Course accreditation
Report on accreditation of four higher education courses of study offered by Le Cordon Bleu Australia Pty Limited
A delegate of TEQSA has accredited under section 49 of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (the TEQSA Act), the following higher education courses of study offered by Le Cordon Bleu Australia Pty Limited for a period of four years until 27 February 2019:
- Bachelor of Business (Tourism Management)
- Bachelor of Business (Convention and Event Management)
The delegate also accredited the following higher education courses of study offered by Le Cordon Bleu Australia Pty Limited (LCBA) for a period of three years until 27 February 2018:
- Advanced Diploma of Business (Tourism Management)
- Advanced Diploma of Business (Convention and Event Management)
Under subsection 53(1) of the TEQSA Act, the delegate imposed five conditions on the accreditation of the above courses of study.
Condition 1:
LCBA must provide a report, approved by its Academic Board, which reviews the learning outcomes for each subject for each course and demonstrates the constructive alignment of learning outcomes with the assessment activities as provided with the applications. The report must include how the learning outcomes have been revised to align with the appropriate Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) level.
Condition 2:
LCBA must:
- engage an independent, external academic expert to review its reference lists for the courses, to provide a report on the extent to which the curriculum for the courses of study draws on a current body of knowledge, and to make recommendations about the nature of any changes required to those reading lists to ensure an appropriate level of currency.
- prior to engaging the academic expert, give TEQSA not less than seven days' notice of the expert LCBA proposes to engage and provide a short summary of the relevant expertise and experience of the nominated expert. TEQSA may notify LCBA that it is not satisfied that the nominated expert is appropriate, in which case TEQSA will provide a shortlist of no less than three suitable alternative experts. LCBA must engage one of the shortlisted alternatives to perform the review at (i).
- provide TEQSA with a copy of the report and any recommendations by the academic expert, as well as a response to the report and recommendations endorsed by LCBA's Academic Board.
Condition 3:
LCBA must provide TEQSA with:
- A policy and procedure which sets out LCBA's criteria for determining whether academic staff who do not meet the AQF + 1 requirement have professional experience that gives those staff the skills, knowledge and capacity to apply skills and knowledge equivalent to an AQF +1 qualification; and evidence of the application of this policy to the Central Institute of Technology (CIT) academic staff who intend to teach the courses of study.
- Confirmation of the appointments of CIT Program Manager; and Manager, Professional Industry Placement for the delivery of the courses at CIT; and the qualifications and experience of each appointee.
Condition 4:
LCBA must:
- engage an independent, external academic expert to provide a report on;
a) the adequacy of the arrangements that LCBA will have in place to oversee and manage work integrated learning 'professional experience', including academic supervision of students from its new delivery site in Perth; and
b) the extent to which LCBA's academic oversight of CIT's course management and co-ordination including moderation procedures will ensure consistent and appropriate assessment;
- prior to engaging the academic expert, give TEQSA not less than seven days' notice of the expert LCBA proposes to engage and provide a short summary of the relevant expertise and experience of the nominated expert. TEQSA may notify LCBA that it is not satisfied that the nominated expert is appropriate, in which case TEQSA will provide a shortlist of no less than three suitable alternative experts. LCBA must engage one of the shortlisted alternatives to perform the review at (i).
- provide TEQSA with a copy of the report and any recommendations by the academic expert, as well as a response to the report and recommendations endorsed by LCBA's Academic Board.
Condition 5:
LCBA must not recruit or enrol any students in the courses of study.
The course accreditation covers delivery at all Australian sites.
Main Reasons for the Decision
The delegate determined that the four higher education courses of study submitted for accreditation comply with the Provider Course Accreditation Standards. The assessment of the course considered arrangements for delivery of the courses by a third party, Central Institute of Technology, Perth Western Australia.
The delegate considered that the assessment of the courses raised risks of non-compliance with the Threshold Standards which involve a number of matters that may affect Le Cordon Bleu Australia Pty Limited's capacity to deliver the courses.
TEQSA considers that the decision to apply conditions to Le Cordon Bleu Australia Pty Limited's application for accreditation of four courses of study is consistent with the basic principles for regulation in Part 2 of the TEQSA Act in light of the risk that the courses may not comply with a number of the Threshold Standards.
The broad issues which relate to the courses of study include:
- learning outcomes
- reference lists for the courses
- oversight of work integrated learning
- moderation and course coordination
- arrangements for the recruitment of staff
- benchmarking
- scholarship
- course monitoring and review
Decision
