Academic Regulations & Policies

Units of Competency:
In order to be awarded a Statement of Attainment for a Unit of competency, all components of the Unit must be satisfactorily completed in order for a judgment of competence to be made.

Qualifications:
In order to be awarded a Certificate or Diploma, all Units of Competency listed for the qualification must be satisfactorily completed before the qualification can be signed off.

Home study requirements
Students who are doing an Face-to-Face program will need to do a minimum of 14 hours home study per module. The Distance Learning students will need to do at least 28 hours home study per module.

Mutual recognition of qualifications issued by other Registered Training Organisations (RTOs):
If you have attained any Units of Competency listed for the course you are undertaking with us, you do not need to go through an RPL process. Under the Mutual Recognition regulations, you are able to gain immediate credit into our courses on production of the original Qualification or Statement of Attainment which lists the relevant Units.

These qualifications or Statements should bear one of these statements:
This Statement of Attainment is recognised within the NZQA
The Qualification certified herein is recognised within the NZQA

If you are supplying the evidence of this through a photocopy of the original, the photocopy must be notarised as a true and exact copy by a Justice of the Peace.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
"I can do that already!"
This is what many people say when they see the competency requirements for any course. It may be true. If it is, and you can prove it to our satisfaction, you may be able to get status for a particular training program or even against entire Units of Competency. If what you feel you are competent in already matches the competency requirements of the course(s) you will not have to complete an entire course but can negotiate to complete only those components which are 'gaps' in your current knowledge or skills.

Our assessment of your current skills and knowledge will be applied fairly and equitably, to ensure that when we do assess you as competent, you have impeccable credentials that will be nationally recognised.

We do not award this status lightly, either in our practical workshops or under Recognition of Prior Learning assessments. We are bound by legislation and ethics to only judge someone competent when they prove to us that they are

This means that we must see you perform your professional skills on a number of clients, and against nationally endorsed standards before we are prepared to guarantee that you will be able to function as a competent therapist.

The process of RPL is dependent upon you providing the evidence that matches the Units of Competency. This evidence must be:

Valid: it must match the competencies as set out in the RPL manuals

Authentic: it must be clearly identifiable as evidence that relates to you

Sufficient: enough evidence must be supplied, in great enough depth to allow for accurate assessment

Current: generally, evidence must be related to skills and knowledge gained in the past five years, although this may less critical when applied to traditional and cultural academic content.

In all cases, you should be guided by the information provided by our specialist assessors. More details on the RPL process are given in the RPL manuals. A form enabling you to request a manual accompanies the enrolment form.

Note: No status can be awarded for part competencies and you must demonstrate competency against the full standard in order for RPL to apply.

Time frame for completing course requirements:

The recommended time frame for completing your part time studies is:

18 months - 2 years for Certificate

3-4 years for Diploma

Students vary in the time they require to complete a program. If you are having difficulties which would prevent you completing your studies in a reasonable timeframe, please discuss this with AIAS.

Leaving the course early:
A Statement of Attendance is able to be provided for the satisfactory completion of any practical workshop, retreat or seminar which forms an underpinning component of the requirement for a Unit of Competency, but not the full Unit of Competency.

A Statement of Completion is able to be provided for any distance education component which forms an underpinning component of the requirement for a Unit of Competency, but not the full Unit of Competency.

Students who exit with these Statements are to be counselled that the attainment of the full qualification is the minimum requirement for the establishment of a professional practice.

Both of the above may also be verified through Academic Records of Achievement.

A Statement of Attainment is able to be issued when a Student completes all the requirements for a specified Unit of Competency in accordance with AQF.

A Qualification when all the aggregate components of a qualification are attained, the student will be issued with a Diploma or Advanced Diploma as detailed in the Training Package and under AQF and NZQA.

If you wish to leave a course before completing any component which would lead to the issue of any of the above qualifications, you should discuss this with AIAS and also obtain advice on deferment of studies, the implications for refunds and other relevant student issues.

Assessments:
The training program is delivered holistically and Units of Competency may be clustered together into Training Program modules to avoid repeat assessments, or over assessments, on particular elements and performance criteria. Units of Competency may be assessed in different ways:

As written or verbal testing to ensure that you understand the underlying concepts for your therapy
By completion of written assignments and Home Study Program workbooks
By practical demonstrations of competencies in workshops, intensives and industry placements
By formal on-the-job assessment in specific instances
By RPL processes
Or any combination of these as is relevant to the assessment of the competency standard.

All assessments are conducted as a means to you to improve your own performance over time. All assessments are conducted against your specific learning levels and not norm referenced against other students. Practical assessments are designed to mirror industry working conditions and cover:

Skills required to perform the therapy/ task
Client contact skills
Occupational health and safety
Checking for understanding of required knowledge

You will be given copies of the assessments ahead of time so that you can prepare for them and you may be coached against the standards by your trainers and fellow students. Generally, you will be assessed at least 3 times in a particular skill to ensure that you can repeat the skills over a time series. If you are not judged competent after completing an assessment you may repeat it after you have had the opportunity to bring your skills and knowledge to the required standards. We are committed to help you achieve your personal goals.