Australian Learner Competency Credential

The Australian Learner Competency Credential is issued to school students across Australia to recognise areas of their learning success that is not captured in traditional examinations or transcripts for use in key transitions.

Melbourne Assessment Sample Credentials

Students who are at key transition points in their schooling – primary to secondary, middle to senior years, secondary to post-secondary – are being issued the Australian Learner Competency Credential (the Australian LCC). This new qualification focuses on the complex competencies learners develop throughout their schooling years that enhance their ability to thrive in further education and future employment, such as critical thinking, collaboration, communication, active citizenship, and agency in learning. It is designed to complement existing measures of domain-based knowledge and skills, such as school reports, NAPLAN and the ATAR.

The Australian LCC is warranted by the University of Melbourne’s Melbourne Metrics, which provides national and international education systems with evidence-based assessment tools and credentials.

Enterprise Professor Sandra Milligan, Executive Director of Melbourne Metrics, notes the new credentials will help students prepare for a rapidly changing future: “Traditional metrics of learning and schooling success report what a learner knows about a particular subject or topic, or what they can do under timed, high-stakes tests or examinations. But to thrive in a modern AI world, students need to be able to demonstrate more than that. They need to be collaborative, build and maintain connections, act ethically, be entrepreneurial, be critical thinkers and reflective. Such qualities are what this new credential is all about.”

The 1083 learners receiving the qualification in 2024 attend government, independent and catholic schools from across Australia (VIC, NSW, QLD, SA, TAS, WA). These ‘first mover’ schools are involved in the University’s New Metrics research-practice partnership, which supports educators to use ‘next-generation’ measures to teach, assess and credential a broad range of competencies.

The Australian LCC was first issued in 2023 by nine schools. More schools are expected to take up the opportunity to credential their students next year.

Teresa Hanel, Scotch College Adelaide's Deputy Principal Teaching & Learning, with Year 9 students Chloe Sorensen and Jake Prior. Photo: Scotch College Adelaide (2023)

Key Features of the Australian Learner Competency Credential:

The competencies being credentialed include: Agency in Learning, Acting Ethically, Active Citizenship, Collaboration, Personal Development, Communication and Quality Thinking
The credentials have been issued at key transition points in schooling: primary – secondary (Grade 6), transition to senior secondary (Year 9/Year 10), senior secondary (Year 11/Year 12)
The credentials use validated and robust standards-based learning progressions to recognise learners’ competencies
The credential complements existing measures of learning success

Twenty schools have issued the credentials, from across VIC, NSW, TAS, QLD, SA and WA, to 1083 learners (up from 254 in 2023). Schools involved include:

All Saints' College (WA)
Bayside P-12 College (VIC)
Camberwell Girls Grammar School (VIC)
Carey Baptist Grammar School (VIC)
Clonard College (VIC)
Emmanuel Anglican College (NSW)
Genazzano FCJ College (VIC)
Melaleuca Park Primary School (SA)
Nangiloc Colignan & District Primary School (VIC)
Naracoorte High School (SA)
Princes Hill Primary School (VIC)
Santa Sophia Catholic College (NSW)
Scotch College Adelaide (SA)
St Michael's Collegiate School (TAS)
St Michael's Grammar School (VIC)
Swan Valley Anglican Community School (WA)
The Knox School (VIC)
Wesley College (VIC)
Woodleigh School (VIC)
Wurun Senior Campus (VIC)
Yeronga State High School (QLD)

Teachers and students at Santa Sophia Catholic College posing with their credentials. From left to right: Mark De Vries (Principal), Lisa Kalocsai (Head of School), Prabesh Rajbhandari, Nicole Bugeja, Anthony Theodosiadis, Chris Maguire (Leader of Innovation and Digital Learning). Photo: Santa Sophia Catholic College (2023)

School's Testimonials

Belinda Provis, Principal

"Our new credentials, and the underpinning learning design and assessment of complex competencies, offer our students the opportunity for ‘next generation’ approaches to teaching and learning that see capabilities measured and valued alongside scholastic achievement. "

Shannon Armitage, Director of Senior School (Teaching and Learning)

“By focusing on developing complex competencies and not just an exam score, we nurture the whole person, enhance student wellbeing, and shift away from an overemphasis on ATAR scores. This has enabled the College to have an even deeper understanding of each student as an individual allowing us to create an even more supportive learning environment. We are excited to continue credentialing our Year 6 students and look forward to credentialing our first group of Year 12 students in 2025."

Jonathan Walter, Principal

“While academic measures like the ATAR will always be important, we also know that these measures don’t tell the whole story of an individual. An education provides children with a broad range of skills beyond the academic, and through the Australian LCC, we’re now able to measure and validate these.”

Erica Hurley, Principal

"The opportunity to assess competencies rather than just knowledge will allow teachers to develop their pedagogy in learning design to differentiate for all students. Students will be able to reflect on their growth to become self-regulated learners."

Nicole, Year 12 student

These competencies are, “really useful for the workplace. I think employees will be able to see that these skills are really fundamental for success.”

Trent Driver, Principal

"The New Metrics project allows us to ensure that we can pair mastery of content and disciplines with mastery of the capabilities that will allow us to use our knowledge in innovative and complex ways. It also allows us to track our success, to measure it, and to know that we are really doing our best to set students up for life beyond school that will ask more from them than just a good grade in an exam. "

Melissa Powell, Principal

"The opportunity to align and assess complex competencies within the scope of Year 12 Vocational Education and Training certificates and WACE courses was an exciting one. Participating students fully embraced the process and were delighted to see how ‘know what’ transformed into ‘know how’. Teachers are a critical part in the assessing and issuing of the credential as it reflects their understanding of a student’s development over time. Additionally, being able to highlight personal strengths, and work in collaboration with teachers to self-assess, ensured that our students are holistic learners and able to operate with strong levels of agency. We feel this process strengthened student engagement with their learning at a key transition point and will equip them with essential skills in changing world.”

Cameron Paterson, Director of Learning

"We are proud to be involved in the creation of a new learning credential that recognises a range of learner competencies. We are embracing the opportunity to recognise more of what young people know and can do. It is essential that we create new metrics that are more than just academic, so that each student leaves school feeling confident, capable, empowered, and prepared for lifelong learning."

David Baker, Principal

“At Woodleigh we are thrilled to be able to offer a credential that recognises the skills and attributes our students develop during their time at the school. These skills and attributes contribute to the overall achievement of student outcomes for our learners.”

Christopher Millard, Campus Principal

“The new credential that 14 of our Wurun graduates have received this year provides employers and tertiary institutions with the opportunity to understand more about our student’s capabilities and skills that are valued highly in the workplace and post-secondary educational settings."

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