RTO Mentor - RTO set Up and Business Coaching BLOG

How to allow your RTO to thrive

By implementing a comprehensive marketing system, your RTO can effectively reach and engage prospective students, ultimately contributing to the growth and success of your educational institution. You are passionate about your industry, you want to help people. So you decided to have an RTO. You knew that by becoming an RTO you can help one person at a time. You got your registration and you started to deliver your training. Your clients come in small doses, and you still love helping others, yet are you still having fun? Maybe not, maybe it’s becoming too hard. Your business needs to pay you a profit, and when it doesn’t do that the fun dries up. You become stressed, and you stop loving your business. When you have a system in place to drive clients to your door, the fun keeps going and help more people. You can help more people for longer when your business is solvent. This reduces your stress, and allows you the time and energy to care about your business, your staff and stakeholders. Marketing your business is a key component of its operations. It is through your marketing consistently that your receive students. With all the systems required to set up in your RTO, so often marketing systems are missed. Marketing involves all aspects of someone never hearing about your services, to signing them up, delivering the course and then having those satisfied students telling others about your amazing courses. This of course is called word-of-mouth marketing – it’s free and when done well it can help your business to boom. One of the observations I’ve made whilst working with RTOs is this whole process of marketing is not being considered. The RTO Standards say your RTO must honour all commitments made in any marketing or advertising materials. All information on any advertising or marketing material referring to your RTO and training and assessment must be accurate. People manage to do this, mostly, yet they neglect having a marketing system. Another observation is RTO’s love to deliver their courses to ‘everyone”. Yet the reality is when you niche down and only deliver your courses to a specific sector, you actually become known for that, and get more clients. Let me explain, when you have a leadership qualification on scope you can market to everyone. Yet if you marketed just to the plumbing sector it enables you to be super clear about how you serve your audience. You then become known within the value you bring to the sector with your leadership courses. You market just to them, increase your profits because you are not marketing to everyone; and they talk about you – in a positive way. This reduces your marketing costs, increases your trust and credibility and reduces your competition. WIN, WIN, WIN. Market Research Communication with your stakeholders will help you find out where your niche is. Conduct thorough market research to understand the demand for training programs in your niche. Identify your target audience, their needs, and preferences. Analyze competitors to identify unique selling points. It also needs to be a part of your marketing system. You need to know what they want. You need to be regularly asking them simple questions like What do they actually want? What has changed since I last asked you? How long should the course be? What problems are they facing right now? What specifics do they need training in? Continuously improving your approach to regulation will help your clients, students and your RTO compliance. NCVER reports that micro credentials are on the rise. This means working with the qualifications you have already on scope, and maybe selecting just one or maybe two units and creating a course for your clients where their greatness needs are. Develop a system for your marketing that includes a process for this whole client experience will allow your RTO to be successful. Going from not knowing about you to having testimonials and word-of-mouth marketing. Include in your process how you cover off on all the requirements of your RTO Standards. Systematic monitoring and evaluation provides your RTO self-assurance. Branding and Positioning Establish a strong and memorable brand identity. Clearly communicate your RTO’s values, mission, and unique offerings. Position your organization as a reliable and quality-driven education provider. Managing your risk is about having a systematic approach and critically examining your approach. You need to demonstrate how you monitor your systems, and this includes your marketing. Give yourself a strategy that is going to move your RTO forward. Content Marketing Develop a content marketing strategy to showcase your expertise in your industry and to engage your audience. Create valuable content such as blog posts, articles, social posts of successful students, and videos that address industry trends, career advice, and relevant topics. (Make sure you meet the RTO Standards on photos and content). Leverage social media platforms to connect with your audience. Share educational content, updates, and success stories. Engage with your followers, respond to inquiries, and participate in relevant conversations. Email list Build and maintain an email list to communicate directly with prospective students. Gather emails from your social posts. Send targeted newsletters to potential students, course updates, and promotional offers. Personalise your emails to enhance engagement. Attend Industry Events Participate in relevant conferences, trade shows, and networking events within your industry sector and within the education sector. These events provide opportunities to connect with potential students, industry professionals, and partners. Looking for support? If you need some help, then I can be there to support you. Book in for a discovery call – it’s a free 15 minute online call. What are you going to do over the next 6, 12 months to ensure you are complaint, and have a sustainable business? If you need some help, then I can be there to support you. Book in for a discovery call – it’s a free 15 minute online call. BOOK HERE Strategy planning Move from being exhausted and lacking clarity and focus to

RTO Initial Registration result

What others say about working with RTO Mentor over the years. Words from people who achieved RTO Inital registration using RTO Mentor, who have had internal audits, and had coaching with Merinda. See them here.

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MARKETING YOUR RTO – MEETING COMPLIANCE The Standards for Registered Training organisations (2015) require that RTOs complying with advertising and marketing standards when marketing and advertising of AQF qualifications to prospective clients is ethical, accurate and consistent with its scope of registration. This is regardless if you use a third party or you undertake your marketing yourself.

11 tips to make your training stick

It is always a good idea to go out and do your own research and come to your own well evidenced conclusion! Ultimately, mapping should be just one way you are ensuring that your training and assessment are meeting the required standards and ensuring high quality outcomes for your RTO and more importantly, your students! Quality training and assessment leads to quality outcomes.

RTO Assessments: Ensuring Quality and Compliance

In Vocational education and training (VET), the RTO assessments play a pivotal role in ensuring learners acquire the necessary knowledge and skills for their chosen industry. However, with evolving training packages and regulatory requirements, staying abreast of assessment best practices and transitioning to updated qualifications can be a complex endeavour for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs). In this blog post, we’ll explore key considerations for assessments, mapping and additional insights to help RTOs navigate these challenges effectively. RTO assessments serve as the cornerstone of the RTO, providing learners with opportunities to demonstrate their competencies. When designing assessments, it’s crucial to align them with Training Packages (TP) requirements and ensure they accurately measure the underpinning knowledge and skills outlined in the units of competency. Working closely with industry clients provides me with invaluable insights into the challenges they face when implementing training programs within their specific industry. Recently, I had the opportunity to collaborate with a client who expressed frustration over the inability to contextualize the resources they had acquired to meet their learners’ needs effectively. The client’s frustration stemmed from the disconnect between the resources provided by the commercial producer of the training and assessment resources, and the practical demands of their industry. Consideration of workplace activities will provide outcomes for students that aligns them to industry needs. Assessments should reflect real-world scenarios and tasks relevant to the learner’s industry. While RTOs are bound by the units of competency and training packages mandated by regulatory bodies, industry stakeholders operate within the complexities of real-world situations where adaptability and context-specific knowledge are paramount. Therefore, it is important to align to industry as much as possible. Collaborating with these stakeholders provides invaluable insights into industry needs, learner expectations, and emerging skills demands, enabling RTOs to tailor their assessments to meet real-world requirements. By fostering a collaborative approach that involves continuous communication and feedback loops with industry partners, RTOs can better understand the specific challenges and requirements of their clients. Assessing at the correct AQF level: It’s essential to consider the level of competency required for each assessment task and ensure alignment with the AQF framework. This alignment ensures that assessments effectively measure the intended learning outcomes and provide learners with opportunities to demonstrate their skills and knowledge at the appropriate level. Frequently, during validation activities, I see assessment questions that surpass the AQF level designated for the training course, potentially creating over assessing. Therefore, another consideration must be the alignment with the AQF to create fair and accurate assessments that truly reflect the course outcomes. Clear instructions are important for ensuring a smooth and effective assessment process for both learners and trainers alike. When learners receive clear guidance on assessment conditions, expectations, and available support, they are better equipped to approach their assessments with confidence and clarity. Having clear instructions includes details such as assessment tasks, submission deadlines, assessment criteria, and any specific requirements or resources needed. This transparency helps learners understand what is expected of them, reducing confusion and anxiety and enabling them to focus their efforts on meeting the assessment criteria. Assessment tools should be fair and impartial, ensuring that all learners have an equal opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skills. This requires careful consideration of factors such as language, cultural background, prior experience, and learning barriers that may impact learners’ performance. Fair assessment practices involve designing assessment tasks that are free from bias, discriminatory language, or cultural assumptions and providing clear guidance on assessment expectations to all learners. Quality assurance within the RTO are essential components in upholding the reliability and fairness of assessments. Through internal validation and moderation procedures, RTO’s can ensure that assessments accurately reflect the intended learning outcomes and are consistent across different assessors, and contexts. Clear marking guides and observation checklists further enhance assessment reliability by providing transparent criteria for assessment. Additionally, incorporating provisions for reasonable adjustments ensures that assessments remain flexible and accessible to all learners, regardless of their individual needs or circumstances. These quality assurance measures foster a learning environment where every student has the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and knowledge. Effective assessment design is an important part of successful VET delivery for RTOs. While it may present its challenges and frustrations, it is paramount for RTOs to remain informed, engaged with stakeholders, and committed to prioritising quality outcomes. This requires RTOs to actively monitor changes in training packages, keep abreast of industry trends, and engage in professional development activities to enhance their assessment expertise. By adhering to rigorous assessment principles and employing sound assessment practices, RTOs can uphold the integrity and credibility of their training programs. RTOs play a pivotal role in developing a skilled and competent workforce across various industries in Australia.

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