Accreditation and Re-accreditation 15 March 2017

Course accreditation

Report on accreditation of three higher education courses of study offered by the Australian College of Physical Education (ACPE)

A delegate of TEQSA has renewed the accreditation of the following higher education course of study in teach out mode, under section 56 of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (the TEQSA Act), offered by the Australian College of Physical Education for a period of two years until 15 March 2019:

• Bachelor of Sports Coaching and Administration

A delegate of TEQSA has accredited, under section 49 of the TEQSA Act, the following higher education course of study offered by the Australian College of Physical Education for a period of seven years until 15 March 2024:

• Bachelor of Sports Coaching (Management)
• Bachelor of Sports Coaching (Strength and Conditioning)

TEQSA has, under subsection 53(1) of the TEQSA Act, imposed three conditions on the accreditation of the Bachelor of Sports Coaching (Management). ACPE must:

Condition One

By 30 June 2017, ACPE's Academic Board must review the Bachelor of Sports Coaching (Management) in order to better sequence the management units, as well as rebalance the number of coaching and management units preparatory to a secondary review by a TEQSA expert. The review must also focus on the currency of the key texts and the efficacy of online delivery given that online student attrition is substantially higher than for the face-to face mode. The outcomes of the review must take into consideration the findings of both TEQSA external experts.

Condition Two

By 30 June 2017, ACPE's Academic Board must review, revise and implement admissions and student at risk procedures in order to ensure that all students admitted are positioned to achieve the learning outcomes of the course, particularly those accepted on provisional grounds and ensure appropriate counselling of students at risk earlier on in their study sequence so that students can make more informed consumer choices when prospects for successful completion are low. ACPE must also ensure intervention strategies are better documented ahead of show cause mechanisms being applied.

Condition Three

By 30 June 2017, ACPE's Academic Board must review whether the third party delivery arrangements proposed at the Australian College of Natural Medicine's campuses can ensure an equivalent learning experience to the Sydney Olympic Park campus given the objective of the Bachelor of Sports Coaching (Management) to provide students with exposure to sports coaching facilities.

Main reasons for decision

TEQSA considers that the decision to apply a condition to ACPE's application for accreditation for the Bachelor of Sports Coaching (Management) is consistent with the basic principles for regulation in Part 2 of the TEQSA Act, as ACPE is at risk of not complying with a number of the Threshold Standards. TEQSA considers that the risks of non-compliance with the Threshold Standards involve a number of matters that may affect ACPE's capacity to manage and deliver its higher education awards.

• The broad issues which relate to the Bachelor of Sports Coaching (Management) include:

  a) course design

  b) course resourcing

  c) course delivery

  d) admissions

  e) managing students at risk

  f) the efficacy of ACPE's current course development and approval processes