NCVE (RTO 90283) trains early childhood educators for long day care, preschool, OSHC and family day care services. New educators do the Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care (CHC30125), and in NSW can do it as a funded traineeship. Existing staff can get qualified at the employer rate. Study is online with a named trainer, assessment happens in your service, and we deliver Australia-wide.
The funding rules are different for each, so we treat them as two separate jobs.
Bring on a new educator and train them on the job in the Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care. In NSW the training is fee-free for eligible new-entrant trainees who start before 30 June 2027, and you may be eligible for the federal Priority Hiring Incentive of up to $2,500 per eligible full-time trainee. Their shifts in your service count towards their 160 placement hours.
Educators who have been with you a while aren’t eligible for a funded traineeship. They do the Certificate III fee-for-service at the employer rate. Most assessment happens in your rooms, during normal shifts, around the roster.
17 units: 15 core and 2 electives. The full coded list and student fees are on the course page.
New starters and current staff, and which services they work across.
Funded traineeship or fee-for-service. We check each person’s eligibility before anyone enrols.
Theory online, a named trainer on the phone, assessment in your rooms. Marked within 72 hours.
See each person unit by unit in the NCVE Client Portal and download certificates for your staff records.
For eligible new hires, both can apply. The Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care is on NCVE’s Smart & Skilled list, and the training is fee-free for eligible new-entrant trainees whose training commences before 30 June 2027. You pay the trainee’s wages as their employer. A new-entrant trainee is generally someone employed with you for less than 3 months full-time, or less than 12 months part-time or casual, when the training contract starts.
Child care is on the Australian Apprenticeships Priority List, so you may be eligible for up to $2,500 per eligible full-time trainee (part-time 50%) under the Priority Hiring Incentive, paid in instalments. If you pay NSW payroll tax, wages paid to new-entrant trainees may qualify for a rebate.
Usually, yes. Under the National Quality Framework, educators in centre-based services can count towards the Certificate III requirement while they’re enrolled and actively working towards an approved qualification, which means they’ve started and are making satisfactory progress. Our trainers mark within 72 hours and call anyone who goes quiet, so your trainees keep making progress. ACECQA explains the rules here.
Your own staff do their 160 hours in your service. For new educators you haven’t hired yet, we arrange a service near them, anywhere in Australia.
Every educator gets a named trainer. They ring them, not a helpdesk.
Fast feedback keeps trainees moving, and keeps them actively working towards the qualification.
We book and pay for each educator’s HLTAID012 First Aid course before placement.
We stay with every trainee until they finish, including those who need extra help with language or confidence. Fewer dropouts means fewer gaps in your roster.
We handle the training contracts, eligibility checks and paperwork. You get progress you can see.
Yes. Your nominated manager gets a login to the NCVE Client Portal. It shows each person’s enrolment status, the units they’ve completed, where each assessment is up to, and completion status. You can enrol new staff directly and download Statements of Attainment and certificates whenever you need evidence of qualifications for your records or an assessment and rating visit.
Not as a funded traineeship. In NSW that’s for new entrants only: generally under 3 months full-time or 12 months part-time or casual with you. Longer-serving staff do the Certificate III fee-for-service at the employer rate. Tell us who you’d like to train and we’ll check each person.
In centre-based services, educators who are enrolled and actively working towards an approved Certificate III can usually count towards the qualification requirements. Your service applies the rules for its own rooms. We mark within 72 hours and follow up anyone who stalls, so trainees keep making satisfactory progress.
Yes. Staff already working for you complete their 160 hours in your service, and their paid shifts count. For new educators not yet placed, we arrange a service near them anywhere in Australia.
Child care is on the Australian Apprenticeships Priority List, so eligible employers may receive up to $2,500 per eligible full-time trainee under the Priority Hiring Incentive, part-time at 50%, paid in instalments. We’ll confirm your eligibility before you sign anything.
Most assessment is workplace-based. Educators show their skills during normal shifts, and the written theory is done online in their own time. Their trainer works around the roster by phone or one-to-one video, so you don’t lose a shift to a classroom day.
Up to 12 months, self-paced. Educators already working in a service often finish sooner, because their placement hours build up during normal shifts. Assessments are marked within 72 hours, so nobody waits on feedback.
A Working with Children Check, the free National Child Safety Training and First Aid for an education and care setting (HLTAID012). We book and pay for the First Aid course. Staff already working for you will usually have the check in place.
Yes. CHC30125 is the current Certificate III and replaced CHC30121. The child protection unit is now CHCPRT025, and the National Child Safety Training is completed before placement.
Yes. CHC30125 is delivered online Australia-wide, with placement in your service or one we arrange near the educator. NSW traineeship funding doesn’t apply outside NSW, so interstate staff are fee-for-service at the employer rate. They still get a named trainer, and you track them in the same Client Portal.
Not at the moment. We deliver the Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care, the qualification every educator needs first.
Tell us how many new starters and how many existing staff you’d like to train. We’ll work out each person’s route and come back with a straight answer.
See your team’s price Book a 15-minute chat
Or call 1800 180 881 · enrolment@ncve.edu.au
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NCVE Head Office: 3A, Level 3, 304 Crown Street, Wollongong NSW 2500 · 1800 180 881 · RTO 90283
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