Retail Services (VET)

Retail Services students concentrate on developing a range of skills and knowledge required to work effectively and safely in a retail environment. 

Skills and topics include

• Work effectively in a team,

• Organise and maintain the store environment,

• Build customer relationships and loyalty,

• Advise on products and services,

• Receive and handle retail stock, 

• Balance and secure point-of-sale terminal,

• Produce visual merchandise displays.

See VET at St Peter's for more information.

Retail Services is a competency-based course and requires students to develop the competencies, skills and knowledge described by each unit under the training package.

A student must demonstrate to a qualified assessor/ teacher, they can effectively carry out the various tasks to the standard required in order to be assessed as competent. There is no mark awarded in competency-based assessment. Students are assessed as either ‘competent’ or ‘not yet competent’. Successful completion of this course provides a Certificate III in Retail.

The HSC examination is optional if a student does not require an ATAR. A Certificate III ranks as an ATAR of 67 with the University of Newcastle as a pathway to Uni.

Retail Services is a Vocational Education and Training course that provides real world experience in the world of work through NESA mandated work placement. Students must complete a minimum of 70 hours work placement per 240-hour course over 2 years.  Students experience work placement with retail chains, shops and outlets locally and beyond. In the NSW Higher School Certificate (HSC), mandatory work placement is a requirement for VET (Vocational Education and Training) courses, and non-completion of this placement can lead to the course being withheld from the HSC.  

Gaining an industry qualification that gives credit towards future study is a benefit of school studied VET courses.

Retail Services can be studied with a School Based Traineeship (SBT). For more information on SBT see the Careers Advisor or the SBAT page by clicking here. Students can commence an SBT with, e.g. McDonalds during Year 10 and sit the HSC in Year 11 if required.