Re-accreditation 06 February 2014

Renewal of Course Accreditation

Report on renewal of accreditation of three higher education courses of study offered by Group Colleges Australia Pty Ltd

On 6 February 2014 TEQSA has determined, under section 56 of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (the TEQSA Act), to grant accreditation of the following higher education courses of study offered by Group Colleges Australia Pty Ltd for a period of four years until 6 February 2018:

• Bachelor of Accounting
• Associate Degree of Accounting
• Diploma of Accounting

On 6 February 2014, TEQSA imposed, under subsection 53(1) of the TEQSA Act, imposed four conditions on the accreditation of the Bachelor of Accounting; Associate Degree of Accounting and Diploma of Accounting.

Refer to the Addendum of this report for information relating to the revocation of 1b of the conditions.

Conditions currently imposed

Under subsection 53(1) of the TEQSA Act, four conditions are currently imposed on the renewal of accreditation of the Bachelor of Accounting; Associate Degree of Accounting and Diploma of Accounting:

1. GCA must arrange for an independent academic expert to:
   
   1. Review the graduate attributes for each unit and confirm that together, curriculum design, assessment practices and course delivery of each unit will produce the formulated graduate outcomes, or make recommendations as to the amendments required to ensure that the curriculum, assessment and course delivery will produce these outcomes;
   2. Review how GCA maintains, monitors and acts on comparative data on the performance of students including information on the performance of student cohorts by entry pathway, mode of study and place of study (including data on student attrition; student progress; course competitions and grade distribution), and make recommendations on amendments. The purpose of this report is to provide assurance of positive student outcomes and ensuring that GCA's practices comply with Provider Course Accreditation Standard 5.4; and
   3. Review the quality of the assessment tasks in the courses of study, including through scrutiny of completed and graded assessment items, and make recommendations as to the nature of amendments required to ensure that the assessments are being appropriately graded and that they provide opportunities for students to demonstrate achievement of the learning outcomes for the courses.

   GCA must require the independent expert to report on the above by 1 September 2014. TEQSA must approve the expert who is to undertake the review. GCA must provide a response with evidence of an implementation plan arising from any issue addressed by the report of the independent expert, approved by GCA's Academic Board, to TEQSA by 1 November 2014.

2. GCA provides evidence that demonstrates GCA's e-library subscription level, student access package and duration, within 7 days of the Notice of Decision.
3. GCA must further develop its benchmarking arrangements for the purposes of Provider Course Accreditation Standard 5.5 to include a full range of benchmarking activities, including; analysis of comparative data with regard to attrition, progression and completion rates; student satisfaction; comparative performance data between similar institutions and courses. This development must be undertaken for Semester 2, 2014 and GCA must provide a report against progress to TEQSA by 1 December 2014.
4. GCA must develop and provide TEQSA with a moderation policy which will set out the purpose, scope, principles, roles and responsibilities of assessment moderation at GCA. GCA must provide TEQSA with the policy and the following report by 31 July 2014 and (in relation to the report) every six months thereafter:
   
   1. A report on GCA's ongoing internal and external moderation processes. The report must demonstrate how GCA has expanded and strengthened its moderation processes during the course reaccreditation period and applied a range of moderation approaches that should include, but are not limited to:
      1. Assignment based moderation;
      2. Blind marking;
      3. Pre-assessment moderation; and
      4. Post-assessment moderation.

   The report must also detail where and how these moderation processes have led to specific improvements in assessment practices.

Background to Decision

Group Colleges Australia Pty Ltd submitted an application for renewal of accreditation of three courses of study under Part 4 of the TEQSA Act. Subsection 45(4) of the TEQSA Act requires a registered higher education provider who is not authorised to self-accredit the course of study to apply to TEQSA for accreditation. Subsection 56(4) enables TEQSA to grant accreditation of a course of study for a period not exceeding seven years.

Main Reasons for the Decision

TEQSA has determined that the three higher education courses of study submitted by Group Colleges Australia Pty Ltd for renewal of accreditation comply with the Provider Course Accreditation Standards. The renewal of course accreditation covers delivery at all Australian sites.

Addendum to Public Report on 20 March 2014: Conditions Revoked

In accordance with subsections 53(2) and 53(3) of the TEQSA Act, TEQSA may vary or revoke a condition imposed on the accreditation of a course, either on its own initiative, or upon application by the provider for variation or revocation.

On 6 February 2014, TEQSA imposed four conditions on the renewal of accreditation of the Bachelor of Accounting; Associate Degree of Accounting and the Diploma of Accounting. Whilst Conditions a (i); a (ii); a (iii); c and d (i) remain current, TEQSA made a decision on 20 March 2014 to revoke:

2. GCA provides evidence that demonstrates GCA's e-library subscription level, student access package and duration, within 7 days of the Notice of Decision.

TEQSA's decision to revoke condition b of the conditions imposed on the renewal of accreditation of the Bachelor of Accounting; Associate Degree of Accounting and the Diploma of Accounting was on the basis that Group College Australia Pty Ltd had met the requirements of each of the conditions.