Version Details
| Version: | 5.1 |
|---|---|
| First Year: | 2014 |
| Last Year: | 2014 |
About
The VET Course of Study (VCO) file contains information on all approved courses to be provided for a reporting year.
Courses must first be registered in Opens in a new window: training.gov.au (TGA) and in the department's Opens in a new window: HELP IT System (HITS) prior to being included in the VCO file.
Course information on the VCO file is referenced by most data submitted for the VET FEE-HELP Data Collection:
- VET Student submission, which includes the VET Student Enrolment (VEN), VET Student Load/Liability (VLL) and VET Commonwealth Assisted Students (VDU) files
- VET Student Revision submission which includes the VET Revised Load Liability (VRL), VET Student Revision (VSR) and VET Commonwealth Assisted Students (VDU) files
- VET Enrolment Revision submission which includes the VET Enrolment Revision (VER) file
- VET Unit of Study Completions submission which includes the VET Unit of Study Completions (VCU) file
- VET Past Course Completions submission which includes the VET Past Course Completions (PS) file.
Refer to the scope guidelines for each file for more information about these submissions.
Timing
Timing of submissions is detailed in the reporting schedule for the relevant reporting year.
The VET Course of Study submission must be reported before the first VET Student submission for the year.
Submission method
The VCO file is the only file included in a VET Course of Study submission.
Submissions are made using the Higher Education Provider Client Assistance Tool (HEPCAT). More information about this process is in the HEPCAT User Guide Part 2.
Approved courses are listed in the "View" menu in HEPCAT.
Structure
Information about the structure and elements of the VCO file is in the structure guidelines for the relevant reporting year.
The key element in the VCO file is the course code (element 307). This code identifies the course and links the submission to related submissions.
The course code (element 307) is the same as the course code shown in TGA and in HITS.
Reporting new or additional courses for the reporting year
New courses and courses that are additional to those already provided to the department can be reported on an additional VET Course of Study submission at any time during the year.
Reporting courses from previous years
Courses from previous years can be reported in the current VET Course of Study submission. For example, the 2014 Course of Study submission may also include course data relating to 2012 or 2013. The Reporting year and period code (element 415) identifies the year to which a course relates.
Revisions
Generally revisions to VET course of study data must be coordinated through the department.
A revision can only be made to course information where a particular code has been reported incorrectly through a genuine administrative error. For example, if an incorrect value was reported for any of the key elements they can be revised to reflect the correct information.
For more information on how to revise previously reported course data see the VET FEE-HELP revision guides.
More information
For more information about terms used in these guidelines see the glossary.