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Home educators are often hit with the funding issue when they approach a TAFE or adult education provider to enrol in a course – as home ed students they are told they are ineligible for a funded place.
However, home educated students can access funded TAFE places for certificates or diplomas if they de-register from the VRQA first – ie you are either a home ed student or a TAFE student, not both at once. If a student completes a TAFE certificate, they can subsequently re-register as a home-ed student with the VRQA afterwards.
The exception is ‘school-based’ traineeships which are only available to students enrolled in a recognised school (not ‘homeschools’). If you wish to enrol in such a program, our suggestion is to inquire whether the traineeship you wish to undertake can be incorporated in VCAL online through SKYS which is free).
The full details from the Education Department are provided below. Please note that as of 2019, DECV is now known as Virtual School Victoria.
8/4/2014
Dear Ms Wight
Please find below further clarification in relation to your questions regarding options for home educated students. I apologize for the delay in responding.
Victorian Training Guarantee to undertake VCE/VCAL/vocational Certificates and Diplomas
As you suggest, students not registered with the VRQA for home schooling (or who cease to be registered) and not enrolled in a school are eligible for the Victorian Training Guarantee (VTG).
The VTG offers a subsidised training place to Australian citizens or permanent residents, and New Zealand citizens who meet any of the following criteria:
The place can be for study undertaken either full-time or part-time.
Therefore, subject to the eligibility rules above, formerly home educated students could undertake the VCE or VCAL, or a training qualification (at Certificate or Diploma level), and are able to enrol in the Registered Training Organisation of their choice to do so .
Eligible concession card holders enrolling in qualifications up to Certificate IV level pay only 20 per cent of the standard course fee. Students enrolling in Diploma or Advanced Diploma courses may be able to access VET FEE-HELP, which provides a loan to the student to cover course fees which does not have to be repaid until their taxable income reaches a specified threshold (currently set at $51,306 per annum).
Access to VET in Schools and School Based Apprenticeships and Trainee-ships subsidies for home schooled students
To access school based vocational training options, home schooled students should seek to enrol with the Distance Education Centre Victoria.
Completion of a VCE or VCAL qualification through DECV provides access to a range of vocational pathways to students who have been home-schooled. Generally, the VET component of the student’s course will be delivered by a TAFE or other Registered Training Organisation, but it will be arranged in consultation with the DECV Student Coordinator and will form part of the student’s agreed school program.
I hope that this information is of assistance. If you have further queries, please do not hesitate to contact me again.
Cheers
Nick Chiam | Acting Executive Director, Tertiary Education Policy & Strategic Projects