Australian RTOs reveal optimistic course demand outlook for 2022
Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) across Australia have used ReadyTech’s fourth annual Voice of VET Australian RTO Industry Report to declare things are about to get better.
The majority of Australia’s Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) expect their businesses to improve when the impacts of Covid-19 dissipate, with 60% of the market expecting overall course demand to improve and 54% expecting their overall revenue to be up during the year 2022.
ReadyTech’s fourth annual Voice of VET Australian RTO Industry Report found revenue continued to fall for almost half of all RTOs surveyed in late 2021. This followed on from similar declines in revenue last year, when RTOs were dealing from the fallout of the initial wave of Covid-19.
Despite these difficulties (and the average number of enrolments trending down to 810 from 862 during 2021), RTOs shared similar positive sentiments to last year, expecting strong post-Covid improvements in course demand (60%), finances (59%) as well as business strategy (56%).
RTOs are also under less pressure. While 79% of RTOs in 2020 expected attracting new enrolments to put ‘extreme’ or ‘quite a lot’ of pressure on their business, this had dropped to 36% in 2021. There was a similar easing of pressure across measures like profitability and the reputation of VET.
A majority of RTOs (62%) say enrolments will be the key driver of their resurgence from Covid-19, while improvements in employee training and coaching (48%), investment in IT systems and processes (47%) and a focus on student acquisition strategies are expected to feature strongly.
ReadyTech General Manager of Education, Trevor Fairweather, said Australia’s RTOs have started 2022 exhibiting remarkable resilience after a period of market and operational challenge.
“Despite Voice of VET painting a picture of enrolment volatility and revenue declines over two years, RTOs have a broad-based optimism that their businesses will improve in 2022 without pandemic restrictions. Standing out is the market’s obvious hunger to boost new VET enrolments.
“The market continues to embrace digital transformation, with 69% of respondents agreeing it was a high priority for their RTO. This led to online and blended education and training being named by the greatest percentage of RTOs as their biggest opportunity into the future.”
“The team at ReadyTech believes this positions VET for a strong future as we emerge from the challenges of the past two years. It’s clear VET will continue to be a central channel for the skilling of Australia’s workforce, and RTOs appear ready to take on whatever is thrown at them.”
The Voice of VET Australian RTO Industry Report 2021 also found rising costs and lack of funding, attracting new enrolments and the past and future of effects of Covid-19 are the greatest challenges being faced by the market, replacing the perennial frontrunner compliance this year.
To download a copy of the Voice of VET 2022 report, visit readytech.io/VoiceofVET.
For further information or an interview with Trevor Fairweather, General Manager of Education at ReadyTech, please contact natalie.miller@readytech.io.
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For more information, please contact:
Natalie Miller
Head of Marketing, CX & Corporate Communications
p. +61 422 436 787
e. natalie.miller@readytech.io
About ReadyTech
ReadyTech is a leading provider of mission-critical SaaS for the education, workforce management, government and justice sectors. Bringing together the best in people management systems from students and apprentices to payroll, employment services, and community engagement, ReadyTech creates awesome technology that helps their customers navigate complexity, while also delivering meaningful outcomes. To learn more about ReadyTech’s people-centric approach to technology, please visit readytech.io.