Hundreds of students affected by the decision to revoke Soar Aviation’s registered training organisation status will not have to restart their commercial pilot licence training from scratch.
The Victorian-based flight training school, which has bases at Moorabbin and Bankstown in Sydney, was informed this month of the decision by the Australian Skills Quality Authority.
Box Hill Institute, which had partnered with Soar to deliver a diploma of aviation (commercial pilot licence), will also be stripped of the authority to offer that course from February 24.
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ASQA’s decision followed an audit of the course and Soar Aviation’s flight training, which found a lack of compliance in several areas, including appropriate assessment processes and practices and meeting the requirements of the aviation training package.
Despite concerns about the quality of the training, an ASQA spokesman assured students their efforts to date would not go unrecognised.
“Students who have completed units of competency will be issued a statement of attainment by Box Hill Institute which will be recognised if they enrol with a new RTO that has the same aviation qualification/s on its scope,” said the spokesman.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority also confirmed the students’ flying hours recorded in their logbooks would not be invalid as a result of Soar’s predicament.
However, only training undertaken in VH-registered aircraft with a CASA-accredited instructor would count towards a CPL.
Soar Aviation this week listed a number of its aircraft for sale. A spokeswoman said the sales were part of a realignment of the company’s fleet and workforce, following on from the ASQA decision.
The company has sought an internal review of the decision and rejected claims it was non-*compliant.
In just over three years of operation in partnership with Box Hill Institute, more than 900 students enrolled in the two-year CPL course but fewer than 20 were recorded as graduating.
Robyn Ironside