Short courses and Certificates Assessment rules

Each short course has an online multiple-choice exam. For a short course to be considered completed, or as credit towards a Certificate, the exam must be passed.

The exam is a 20-question online multiple-choice exam which takes approximately one hour to complete.

The exam is included in the course fee. The exam is marked automatically online. Three attempts are provided with the highest grade achieved recorded as the final grade. If the first exam attempt is successful, further attempts are optional.

The pass mark is 70%. All attempts with grades lower than 70% are recorded as fail. If three failed exam attempts are recorded, the course will be considered as failed, and re-registration will be required.

You can access and complete the exam as follows:

On the date course materials are made available to you for face-to-face or virtual courses.
Once payment has been made following registration for online courses.

You must complete the exam within the course entitlement period provided. Entitlement periods apply as follows:

Any stand-alone short course registration — 60 days entitlement.
Full Certificate registration (6 short courses bundled) — 12 months entitlement.
Quick Start registration (registration in the 4 compulsory short courses from any Certificate) — 6 months entitlement.

Sufficient time must be allocated to study the materials and to complete the online exam within the course entitlement period as stated above.

Extensions will be granted only in circumstances where significant illness or injury substantially impacts the student within the course entitlement period, with medical evidence required. Work, holiday, or other study commitments will not be considered as cause for extension requests.

Approval of extensions will be at the discretion of the Governance Institute Education Leadership Team. Requests for extensions should be addressed to the Governance Institute Education Leadership Team at training@governanceinstitute.com.au.

For a course to count towards a Certificate, it must be listed as one of the compulsory or elective courses for that Certificate and you must pass the online exam.

To graduate from a Governance Institute Certificate, it is a requirement to complete and pass the online multiple-choice exam for each of the four compulsory courses, and two elective courses within the same 12-month period. The 12-month period starts when you receive access to the first course materials.

Upon successful completion of the exams for each of the required courses within the required 12-month period, you will become eligible to graduate with a Governance Institute Certificate.

Any short course completed outside of the required 12-month period will not be counted as an eligible course for Certificate graduation, nor can it count as an exemption in another Certificate.

Certificate graduation will occur upon the successful completion of the online multiple-choice exam for each of the four compulsory courses, and two elective courses within the same 12-month period. Graduates will be awarded a graduation certificate and a transcript listing the courses studied.

Graduates are entitled to use the relevant course postnominal as follows:

Certificate in Governance Practice — CertGovPrac
Certificate in Governance and Risk Management — CertGov&RiskMgt
Certificate in Governance for Not-for-Profits — CertGovNFP
Certificate in Company Secretary Essentials — CertCoSecEss

The relevant postnominal(s) may be used on e.g., business cards, LinkedIn profile, email signature, personal signature, website, and annual report.

To view course and Certificate registrations and exam results, go to Certificate Academic record from User profile page.

Course exemptions are only available for the following two compulsory courses:

Assessing, Analysing and Treating Risk
Governance Essentials

Conditions: You must graduate from your first Certificate before enrolment in the second Certificate can be activated. At this point your exemptions will be applied to the second Certificate enrolment. To utilise your exemption/s you must have passed the exam for each course within the previous 12 months. Exemptions can only be applied for compulsory courses in a Certificate and cannot be applied for elective courses.

At any point of your study, you may transfer from one Certificate to another. The eligible courses you have previously completed will be transferred into the new Certificate, subject to the new Certificate requirements.

To transfer between Certificates, please contact Governance Institute on 1800 251 849 or at education@governanceinstitute.com.au.

Prior learning and experience will not be recognised for credit or exemptions in the completion of a Governance Institute Certificate. Competency must be demonstrated through the successful completion of the relevant online multiple-choice exam.