About NSPI
The National Swimming Pool Institute of Australia (NSPI) provides skills assessment and training to the swimming pool and spa industry. Because the courses are designed in consultation with relevant industry and community groups, our qualifications and accreditations are highly valued by industry employers and the wider community. NSPI courses are delivered via correspondence, so the trainee can complete their training and assessment at their own pace in their own time. For this reason trainees need functional literacy and numeracy skills and access to an on-the-job supervisor/mentor for each unit assessed by NSPI.
Please browse through our Accredited Specialist and Certificate III Courses for more information. NSPI also maintains an Accredited Specialist Register of all successful graduates of the Accredited Specialist Program.
Each course enrolment remains open for completion for a period of two years from the date you enrol. If a trainee does not complete their course in the two year period they must re-enrol if they wish to finalise their training.
Fees are non-refundable. However, at the discretion of the Institute a partial refund may be considered in certain circumstances, following a request in writing with supporting evidence attached.
A rebate of up to 15% of the fee paid is redeemable by SPASA members following confirmation of membership by their local SPASA office.
Please note that NSPI is NOT a licensing or regulatory body. If you have any questions regarding licensing requirements phone the QBSA on 1300 272 272 or your state licensing body if outside Queensland.
The Enrolment and Assessment Process
To start the enrolment process, you can search or browse through the courses offered by NSPI. On each course page you will find links to download the relevant information sheets and enrolment forms. Start by selecting one of the following course types:
Once the enrolment form is returned to NSPI and the fee has been paid, the trainee is sent a Trainee Assessment Checklist.
The Checklist asks the trainee to provide evidence regarding their level of competence in the units required to complete their chosen course.
This evidence can be in the form of photographs of the trainee performing work, references addressing elements of the units, other training undertaken and workplace documents that reflect the elements of the units, such as MSDSs, invoices or memos.
The Trainee then returns their Checklist with copies of their evidence to NSPI for assessment. The assessor reviews the evidence and checklist before moving to the next step.
Assessment can also include a phone or face-to-face interview with one of NSPI’s assessors.
In some cases an assessor will also be sent to validate a trainee’s assessment by observing them working on-site. All Certificate III courses require on-site validating assessment.
Gap training is offered to those individuals who may not have the evidence to prove their underpinning knowledge and skills in the units that make up their chosen course. Gap training involves reading the specially designed training materials and answering assessment questions.
If a trainee is assessed as ‘Not Yet Competent’ in one or more units they will be sent training materials including assessments. This is called Gap training. Gap training costs $302.50 per unit.
Once the trainee has been assessed as ‘Competent’ in all units in their chosen course they are awarded the appropriate status: Certificate III, Partial Completion of a Certificate III or Accredited Specialist.
NSPI offers Recognition of Prior Learning, meaning that those individuals with industry experience who can provide evidence to their competency can be assessed on that evidence rather than having to go through the full training process. Trainees need approximately two years experience in the industry to be able to provide enough evidence for full RPL.