IT PAYS TO TAKE YOUR TIME

TERTIARY students should opt to pay course fees by instalment to minimise their losses if their training organisation shuts down. They should also make sure all assessments they hand in are marked and returned so they have a record of their results.

Tracy Kearney, chief executive of Prestige Service Training, which recently helped 125 former students of failed Australian School Based Traineeships (ASBT) to finish their traineeships, says students who pay tuition fees upfront often lose out if their training provider collapses.

“Take the Careers Australia debacle, some students had paid the full amount (of tuition costs) and the likelihood of them getting their money back, as a creditor, is not looking good,’’ Kearney says. “Students should never pay more than $1500 in advance for any course.

“We actually prefer they do a payment plan over a 10month period (for a year-long course). If their life or career changes, and (students) want to withdraw completely from their course, there’s a safety net.”

Careers Australia was one of several training organisations to go into receivership last year, leaving thousands of students in limbo with unfinished courses.

Bailey Jones, 17, who has an intellectual disability and generalised anxiety disorder, was part way through a Certificate II in Retail with ASBT when it went bust last year.

His mother Katherine says the experience of finding out ASBT had closed, and then enrolling at a new RTO, was difficult.

“It was pretty disruptive – it’s not all that easy just to swap to another (training provider),’’ she says.

Jones (pictured) says he is glad the saga is now behind him. He finished his training through Prestige Service Training and has secured employment at Target.

“I love my work and I am so grateful to my boss and everyone that has helped me to get where I am,’’ he says.