Accreditation 08 August 2013

Course accreditation

Report on accreditation of one higher education course of study offered by Top Education Pty Ltd

TEQSA has determined to grant accreditation of the following higher education course of study offered by Top Education Pty Ltd for a period of seven years until 8 August 2020 in accordance with paragraphs 49(1) and 49(6) of the TEQSA Act, subject to conditions:

• Bachelor of Laws

The following conditions are imposed on the course of study under subsection 53(1) of the TEQSA Act:

a) That Top Education does not market or offer the course to students until the Legal Profession Admission Board accredits or provisionally accredits the course; and

b) By 1 December 2013 Top Education:

1. Undertake a review of alternative admission criteria and processes, including benchmarking with other LLB providers and the admission frameworks applied by Tertiary Admission Centres (TACs); and
2. Submits the review report and its response to the recommendations including plans for ongoing monitoring of the effectiveness of the admission approach for ensuring students have adequate prior knowledge and skills to undertake the course of study successfully; and

c) On 1 December 2013 and annually until 1 December 2016 Top Education submits evidence of implementation against its Law Library Purchasing Plan and Collection Framework as outlined in the application material.

Background to Decision

Top Education submitted an application to the NSW Department of Education and Training (NSW DET) to accredit a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) on 25 November 2011. TEQSA subsequently received the application for accreditation under the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Act 2011 ('the TEQSA Transition Act'). Subsection 45(4) of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 ('the TEQSA Act') requires a registered higher education provider who is not authorized to self-accredit the course of study to apply to TEQSA for accreditation. Subsection 49(6) 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 higher education courses of study submitted by Top Education Pty Ltd for accreditation complies with the Provider Course Accreditation Standards. The course accreditation covers delivery at all Australian sites.

TEQSA considers that the decision to apply conditions to accreditation of the course of study is consistent with the basic principles for regulation in Part 2 of the TEQSA Act. TEQSA has imposed the conditions on the accreditation to ensure that:

a) The course of study is not marketed to potential students until it has been determined that it satisfies the requirements of the professional admission board responsible for accrediting the course;

b) Alternative admission criteria and processes have been reviewed and are consistent with the Provider Course Accreditation Standards Section 3;

c) Top Education implements its Law Library Purchasing Plan and Collection Framework to demonstrate that course resourcing is adequate as required by Provider Course Accreditation Standards Section 2.