Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care

Skills check

Domestic students

You will be invited to complete a Skills Check following your application submission, before enrolling to your studies. This helps you to decide if your course is right for you and allows us to understand your current abilities in English, Maths, as well as using Digital technology. 

If you are applying for a VET Student Loan the required levels to meet academic eligibility, as outlined by Commonwealth guidelines, is Level 4 English and Maths.

Access and instructions on how to complete the Skills Check will be emailed to you once you have submitted your application.

Read the Skills Check FAQs.

To enter into this course, you must:

• hold a CHC30121 Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care or
• CHC30113 Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care.

Selection criteria

Domestic students

Existing worker Pathway
To enrol into an Existing worker pathway course you must be currently employed in a regulated Early Childhood Education and Care service. (Long Daycare; Outside School Hours Care; Family Daycare). You are required to be employed throughout your studies and for the duration of the course. Students undertaking studies with the Existing worker pathway will be required to have workplace visits.  As such, workplaces must be within a certain distance from campuses to enable staff visits.

Greater Brisbane region

• Within 50km of the Brisbane CBD – coordinated via South Bank campus
• Within Ipswich, Lockyer Valley and the (northern) Scenic Rim Council regions – coordinated via Ipswich campus

Sunshine Coast  region

• Within Sunshine Coast Council regions

Darling Downs and South West regions

• Within Toowoomba, Western Downs (Dalby only) and Somerset Council regions – coordinated via Toowoomba and Dalby campuses
• Within Southern Downs, Western Downs, Goondiwindi, Maranoa, Balonne, Murweh, Paroo, Quilpie and Bulloo Council regions – coordinated via Roma and Charleville campuses

Wide Bay Burnett region

• Within North and South Burnett Council regions – coordinated via Kingaroy campus
• Within Bundaberg and Fraser Coast Council regions

Apprenticeship pathway
To study an apprenticeship program you must be indentured as an apprentice with your employer.

Employers need to be able to provide the necessary human and physical resources to qualify for an apprentice.

Find out more on how to become an apprentice or trainee

International students
The following selection criteria requirements apply only to International students:

• English Language Proficiency: Academic IELTS 6.0 (no individual band less than 5.5) or equivalent - For a list of all English Language tests accepted by TAFE Queensland International.
• Academic Requirements: Completion of Year 12 (or equivalent). Non school-leavers must have relevant work experience or qualification that indicates likely success of course completion. For more information on the international education achievement levels equivalent to Year 10 and 12.

Applicants should be a minimum of 17 years of age and turning 18 during the first year of study with TAFE Queensland. International students who are under 18 years of age and are applying for a student visa are required by the Australian Department of Home Affairs to have adequate welfare arrangements in place.

It is recommended that you have access to a reliable internet connection to access TAFE Queensland's online learning system Connect, and a computer with up-to-date software, including Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat Reader. This equipment and software is available for use at all TAFE Queensland locations.

Courses may require different resources, depending on your study location;

• Personal stationery
• USB drive
• Professional clothing

Robina campus
The Robina campus will be a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) campus for general learning.  Students are able to access discounted pricing for device purchases via JB Hi-Fi.  TAFE Queensland will have some portable devices available for short term loan and there will also be a limited number of desktop computers located on-site that students will be able to access.  For all the details visit the BYOD page on our website. 

If you are not currently employed or volunteering in industry, during your course you will be required to complete vocational placement so you can start practising your new skills in a real-world environment. You’ll be required to work shifts determined by your placement provider, and these can include early mornings or late nights, any day of the week, including public holidays. TAFE Queensland may be able to assist in arranging suitable placements.

Completing placement is compulsory, and you will be expected to manage family and work commitments in order to complete your shifts. You are required to complete 280 hours of placement to satisfy this component of your qualification.

Blue Card
To successfully satisfy all course requirements you will be required to apply for a Blue Card (working with children check). 

Please note: TAFE Queensland wishes to warn you, as a Blue Card applicant, that it is an offence for a disqualified person to sign a Blue Card application.  For further information regarding 'disqualified' persons, please contact Blue Card Services.

If you are ineligible from applying for a blue card, you may be disqualified from being eligible to undertake placement and assessment, which would affect your course outcomes. If you think this might impact you, please speak to the relevant Placement Coordinator for further information.

Vaccination requirements
Vaccinations may be required by the owner or operator of the facility providing your placement.
These requirements will be provided to the student, prior to arrangements being made for the completion of vocational placement.

If you are not currently employed or volunteering in industry, during your course you will be required to complete Placement so you can start practicing your new skills in a real-world environment. You’ll be required to work shifts determined by your Placement provider, and these can include early mornings or late nights, any day of the week, including public holidays. TAFE Queensland may be able to assist in arranging suitable Placements.

It is recommended that you undertake screening for vaccination (and meet any costs incurred) against the following Queensland Health Mandatory vaccination requirements:

• Some facilities may require COVID-19 Vaccination
• Hepatitis A and B
• Measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) (persons born during or since 1966 who have only received one dose of the MMR vaccine should have a second dose)
• Chickenpox (if not previously infected)
• Pertussis (whooping cough -an adult booster dose)
• Influenza (annual vaccination)

Online self-directed
Students are required to undertake continuous placement throughout their studies, commencing from the start of the course and continuing until its completion. It is recommended that students attend placement at least one (1) day per week for the entire duration of their course to ensure consistent learning and practical application of skills. Block placement at the beginning or end of studies, is not suitable for online self-directed study.

Order of Study
When studying Online self-directed it is strongly recommended students follow the order of study and enrol in no more than two units per intake or the units required to complete one cluster/stage, unless otherwise advised.