procedure
Training and assessment policy and procedure