This qualification is designed to give you the specialist skills and knowledge to undertake front-line production horticulture work. On successful completion of this course, you’ll have the skills you need to work as a tradesperson, seeding operator, irrigation maintainer or leading hand within this critical industry.

The program is designed to be undertaken as a work-based traineeship for persons that are full-time and part-time employed. Participants will combine self-paced study and individual assessment task completion with on-the-job mentoring from their workplace supervisor and ARO College trainers and Study Coach’s. Participants are provided with printed and electronic copies of learning and assessment tasks – Trainers/Assessors conduct 1:1 on-site training and assessment sessions every 4-6 weeks in the workplace, at a time that is most convenient for the participant and employer.

This Course is identified as a priority occupation and is included on the Australian Apprenticeship Priority List.
The Course is designed primarily for Participants that are eligible for an Apprenticeship Training Contract and currently employed in a production horticulture enterprise, specifically:

• Persons pursuing a career in commercial production horticulture based enterprise or organisation, and/or
• Persons working in the AHC industry who are seeking a formal qualification, and/or
• Graduates of AHC-related qualifications at the Certificate II level who are upskilling or articulating from previous studies.

The onus is on the Applicant to arrange their own access to an actual production horticulture workplace or enterprise to undertake learning and assessment tasks and activities, if they wish to enrol in the Course where they are not currently employed in a production horticulture or horticulture-type enterprise.

Fee-For-Service

Where Participants are not eligible for an Apprenticeship Training Contract or a Skills SA Training Account they may seek enrolment into the Course under a fee-for-service basis if they are employed in a suitable horticulture workplace or enterprise and only if they and their employer enter into a Workplace Training Agreement (WTA) with ARO College.

15 units of competency must be satisfactorily completed by participants to achieve a AHC30620 – Certificate III in Production Horticulture. The 15 units of competency are comprised of: 3 core units, plus 12 elective units. The 12 elective units selected by ARO College are guided by advice provided by consultation with industry and on the qualifications and expertise of ARO training and assessment staff.

Participants are not provided access to all units of competency (UOC) in the qualification simultaneously. The learning and assessment resources are released at nominal 6-week intervals. Each unit is attempted in the order presented in the Delivery Schedule table below.

Fees

Participants are charged Tuition fees in advance for each individual unit as enrolled via the student portal or provided in person as printed workbooks. The Delivery Schedule table below indicates the fees charged per unit. A single Registration Fee will be invoiced upon enrolment. Please refer to the Charges Table in our Fees, Charges and Refunds Policy.

Customised Delivery Schedules

ARO College will liaise with each participant’s employer to align the workplace’s business activities with the most relevant unit of competency.

Delivery Schedule

Awards

Participants that complete all 15 units of competency satisfactorily will be awarded a Testamur certificate and a statement of results for the Course.

Academic Pathways

Graduates of this Course may articulate to a range of qualifications in the AHC Training Package at the Certificate IV and Diploma levels, such as:

• AHC50422 Diploma of Horticulture Management
• AHC50324 Diploma of Production Horticulture
• AHC40324 Certificate IV in Production Horticulture

Occupational pathways

Graduates of this Course are ideally placed to maintain or seek employment in the AHC sector in roles such as:

• Horticulturalist in a commercial Nursery, Orchard, Vineyard or Farm

Exit Opportunities

Participants have the opportunity to exit the Course prior to completion at any stage.  Participants will be issued a Statement of Attainment certificate for any UOC completed.

Upfront Assessment of Need (UAN)

To ensure Participants receive the support they need to successfully complete the Course, an upfront assessment of need (UAN) process is undertaken before enrolment is confirmed. All individuals who are seeking access to a fee-for-service or subsidised training place, regardless of prior educational attainment, employment experience or employment status, are required to participate in the UAN process. The UAN process includes an assessment of the participant’s suitability, support needs and literacy and numeracy capabilities via a Language Literacy and Numeracy assessment (LLN).

 Employment

All applicants into this Course must arrange and provide their own access to an actual horticulture workplace or enterprise to enable the attempting of practical/performance-based training and assessment activities. Applicants will require a Training Contract or a Workplace Training Agreement (WTA) to be executed prior to an application for enrolment will be offered.

Workplace Training Agreement

Where a Training Contract does not exist, for example under a fee-for-service enrolment, Participants should nominate their current place of employment, if it is an appropriate facility.  ARO will engage with the nominated workplace, prior to enrolment being confirmed, to ensure that the workplace can provide a suitable environment to gather practical experience across all tasks outlined in all UOC’s. If approved, ARO will offer a WTA to the employer and the Participant to sign and execute.

Personal

All applicants into this course will need:

• A Unique Student Identifier #
• A mobile phone or other hand-held device that is: web-browser-enabled; can access the Participants personal email account (eg: Gmail); and has a calendar App or functionality (eg: Google Calendar) and has photo and video recording capabilities
• An active personal email address
• Government-issued photo identification inclusive of Date of Birth
• Evidence of personal place of residence address such as a Driver Licence or Utilities/Bank Statement

There are 3 assessment Tasks that Participants must achieve a satisfactory result for, to be deemed competent in each unit of competency:

Knowledge questions – 20-40 questions which assess the Performance Criteria and Knowledge Evidence requirements of each Unit.

Workplace Practical Tasks – which are on-the-job project activities using actual equipment and tools, that the Participants undertake in their workplace or simulated workplace or role-play.

Case study and/or project(s) – requiring self-directed research and medium-long-answer written responses which requires the participant to apply theory and practice such as action research, experiment, impact studies, planning for a complex professional task, field work etc.

Third Party Report (Supplementary) – allows for a Workplace Supervisor to provide feedback on the skills and knowledge of the Participant to capably complete the specific tasks in the workplace on multiple occasions consistently.