Q: For someone new to the idea, what exactly is an affiliate or "Learning Partner"?
An affiliate or learning partner is a college or training provider that licenses our courses to market and deliver to their own students. We provide the intellectual property (courses, systems, support, and learning platform) while the affiliate focuses on growing their student base. Partners can start lean as solo operators alongside existing careers and scale at their own pace. We’re very flexible in how we work with people, so partnership types are varied.
Q: What can you offer to those who already run an established training institution or business?
While our models are highly accessible for solo entrepreneurs, they’re equally powerful for established businesses. If you already have an existing college, you can seamlessly adopt our material to instantly expand your curriculum, without the massive overhead of curriculum development. If you have any other kind of business, it’s an excellent and simple way to create an additional income stream.
Q: Can people work with you in ways outside of the traditional affiliate model?
100% yes. Our strength lies in our flexibility and our genuine excitement for discovering new ways of doing business. This can take many forms - from ACS delivering the courses to your students while you earn a commission, to providing exclusive enrolment discounts for your organization's members, and more. If you have an idea, we’d love to talk about it. It’s always exciting to sit down with new partners and figure out a model that works perfectly for everyone.
Q: Sometimes potential partners ask you: “Which courses should I sell?” What do you tell them?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer. We provide data on our strongest-performing courses, but the smartest strategy is combining that data with your own strengths. Consider your industry background, existing networks, and available marketing channels. The most successful affiliates choose courses they can market authentically.
Q: What do you recommend when it comes to marketing?
You do not need a huge advertising budget to get started. I recommend beginning with tools you already access, such as LinkedIn, industry groups, email databases, and existing business relationships. The key early on is consistency and visibility. As affiliates grow, they can scale into paid lead generation, SEO, and automated email funnels if they wish, but it’s not necessary to do so.
Q: Can someone realistically grow this enough to transition out of their current job?
Definitely. You can start part-time and build progressively based on your goals. Growth is highly achievable because the essential infrastructure is already in place:
- Online courses and learning systems
- Academic support structures and tutor pathways
- Administrative processes
Affiliates can focus heavily on growth and relationships rather than building an education framework from scratch.
Q: What kind of background does the ‘ideal affiliate’ have?
While education experience helps (as does a passion for learning), the most successful affiliates are strong in sales, marketing, relationship-building, and communication. Education is a people business. Affiliates who genuinely care about student outcomes and know how to build trust tend to perform exceptionally well.
Q: How do affiliates manage staffing and tutors? Do they need to employ them full-time?
Not at all. We maintain a network of approved tutors that affiliates can access based on student numbers, which keeps overheads manageable. Most affiliates begin by engaging tutors on a flexible, per-assignment-mark basis, allowing them to scale effectively without unnecessary fixed costs.
Q: You’ve been doing this job a long time. What’s a question you get asked more now than in the past?
An emerging question I’m getting is “Are your courses even partially AI-generated?” - and the answer is a resounding “No”. Our courses are 100% developed by experienced academics
who are also industry professionals. AI can be a useful support tool, but accuracy is not guaranteed, and we believe that quality education requires human expertise, instructional design, and academic integrity.
Q: How does the affiliate actually deliver the courses? Do they have to use your platform?
We want delivery to be as flexible as possible. Standard affiliations include an administration account on our own learning platform at no additional cost. It handles assignment submissions, student communication, progress tracking, and online delivery. For our 20-hour courses, our system also supports self-awarding functionality, removing the need to invest in expensive external platforms.
However, if you are an established provider and already have a learning platform set up, you don’t have to use ours; partners are fully welcome to integrate and deliver our course materials through their own LMS (Learning Management System) using a SCORM compliant version of our online courses.
Q: What would you say to someone who is interested but unsure if they are ready?
Many successful affiliates started before they felt completely ready. You do not need a massive team on day one. You simply need a willingness to learn, consistency, and a student-focused mindset.
Whether you are a solo entrepreneur starting fresh or an established business looking to diversify via our alternative partnership pathways, this model gives you the opportunity to enter the education sector with proven support and systems already in place.