As we gear up for a fresh start in 2024, here are some ideas to ensure your RTO hits the ground running with ongoing/renewed focus on compliance & quality.

We're sharing five things from key areas to review, check, and/or implement for a prosperous and compliant New Year.

#1 Student Feedback Harvest

Focus improvement efforts by targeting areas in need. Consider: how often are you asking students (and other stakeholders) for their feedback on what you are supplying?

Yes, every RTO must collect quality indicator data, but consider whether the questions on that form collect the right information at the right time for meaningful improvements for your RTO business.

There's nothing to say an RTO cannot go beyond quality indicator surveys to obtain feedback from recent graduates & current students.

Surveys, focus groups, or individual interviews can provide valuable insight to how others perceive aspects of your course delivery & assessment. And are an excellent way to identify areas for improvement!

Review current student feedback mechanisms and the way they are working (or not).

Key questions to ask yourself:

❓ Is the timing right? Are we getting actionable intelligence to support ongoing course improvements?
❓ Are the questions valid? What do we *really* want to know - and, if we're already asking questions, are they the 'right' questions; drilling down to the crux of the matter?
❓ What do we do with the data? How do we collate, analyse, store, act & feed back on the information received?


Tips for survey development:

💡 Be specific - questions should focus on one thing at a time.

An example of a poorly designed feedback question is: 

  • "How satisfied are you with the course materials and support from the training team?" 

When a respondent has to circle a number (1-5) as a response, which part of the question are they responding to? The course materials or support from the training team?  Break the questions down so one thing at a time is the focus

💡 Start small - try targeting one aspect and keep the question list short. You'll be more likely to get a few moments of someone's time when it really is just a few moments

💡 Ask about the heart of the matter - 'satisfaction' is subjective; instead, ask about perceived utility.  For example, instead of asking "How satisfied are you with the course materials?", think about possible action areas for improvement & frame your questions that way.  

For example: 

Rate your agreement with the following statements, where 1 = totally disagree and 5 = totally agree:

  • The learner guide is easy to follow
  • The information supplied as learning material helps me understand this course
  • When it comes time for assessment, the information provided helps me clearly understand what I have to do


Depending on your aims, you could also follow up these types of questions with ones that dig even deeper, such as: why did you answer that way?


Remember to act on feedback received & celebrate the wins as they come!

#2 Trainer Competency Check

Time for a health check/spot review on trainer/assessor credentials! 

Verify everyone has valid qualifications for the courses they will be training and/or assessing into the new year.

 Key questions to ask yourself:

❓ Do we have a current listing of verifiable, authenticated credentials for each staff member?

❓ Is each list relevant to the minimum requirements (credentials and currency) for what each person will be delivering/assessing?

❓ Have any of the qualifications recently been subject to training package updates? And so therefore, does everyone still have the necessary vocational competencies to deliver/assess those courses?

❓ Has anyone recently undertaken further training and newly achieved credentials need to be added to the staff matrix?

❓ Are currency requirements showing as ‘up-to-date’?

Tips:

💡 Ensure all records held by the RTO are verifiable as authentic, current and relevant to the specific instances of delivery/assessment by each person

💡 Schedule any necessary professional development for skill gaps


In March 2024, new requirements came into play for delivery of VET. Now, we can add to the above list:

❓ Are there supervision plans in place for anyone yet to be fully qualified as a trainer/assessor?

* See the Training Under Supervision Pack for a kick start - the pack contains Information sheet, templates and self-assessment checklists to cover vocational and TAE qualifications

❓ Are there monitoring mechanisms in place for those people working under the condition of 'actively working toward' their TAE qualification?

* The Training Under Supervision pack contains guidance for monitoring vocational trainers in this circumstance

❓ If industry experts are involved in the delivery and assessment of VET, do we have currency matrix in place for them?

* Use of Industry Expert Matrix and Approval Record provides a template to document arrangements for when an RTO uses industry experts to assist in training and assessment

#3 Industry Trends Assessment


What are the emerging trends and advancements in your industry?

Who captures this information? How is it shared with the team??

 Consider a rotating mini-taskforce assigned with researching and reporting on “what’s new”. The reporting can be as simple as a 5 min brief in the Monday morning meetings – just enough to put the word out and bring the concepts top of mind!

 Considering VET trainers/assessors must be up-to-date with their vocational area *as well as* the areas of learning, training and assessment, this could be especially useful to:

  • keep abreast of changes impacting each domain, such as generative AI
  • refresh on principles that underpin adult education
  • identify areas for further investigation and individual PD
  • create an internal register of shared knowledge about industry changes
  • support incorporation of relevant updates in your training programs to maintain currency in graduate skillsets

 

PS. Education Matters is a convenient way to get useful PD information on learning, training and assessment topics  

#4 Policies and Procedures Refresh

Now might be the perfect time to review and update all key policies and procedures.

Key questions to ask yourself:

❓ Are the SOPs version controlled? And, is everyone accessing/using the latest version?

❓ Have there been any recent updates in the legislated environment that have triggered a required update? For example: Fit and Proper Person Requirements - has there been updated reference to this part of the VQF and how the RTO meets its obligations?

❓ What amendments need to be made to account for other external factors impacting operations? E.g. use of generative AI

Tips:

💡 Ensure there is a register of RTO policies and procedures so ‘one source of truth’ can be easily recognised

💡 Review all SOPs for versioning and apply updates as required

💡 Communicate changes to the team, including what to do with any outdated documents that may be stored locally by remote workers

#5 Assessment Tool Scan

Conduct a mini-internal audit by randomly selecting training products to review. Look at the assessment tools being used and review to confirm points including:

1)  The tools will collect sufficient, valid evidence to cover the unit of competency requirements

2)  Foundation skills are mapped and assessed

3)  Instructions to users are easy-to-follow, relevant and make sense

4)  There are fields to record feedback to the learner and the assessment decision/s being made

5)  Questions and tasks align to the unit requirements and also reflect current industry practice

 Tips:

💡 Look for systemic issues and if found, go through all tools on the same template and fix

💡 If gaps are found in the tools, consider next steps such as actions to address issues with current and past students

💡 Ensure all revisions are noted in the continuous improvement system and funneled through for consideration in the formal validation processes