If you are offering alternative ways of learning, it can be important to understand those problems in order to show prospective clients what the advantages of using your services might be.

Fewer People are learning Skills. There is a Skills Shortage and that creates opportunities to teach people.Downward Spiral.

UK Trend - Apprenticeship numbers have dropped a third in the past decade (in the UK) (House of Commons Library statistics).

Australia trend -  Over a year (2025) trade apprenticeships fell by 7.3 per cent, & non trade apprenticeships dropped 20%. (NCVER stats).

Non Completion rates have increased in both Australia and the UK.

Compare:

·        TAFE expenditure per study hour is around $20 or more. 

·        AI suggests expenditure of £13.20 per study hour in the UK.  ACS

·        ACS expenditure per study hour is around $7 per study hour.

Reasons ACS is lower: Less top heavy & greater focus on servicing students – eg. less bureaucratic processes including accreditation; more efficient & streamlined course development cost.  – This results in better value for students.

FREE TAFE?

Governments fund priority courses but there are limitations on what courses are funded, who might be funded, where the courses are available etc. There may also be hidden costs eg. funding may cover tuition but not texts or materials.   Certain types of courses and perhaps more often short courses are less likely to be funded than certificates or apprenticeships.  Our research suggests service provided has diminished in TAFE’s since introducing free TAFE – class sizes have increased, spreading teaching staff thin; and access to teaching staff has diminished.   ACS commonly provides far stronger access to teaching staff

The following analysis is part of what was published by the ABC Posted Fri at 5:09amFriday at 5:09am, updated Fri at 8:51am

1.        Red tape and bureaucracy has made training overly complicated and shifted focus from learning to compliance.  This shift has reduced student & staff motivation and added unnecessary cost to operational budgets.

2.        Curriculum has lost primary focus. In an attempt to be politically correct, and to satisfy all stakeholders in curriculum development; the primary focus of curriculum has become diluted as components that are not directly related to the core study are added to curriculum.

3.        Professional Educators have become disenfranchised. More decisions are being made by people who may well be stakeholders in using graduates; but they do not properly understand how people learn and how to make learning happen effectively.  In the past an experienced teacher with extensive training in educational psychology and technique would have had more power to decide what was taught and how to teach it. In order to manage compliance requirements, that tower has been diminished and is controlled by procedures, audits etc. This limits the effectiveness of teachers; reduces teacher motivation, and ultimately demotivates students.

4.        Education has become more of a business, and less of a necessary service.  Rather than measuring productivity in terms of the quantity and quality of learning; productivity is being measured in terms of profit margins and numbers of graduates.