Re-registration 17 July 2014

Provider: Acknowledge Education Pty Ltd

Renewal of registration

Report on renewal of registration of Acknowledge Education Pty Ltd (trading as Stott's Colleges)

TEQSA has determined, under Section 36(1) of the TEQSA Act, that registration of Acknowledge Education Pty Ltd (trading as Stott's Colleges) as a higher education provider be renewed for a period of four years to 17 July 2018 in the provider category of Higher Education Provider

TEQSA has, under subsection 32(1) of the TEQSA Act, imposed three conditions on the registration of Acknowledge Education Pty Ltd (trading as Stott's Colleges) as a higher education provider.

Stott's to submit to TEQSA the following:

Registration condition 1:

By 28 February for each year up to and including 2017:

  1. detailed report on scholarly activities for each member of academic staff involved in delivery of the courses, as considered and approved by the Academic Board;
  2. annual update to the student profile (student unit data) reports;
  3. report on benchmarking of student performance, learning outcomes and graduate outcomes and an analysis of this data and particularly student attrition, progress and completion data as well as any actions resulting from the outcomes of the analysis undertaken;
  4. progress report on the Plan for Improvement of Identified Issues in Higher Education (Improvement Plan) as well as progress reports on the implementation of the Quality Management Framework.

Registration condition 2:

Within 90 days of receipt of the Notice of Decision:

  1. a revised Strategic Plan
  2. a policy and procedure regarding assessment of student work

Registration condition 3:

Notification if there is any change to the position of the Director of Curriculum, or of the person in that role.

Background to Decision

Acknowledge Education Pty Ltd (trading as Stott's Colleges) submitted an application for renewal of registration in the category of Higher Education Provider under Section 35 of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 (the TEQSA Act). Subsection 36(4) of the TEQSA Act enables TEQSA to renew a provider's registration for a period not exceeding seven years.

Main Reasons for Decision

As part of the renewal of registration process, TEQSA has assessed the application submitted by Acknowledge Education Pty Ltd (trading as Stott's Colleges) against the Threshold Standards. The scope of the assessment included its Australian site. TEQSA considers that the decision to apply conditions to Acknowledge Education Pty Ltd (trading as Stott's Colleges) registration is consistent with the basic principles for regulation in Part 2 of the TEQSA Act, as Acknowledge Education Pty Ltd (trading as Stott's Colleges) is at risk of not complying with a number of the Threshold Standards.

The broad issues which relate to the Acknowledge Education Pty Ltd's (trading as Stott's Colleges) registration include:

  • The provider has not fully established that academic staff are active in scholarship that informs their teaching. TEQSA considers the risk on non-compliance with Provider Category Standards 1.4 will be fully addressed with a condition.
  • There have been failures of corporate and academic governance of Acknowledge Education Pty Ltd's (trading as Stott's Colleges) higher operations of recent years, but an appropriate improved framework is being put in place. TEQSA considers that the risks of non-compliance with Provider Registration Standards 3 and Provider Registration Standards 4 will be addressed with a condition requiring Acknowledge Education Pty Ltd (trading as Stott's Colleges) to provide progress reports on the implementation of the Quality Management Framework and on the Improvement Plan.
  • Acknowledge Education Pty Ltd (trading as Stott's Colleges) has not demonstrated appropriate progression and completion rates for the current period of accreditation, however attrition rates have improved in the latest year. The provider will demonstrate its compliance with Provider Registration Standards 5.6 upon fulfillment of the condition regarding a report on benchmarking of student performance, learning outcomes and graduate outcomes.