A TAS or Training and Assessment Strategy is a high-level view of a program. The intention is to convey information such as;
- The qualification (if applicable)
- The units
- Any clustering (grouping) of units
- The target group
- The method of delivery
- The method of assessment
- Timeframes for delivery and assessment
- Qualified delivery and assessment staff
- Required equipment and resources
- How industry was consulted
- How the program has been validated
to both staff and regulators (in the case of nationally recognised training). This information is initially constructed to form an overarching strategy which will allow the training organisation to validate that it possesses the organisational capacity to deliver the qualification; giving thought to any specific venue, access to equipment as well as qualified staff; both from a vocational and training and assessment perspective.
In the case for Registered Training Organisations (RTO’s) the TAS is subsequently provided to the regulator (ASQA or state) in the process of adding a qualification to the scope of registration. If approved the TAS should then be an active document and should match what the RTO is delivering.
A common situation occurs where a TAS has been developed with one group of learners in mind, however the RTO is asked to deliver to a very different group. For instance, if the TAS was initially constructed to deliver to those with substantial experience; it may advocate a shorter delivery timeframe and assessment methods which utilise the candidates prior experience- or application to the workplace. However, if the new group has little to no experience, the TAS will most probably not be fit for purpose.
A TAS should always be fit for purpose! In the above situation, the RTO should not apply a strategy which is not congruent for a learner cohort; the RTO should consider: developing a new or amended TAS to reflect a strategy which will suit the group or alternatively, referring the opportunity to another provider if the cohort does not meet their business model. In my experience, it is much better to refer a student to another provider if they will be able to deliver a better service.
The Training and Assessment Strategy or TAS is often referred to by many names; such as Learning and Assessment Strategy (LAS), Qualification Delivery and Assessment Strategy (QDAS) or my favourite; helicopter document. Regardless of what you call it; these documents do pretty much the same thing- it’s just a case of what the organisation wants to name the document.
There is also no “single sized” template for a TAS. Here is a simplified TAS template. It isn’t the one which we use at Scope Training, however it is a good starting point. If you want an example of the TAS used at Scope Training send a comment with your email address and we will make sure you get it.
