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Community Based Courses

Community based courses are offered mainly by non-government organisations and some government departments and are designed to meet the needs of students who are disengaged from mainstream schooling but who need to continue to develop their literacy, numeracy, social and life skills in a safe and secure environment that is comfortable for them and conducive to learning. These courses cater for groups of students of compulsory schooling age and they provide an alternative opportunity for student re-entry to education, leading to opportunities to access further education, training or employment. 

Community Based Courses must be approved by the Minister for Education and published in the Government Gazette. Providers applying for endorsement or re-endorsement of a Community Based Course need to demonstrate that their educational program, premises, resources, qualifications of teaching staff, management practices, and so on, meet acceptable standards. Courses are gazetted for a period of two years, with provision for renewal. Once gazetted, providers must periodically apply to have their courses endorsed.

Details of the standards that providers must satisfy in order to be gazetted under the School Education Act 1999, the endorsement process and the relevant application form can be accessed using the following links.

Community Based Courses in Western Australia - Standards and Guidelines (pdf 890k)

Application for endorsement - Community Based Course (pdf 75k)
Application for endorsement - Community Based Course (pdf 126k)

More information regarding Raised Leaving Age and Community Based Courses can be found at The Department of Education and Training website using the following link. www.det.wa.edu.au/schoolleavingage

List of Community Based Courses approved for 2009

The Community Based Courses that have been approved by a Ministerial order and are able to be accessed by students in their 16th and 17th years are published in the Government Gazette.

A complete list of currently approved courses is available for download below.

Community Based Courses approved for 2009 (pdf 8k)