I acknowledge and agree to all the following Terms & Conditions regarding my enrolment, participation, and completion in the Gradability Accelerator Plus Program (GAP) (“The Course”) with Gradability. I understand that any variation to these Terms & Conditions must be in writing with 28 days’ notice and signed on behalf of Gradability by an authorised representative.

1. General

1.1 The Course is 14-16 weeks minimum in length*, and includes online coursework and assessments, interview skills development, communication, and coaching with a dedicated Placement Consultant, and a 10-12 week non-paid internship placement. All components must be completed successfully and competently, and all fees paid before completion from The Course can occur.

1.2 Successful completion of the Gradability Accelerator Plus Program does not guarantee that a student will receive a job in their chosen profession or their host company.

1.3 Participation in the pre-enrolment process and provision of the required pre-enrolment documentation is compulsory before receiving confirmation of enrolment to The Course.

1.4 Students must be onshore for the duration of The Course, including pre-enrolment, online learning, assessment submission, pre-internship process, internship, and course completion. Upon commencing The Course, students holding visas agree to have Gradability complete VEVO Visa checks to confirm student location, work and study rights while undertaking The Course.

2. Visa and Passport validity requirements (Visa holders only)

2.1 All acceptable Visas must have work rights and full study rights (no restrictions) as part of eligibility requirements to enrol, study, complete, and graduate from The Course. Visa changes may affect a student’s ability to meet this requirement. If this occurs, withdrawal from The Course with full tuition fee payment/no refund will still be required.

2.2 Students must hold a valid Passport for the duration of The Course, including pre-enrolment and graduation.

2.3 Students must advise Gradability in writing of any changes to their Visa and Passport details including, visa status, visa applications, visa approval, new passport, and change of contact details, within 14 days of such change.

2.4 The student is wholly responsible for all matters concerning their visa and will not hold Gradability liable for any matters relating to this.

3. Attendance and Course completion

3.1 Attendance required is 100% throughout the pre-internship and internship components of The Course. Any internship absence due to illness or exceptional circumstances must be supported by a valid medical certificate or have significant and reasonable supporting evidence to affirm absence.

3.2 Failure to achieve attendance requirements is an automatic failure of The Course.

3.3 Should failure of The Course occur due to lack of required attendance; no refund is due. See also Section 9. “Fees and Refunds”, for further information regarding refunds.

3.4 Pertaining to absence due to illness or exceptional circumstances referenced in Section 3.1, must be supported with appropriate and valid evidence, and approved by Gradability. If the absence is not legitimate, lacks relevant supporting evidence, or is not exceptional, students may be required to pay additional fees to continue The Course or will be withdrawn from The Course, with no refund and all fees outstanding liable to be paid. If the absence is legitimate Gradability will work with the student and host company to support successful completion of The Course. This is at the discretion of Gradability after reviewing all evidence and facts presented by the student. Fees may apply in any of these instances due to administration and course rescheduling. See Section 10 “Additional Fees” for further details.

3.5 Assessment failures will require students to retake the assessments for a maximum of 3 attempts per assessment. Should students not achieve the required satisfactory grade per assessment, they will be deemed Not Yet Competent (NYC) and will fail the course. Any additional attempts at the assessment will be at the discretion of Gradability and/or a Gradability Trainer/Assessor.

3.6 100% attendance is required for Internship; thus, any legitimate absence will need to be made up. This will be at a time that suits the Host Company and the student, with notification made to Gradability immediately.

3.7 It is compulsory to attend the Placement Consultant meeting in week 1 of The Course. If a student does not attend the first meeting, they or their agent will be contacted by Gradability, and they will be deferred to the next available intake. This will incur additional fees as set out in the Additional Fees table under “Deferral Processing Fee”. Should the student be uncontactable or does not attend subsequent meetings, interviews or complete the learning and assessment, the student will be withdrawn. In all cases, full fees are payable from the initial intake date. If a student wishes to withdraw, they must follow Section 11 “Withdrawals” and be aware of fees and refunds detailed in Section 9 “Fees and Refunds”.

3.8 Graduation from The Course will only be provided when the student meets all the following criteria:
• All GAP assessments are competent/passed.
• All attendance requirements are met in full.
• All fees and additional fees are paid in full, with no outstanding debts.
• Relevant Visa and Passport are still valid (where required).

4. Assessment completion requirements

4.1 Assessments/assessment questions are conducted in a variety of ways, including, multiple choice, case study, short answer, reporting, and written response. It is expected that all assessments are completed on time. As the BSBOPS201 Work effectively in business environments is a Unit of Competency all assessments are competency based and therefore 100% pass grade is required for each assessment. Students who do not meet this pass grade are allowed another attempt at the assessment (up to 2 more attempts to a total of 3 attempts in total).

4.2 Assessments submitted after the course end date will not be marked unless exceptional circumstances exist and are approved by Gradability. Late assessments, past the due date, that are unmarked, or assessments that do not achieve a pass grade after Trainer/Assessor assistance and feedback and 3 attempts, will be deemed Not Satisfactory, resulting in The Course being deemed Not Yet Competent (NYC). Course re-enrolment and related fees will need to be paid should the student wish to re-commence study to achieve competency. See Section 10 “Additional Fees”

4.3 Any assessments that are unsubmitted will be marked Not Yet Satisfactory (NYS) and the course will be marked as Not Yet Competent (NYC). If attendance has been met in internship but the assessments do not meet the required grade or are unsubmitted, the course will be deemed as a “Non-Completion.

4.4 Gradability is determined to protect the integrity of its program and its quality reputation; therefore, plagiarism, collusion or cheating will not be tolerated. Students caught plagiarising, colluding, or cheating will:
• Be given an NYS result for that assessment
• Be required to reattempt the assessment
• Potentially have their course progress disrupted and completion delayed
• Be charged an Additional Service Fee for each assessment that needs to be reassessed.

4.5 Continued cheating, collusion or plagiarism could result in significant delays in completion and possible withdrawal from your GAP program.

5. Leave and Course Deferrals

Due to the structure of The Course, once you have identified an intake date (your course start date) you will be unable to take leave unless under exceptional circumstances. Any leave under exceptional circumstances is only approved at the discretion of Gradability after submission of evidence provided along with a Leave/deferral form. Leave cannot be taken without Gradability approval. Should you know that you will take planned leave from The Course we suggest that you delay your intake date (your course start date) until you return from leave. In the instance that deferral is required for extenuating circumstances, no more than 6 months deferral can be applied for in total and is dependent on the student’s ability to complete. As internship is required to be undertaken in consecutive weeks, no leave or deferral can occur during internship. Exceptions to this are at the discretion of Gradability and will be addressed on a case by case basis. Deferrals refer ONLY to deferral of The Course components and do not apply to payment deferrals. Student course fees, payment plans, and leave/deferral fees must be paid as scheduled regardless of leave/deferral taken.

5.1 Leave applications at any point during The Course will not be granted unless under exceptional circumstances. An application for leave/deferral must be made using the correct forms and have supporting evidence attached regardless of the length of time applied for to info@gradability.com.au . Incomplete forms, lack of evidence or incorrect forms used will be deemed an automatic rejection of leave/deferral. See 5.3 for further details. Any type of leave/deferral will lead to a delay in course completion and extension of The Course length. If you are a Visa holder, you must have a valid and acceptable visa that covers the extended length of The Course inclusive of your leave/deferral and course completion date.

5.2 Any leave/deferral that results in a student not being able to complete The Course due to Visa expiry may be denied. Gradability will always provide a reason why leave/deferral was denied. Should a student wish to appeal this, they may do so in accordance with the Complaints/Appeals Policy and Procedure available on the student learning management system.

5.3 Leave/deferral must be applied for using the correct forms. A written email is insufficient when applying for leave/deferral. A Leave/Deferral Processing Fee may be charged for approved leave or deferral. See Section 10 “Additional Fees”.

5.4 Any student found to have taken leave/deferral without following the above leave procedure Including when a leave application has been submitted but is awaiting approval will be in breach of The Course Terms and Conditions. This may lead to withdrawal of the student from The Course. All fees remain payable if this occurs. In this instance, should Gradability decide to allow the student to continue The Course, a $500.00 fee to cover course rescheduling and additional administration will be charged and payable immediately before re-commencement of The Course.

6. Online coursework and Microlearning Resources

6.1 All Learning and assessment is conducted/submitted online. Dedicated Trainer/Assessors and support team members are available through the online platform to support and guide students along their learning and development journey.

6.2 The modules and lessons are not considered an assessment of The Course; however, students must engage in the learning, practice activities, and knowledge checks prior to commencing the assessments.

6.3 A support Trainer/Assessor will be available to support students throughout the learning via messenger. Should students need additional assistance this can be arranged between the Trainer/Assessor and the student and may be conducted via phone or Zoom video conferencing. No support by trainer/assessor is not a sufficient reason for not completing the requirements of The Course if it has been found that the student did not reach out for assistance.

6.4 Gradability will make the required checks on the Learning Management System regularly to check for learning engagement, assessment completion and user activity. Any students found to not have been engaging in the learning and assessment according to their course requirements, may be cautioned or may face withdrawal from The Course.

6.5 Study environment requirements and conditions can be found at the introduction to each module. It is the student’s responsibility to meet these requirements. Gradability takes no liability for any injury, issues or damage that may occur during a student’s engagement with the online learning, microlearning, and assessments.

6.6 All learning and assessment completions should be undertaken while onshore in Australia. All online assessments must be submitted while onshore in Australia. Gradability completes compliance checks using geolocations and VEVO online visa checks regularly to check student locations, where it is deemed required. Any students found to be offshore while participating in any part of The Course risks being withdrawn from The Course with no refund.

6.7 It is the student’s responsibility to read the Student Handbook and all other related policies available on Moodle, ask any questions in relation to expectations and completions with their Trainer/Assessor, Gradability Support Team members or their Placement Consultant, and complete the GAP Orientation prior to commencing the eLearning unit.

7. Internship

Prior to commencing internship, all outstanding fees must be paid in full. Unpaid fees will compromise the commencement of internship, causing delayed internship and course completion until outstanding payments are made in full.

7.1 All students are required to attend organised activities as part of The Course, including the internship placement. Students must be available for the entire 4 weeks (at minimum) prior to the internship placement to meet with a placement consultant and begin the internship placement process from the first week of The Course. Students not available for the internship placement process will be deferred to the next available intake. Fees will apply. See Section “10 Additional Fees”.

7.2 During the internship, Gradability and the Host Company may need to obtain medical treatment for a student should Gradability (and the Host Company/Companies), deem such action necessary. By attending any components of The Course, the student agrees to indemnify Gradability or any Host Companies for any expenses, loss, damage, or liability whatsoever occasioned due to authorising and arranging any emergency medical treatment required for the student.

7.3 Gradability will arrange an internship placement relevant to the student’s field of study. Whilst Gradability will consider the student’s preferences, the internship will also be dependent upon availability and suitability of the student for the role. Students will need to attend interviews for these placements, sometimes at short notice. Students must make themselves available during the entire pre-internship and internship process to attend these necessary events. Host Companies will be selected at the discretion of Gradability; and that an offer of an internship placement is at the discretion of the Host Company. Students may be required to travel up to 2 hours or within 200km each way from their home to attend internship placement. Gradability will provide students with feedback as to their suitability for their own preferences, where student expectations are not inline with qualifications and skills. Students cannot request placement at particular companies. The internship role is at
graduate entry level.

7.4 100% attendance is required throughout the internship placement period and to complete any work assigned. Any sick days must be made up by attending additional days. Days are subject to host company discretion. Internship is not complete until time is made up in full.

7.5 To successfully pass the internship placement students must adhere to the conditions set out in the Training Agreement, including but not limited to successful completion of the internship placement, appropriate attendance of and performance during the internship placement. If a student fails the internship placement, another internship is provided at the discretion of Gradability. The student will be liable for additional fees for a replacement internship placement.

7.6 Regional placements are rare. Should an opportunity be presented to engage a student in a Regional internship, Gradability will source suitable students and discuss this option with the student.

7.7 Students living outside of State Capital cities must accept that many internships are conducted within the State Capital cities and will be expected to travel to and from these locations for internship.

7.8 Should remote work from home internships be available, additional computer and internet requirements will need to be met by the student and the host company support methods will be vetted by Gradability for approval prior to the undertaking of such internship. Expectations and terms may differ from a Face-to Face Internship and are subject to change by Gradability at no notice.

8. Computer and internet requirements

8.1 Students are required to use their own compatible device and suitable internet connection to undertake their learning and assessments accordance with Gradability’s BYOD policy and have access to suitable computer and internet capacity/speed to undertake all online components of The Course. Required hardware and software specifications are Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel), wireless capacity of 5GHz, Windows 10 with Microsoft Security Essentials or MacOS X laptops with ClamXav 2 Sentry. Further information is provided in the BYOD policy.

8.2 Students must follow Host company directions as to appropriate use of their devices in while on internship. Some host companies will not allow devices to be used due to privacy laws. Students must respect these requirements and consider other methods to take notes for assessment purposes.

8.3 Each student is solely responsible for the care, maintenance, and use of their own device. Gradability will not be liable for any damage, issues, viruses, or security of student’s own devices.

9. Fees, Payments and Refunds

For fees, payments, and refunds “commencement”, ”commencing” and/or “intake date” of The Course refers to the Monday of the intake week. When referencing “working days” these are considered as a normal working week of Monday to Friday. Payments of first instalments are due at time of enrolment. See Table 9.11 and Table 9.12.

9.1 The Administration Fee is $150. This fee must be paid in full to secure a position in any intake. The Administration Fee is not refundable under any circumstances.

9.2 Students will not be permitted to commence their course until the Administration fee and the first instalment tuition fee have been paid. This may mean you are deferred to a future intake date and may be charged deferral fees.

9.3 All fees are payable in Australian Dollars (AUD) and will be automatically charged to the nominated account (credit card or bank account) that is held on file for payments.

Instalment Payments

9.4 Payment of fees by instalments is only available upon completion of the Deferred Payment Plan Direct Debit Authority form (fees and charges apply, check the DDA form)

9.5 The first instalment of tuition fees on an instalment plan are due at time of enrolment to The Course.

9.6 Subsequent instalments will be deducted in accordance with the payment plan details regardless of any approved leave/deferral taken during The Course.

9.7 In the case that any scheduled payments are dishonoured, for any reason, a $50 administration fee will be incurred by the student per occasion.

9.8 A $50 Administration Fee may be charged for any manual processing of payments that are processed outside of the direct debit arrangement.

9.9 Any change to the instalment plan schedule requires 7 working days written notice.

9.10 Full Refund

Gradability agrees to refund to the original fee-paying party all tuition fees paid upon receipt of written notice of cancellation from the applicant only in the following circumstances:
• Where Gradability is unable to offer The Course; or
• Where Gradability refuses the application for enrolment.

9.11 Cancellation/Withdrawal Refund Policy
Gradability agrees to credit tuition fee balances, upon written notice of cancellation by the applicant as per below table conditions only. For any reasons outside of the below table, the balance of tuition fees due and payable, together with any outstanding administration fees must be paid immediately upon the acceptance of the applicant’s withdrawal.
The balance of tuition fees due will be determined by the timing of the receipt of the written notice from the applicant, as shown below:

Table 9.11

9.12 If a student is deferred to the next intake for any reason, for the purposes of withdrawal the initial intake date is used to calculate the notice period. The initial intake date will always be the Monday of the intake week the student first applied for.

9.13 Any delinquent debts may be escalated to a debt collection agency if no payment arrangements have been made and debt is older than 45 days outstanding. Students may be liable for debt collection fees, additional charges and bank charges incurred in the process of recovering fees. Gradability holds no liability on how this may affect your future credit rating.

9.14 Should Gradability be unable to provide the student with an interview at any host company within 6 months of the student’s intake start date despite the student engaging in all other program related activities, a full refund LESS $500 cancellation fee plus any non-refundable Agent Fees (where applicable) will be provided. In this instance the student will be withdrawn from the program entirely.

10. Additional fees

10.1 Additional fees and charges apply to all students, in accordance with the “Additional Fees” Table 10.1 below. These include:
• Re-enrolment due to course failure, “Course Re-enrolment”.
• Rescheduling of internship due to failure to meet internship requirements
• Reassessment due to cheating, plagiarism and/or collusion.
• Unlocking of additional online assessment attempts.

Table 10.1 Additional fees

*GST exclusive.

11. Student conduct

11.1 Any student behaviour that is deemed unacceptable by Gradability, including but not limited to, not following the Student Code of Conduct, acts of plagiarism, unprofessional behaviour, or harassment, may result in withdrawal from The Course with no refund of course fees or any additional fees incurred. Any outstanding debt is to be paid regardless of withdrawal.

11.2 From time-to-time Gradability sends emails to students regarding important course information, internship information, course reminders, notifications of events, special offers, meeting requests etc. Students are expected to read all communication from Gradability and action all requests. Gradability takes no liability if the student’s course or successful course completion is hindered by students not reading and/or responding to emails sent directly to the email address students provided to Gradability.

11.3 A Gradability student experiencing stress which is impacting their mental well-being and ability to study should reach out to Gradability for assistance or access Gradability support services and/or a list of resources found on Moodle.

11.4 Students are expected to attend their internships on time, dress according to the host company dress code and maintain professional communication with all host com[any employees and Gradability employees. If a student is absent from internship for any reason or is running late for any meetings, interviews etc., it is expected that student contacts both the host company and their Placement Consultant as soon as possible to advise of this.

11.5 Unprofessional behaviour or threatening behaviour is not tolerated at all. Any threatening, unprofessional behaviour, or use of profanities towards any Gradability team member or Host company employee will result in termination of The Course and/or internship immediately. In some cases, law enforcement may be called if it is deemed that such behaviour endangers the physical or mental health and wellbeing of any person.

12. Privacy Notice

Why we collect your personal information
As a registered training organisation (RTO), we collect your personal information so we can process and manage your enrolment in a vocational education and training (VET) course with us.

How we use your personal information
We use your personal information to enable us to deliver VET courses to you, and otherwise, as needed, to comply with our obligations as an RTO.

How we disclose your personal information
We are required by law (under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 (Cth) (NVETR Act)) to disclose the personal information we collect about you to the National VET Data Collection kept by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research Ltd (NCVER). The NCVER is responsible for collecting, managing, analysing and communicating research and statistics about the Australian VET sector. We are also authorised by law (under the NVETR Act) to disclose your personal information to the relevant state or territory training authority.

How NCVER and other bodies handle your personal information
NCVER will collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information in accordance with the law, including the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the NVETR Act. Your personal information may be used and disclosed by NCVER for purposes that include populating authenticated VET transcripts; administration of VET; facilitation of statistics and research relating to education, including surveys and data linkage; and understanding the VET market.
NCVER is authorised to disclose information to the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills, and Employment (DESE), Commonwealth authorities, state, and territory authorities (other than registered training organisations) that deal with matters relating to VET and VET regulators for the purposes of those bodies, including to enable:
• administration of VET, including program administration, regulation, monitoring, and evaluation
• facilitation of statistics and research relating to education, including surveys and data linkage
• understanding how the VET market operates, for policy, workforce planning and consumer information.
NCVER may also disclose personal information to persons engaged by NCVER to conduct research on NCVER’s behalf.
NCVER does not intend to disclose your personal information to any overseas recipients.
For more information about how NCVER will handle your personal information please refer to the NCVER’s Privacy Policy at www.ncver.edu.au/privacy.
If you would like to seek access to or correct your information, in the first instance, please contact Gradability using the contact details listed below.
DESE is authorised by law, including the Privacy Act and the NVETR Act, to collect, use and disclose your personal information to fulfil specified functions and activities. For more information about how the DESE will handle your personal information, please refer to the
DESE VET Privacy Notice at https://www.dese.gov.au/national-vet-data/vet-privacy-notice.

Surveys
You may receive a student survey which may be run by a government department or an NCVER employee, agent, third-party contractor, or another authorised agency. Please note you may opt out of the survey at the time of being contacted.

Contact information
At any time, you may contact Gradability to:
• request access to your personal information
• correct your personal information
• make a complaint about how your personal information has been handled
• ask a question about this Privacy Notice
Please contact info@gradability.com.au for further details or visit the Privacy Policy on our website www.gradability.com.au.

USI
From 1 January 2015, Gradability can be prevented from issuing you with a nationally recognised VET qualification or statement of attainment when you complete your course if you do not have a Unique Student Identifier (USI). Get your USI now at www.usi.gov.au/create-your-USI/. If you would like us Gradability to apply for a USI on your behalf you must authorise us to do so and declare that you have read the suggested text for inclusion in this enrolment form and have agreed by signing the below.