The Microcredentials Pilot in Higher Education will assist higher education providers to design and deliver microcredentials in fields of national priority, in partnership with industry.
About the pilot
Microcredentials are small courses in a specific area of study, with a focus on upskilling and reskilling in short timeframes, to meet the needs of employers and industry.
Under the Microcredentials Pilot in Higher Education, the Government will be piloting the design and delivery of microcredentials which meet specific criteria and are sourced from a higher education award as defined in the Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency Act 2011.
The Australian Government has provided $18.5 million for the Microcredentials Pilot in Higher Education.
Microcredentials funded for design under Stage 1 are required to be listed on the Government’s new MicroCred Seeker website (previously called the Microcredentials Marketplace).
Who can apply?
Under Round 1 of the pilot, Table A higher education providers were able to apply for a share of $2 million in funding to design microcredentials in partnership with industry. Delivery of the microcredentials to students will be funded by the remaining $16.5 million available under the pilot.
Round 2 will be open to Table A, Table B and Table C and non-university higher education providers for delivering microcredentials developed as part of Round 1 and microcredentials designed independently of the pilot.
Funding for Round 2 is from the $16.5 million for the pilot over 2023-24 to 2025-26. The pilot aims to deliver microcredentials to up to 4,000 students.
Applications for Round 1 opened to Table A providers on 9 November 2022 and closed on 10 February 2023.
Round 2 will open in the second half of 2023 for applications from all higher education providers. Round 2 will provide funding for delivering microcredential courses from 2024 to 2026.
Successful providers
Funding for Round 1 of the Microcredentials Pilot in Higher Education has been awarded to 18 Table A providers to design and teach 28 new microcredential courses.
Applications for funding in Round 1 were received from 22 Table A providers for 91 microcredential courses.
The new courses will be in priority fields of education, health, IT, engineering and sciences.
During the design of the new courses, providers will be seeking industry and/or professional body endorsement of the content and learning outcomes.
Successful providers and the new microcredential courses are available at Round 1 Microcredentials.
Further information
For further information on the Microcredentials Pilot in Higher Education, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions and Factsheet.
If you have a question that is not addressed in these resources, please contact HEMicrocredentials@education.gov.au