r/TAFE

I’m looking to enroll in the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE40122) soon under the Free TAFE initiative here in Victoria.

I’m currently an Early Childhood Teacher (ECT) with a Graduate Diploma and about 5 years of experience. My long-term plan is to move into vocational teaching (training future educators) or higher ed casual marking/PD delivery.
Because I’m balancing a toddler, working, and general life commitments, my absolute highest priority is finding a provider that is genuinely supportive and organised. I’ve read some absolute horror stories online about students being completely ghosted by trainers or left to drown in the massive compliance/assessment workload with zero guidance.

A few questions for anyone who has done the TAE40122 recently in Victoria:

• Which TAFE or dual-sector uni did you use, and would you actually recommend them?
• Did you do online course/ face-to-face course/ blended course?
• How responsive were the trainers when you hit a wall with the compliance units?
• If you did it fully online (e.g., Kangan, Chisholm, Box Hill, etc.), how did they handle the practical teaching components? Was the simulated environment straightforward?

Would love to hear the good, the bad, and who I should actively avoid.

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

I already have a bachelor’s degree in science, but I’ve been struggling to get a job in the field and I’m starting to wonder if I’m lacking practical skills rather than academic qualifications.

Lately I’ve been considering doing a Cert IV (Lab Techniques / Laboratory Skills) to improve my employability and get more hands-on experience, especially for lab assistant, QC, biotech, or pathology-related roles.

For people already working in the industry:

• Do you think a Cert IV is actually worth it if you already have a bachelor’s degree?
• Did it help you get interviews or entry-level jobs?
• Or would I be better off trying to get volunteer/research/internship experience instead?

I’m now 26 so I am a mature-age career changer, so I’m trying to be realistic about time and money before committing to another qualification.

Would really appreciate honest opinions or experiences. Thanks!

Dropped out of a TAFE IT course in 2023 due to getting full-time work in the field but would love to finish the course and maybe study further.
Has anyone done this then picked up study down the line? What was your experiernce and were you able to get previous units creditied to the new study period?
Kiwi here so not too familair with the AU bureaucracy.

Year 10 student here and I’m thinking of doing a Cert III course (most likely through TAFE) + an apprenticeship in senior school while also doing ATAR. I’m planning on going into psychology in the future, so getting a fairly good ATAR is still my main focus.

Does anyone have experience with this or know if doing the Cert III becomes too much on top of the ATAR workload? I don’t want to burn myself out too much and still want time for other stuff (social life, relaxing, etc)

I missed quite a bit of my tafe course due to personal and medical reasons, and while I am applicable for student accessibility support I don't think I'll be able to complete all my units with the additional time from an extension. I can probably get 2 or 3 of the units completed but I'm wondering if the progress I've made on the units I haven't completed will be saved or if I'll have to redo them entirely.

Teaching nursing at TAFE:

I am a registered nurse with 13years experience in the area of mental health nursing. I have experience in acute in-patient areas, community mental health, the emergency department and have acted in roles such as CNE, CNC and internal facilitating for university students.

Does TAFE NSW offer teaching opportunities for nurses with only mental health nursing experience? 

I am very interested in a career change involving teaching though I acknowledge my skill set is specific to the area of mental health nursing as I have been only in that area and for many years.

Thank you for your insights

I genuinely don’t get how people manage when everything lines up at once. One assignment is fine, but then another couple land in the same week and suddenly I’m just juggling deadlines and trying not to fall behind on any of them. It feels like there’s no real breathing room and I’m constantly switching between tasks without actually finishing anything properly. I keep wondering if there’s some method everyone else knows that I’ve missed.

Community Work Australia (CWA, formerly ACWA) has suspended accreditation for this Bachelor of Community Services (offered by Acknowledge Education) effective 18 May 2026. It’s noted directly on their site . my result’s were published 19th may. I would greatly appreciate if some professional advice or opinion is posted so I can proceed with confidence for job applications and any future skills assessments.

Anybody have any information regarding the LLN online test? The only information i’ve been provided was the content within it and the marks required (level 3-4).
I’ve reached out to the support email a couple of times now and all i was told was that i would receive information from the events page email. I finally received it the day before the actual test, but i still don’t feel like i understand what’s going on? it said a computer/laptop/tablet is required but i was wondering if anyone knows if pen and paper as well as calculators are permitted for the maths component? Thanks in advance! :)

Hi, I'm looking at doing the Cert III in community services, as i'm currently off work for a long period due to injury. I'm curious to hear from people who have done it or are currently doing it. My only concern is the roleplays, how hard are they and how strict are they when being graded? For example if my acting is stiff would that be enough to fail me? I've got years of customer service / initial client contact experience so that's no issue, but those are real interactions, I think i'd struggle in fake scenarios.

Do the roleplays typically only require 1-2 people, or do you often need whole groups of people? 1 or 2 would be easy to organise and probably pretty fun, but getting a whole group together might be trickier for me.

Also, would I be at a disadvantage if I chose online over in campus? For the sake of my injury, doing everything at home is probably better, but If campus is a substantial improvement I could probably deal with it.

Thanks for anyone that can provide some insight.

I’m currently undertaking a diploma 2–4 days a week (usually only 2), usually with 2 online classes and 2 in-person classes. My in-person classes normally finish around 1–2pm and online classes finish around 12pm, so I have quite a lot of free time and would like to complete a Cert III as well. However, I was wondering if it would be possible to do two fee-free courses at the same time?

Hey everyone, hope you're all doing well!

I’m currently doing my Diploma of Community Services (specialising in youth work and DV) and I really want to start working in the field. I’ve been applying for casual entrylevel jobs and internships, but keep getting knocked back because they all want at least 2 years of experience.

How did you guys get your start? Are there any specific organizations that are great for taking on students, or ways to get solid training experience while I’m still studying?

Any tips or leads would be amazing. Thanks so much! 🙏

I had Fee Free TAFE for a certificate III in Information Technology last year. I am looking at starting a Diploma in the same field but if I go through the same TAFE the full fee is very expensive (19k).

There are options to do a diploma through university for 10k but I would prefer to choose a particular stream in the field to study instead of a broad scope. I also prefer the way TAFE teach their content with a hands on practical approach.

I looked into career boost but I don't think I'm eligible as I did study a 6 month undergraduate certificate in 2023 in a different field. I am getting mixed responses when searching if that disqualifies me from funding.

I have been talking to a team at the TAFE but they're not sure what funding options I can use either and are still looking into it.

Do people generally find employment in mining after it?
Or is it extremely difficult to find a job after it/a waste of time and money?

I just checked my timetable for the next few weeks and next semester. For 4 weeks, I’ll be studying 4 days a week (2 online and 2 onsite), then for 2 weeks it increases to 5 days (3 in person and 2 online), before going back to 3 days a week. I was just wondering if this is common, because I thought the course was only meant to be 3 days a week as I’ve been doing 3 days all semester so far & have work & will be fired if I'm missing so many shifts without few months notice for I work weekdays.

I’ve seen posts where people get their timetable on the first day of class. This seems a bit late? People need time to adjust work schedules and other commitments.

When does your TAFE tend to release its schedule for the upcoming term? Im talking about knowing the days and start/end times.

I want to do some subjects from two separate TAFE online courses to prepare me for further study (I don’t need the qualification but it’s been a long time since I studied so want to refresh my maths, learn some programming etc)

For anyone who has experience with TAFE NSW online self paced courses:

- Is it sequential, so you have to complete core courses before the next?

- Do you have to wait for assignments to be marked to move on to the next unit? If so, how long does that usually take?

- How many units can you do at once?

- How do they track your workload - for example to get Austudy?

- Can you take time off (for example, I will be overseas for a month later in the year)

Um let’s be honest do most students type the questions in chat gpt for a solid answer to their assignments ???