Latest Articles
Why Student Support Matters
As a student, the support you get from an online course provider can be the difference between passing or failing the course you signed up for. Good support can spur a smooth, enjoyable educational experience, whereas poor support can make for a frustrating experience where you’re left fending for yourself. Without answers to questions and resolutions to potential problems, completing a course can ultimately become a challenge.
What's More Powerful Than Reputation, Price And Support In Generating Referrals? The Fortress Learning Experience
Generating referrals is helped by reputation, price and support but ultimately there is something even more powerful that will boost referrals. We worked it out by asking our students... See what they told us!
What Teachers Might Learn From Sales People
Since surveys in most of the Western world consistently rank used car salespeople as among the least trusted of all professions, it is little wonder some people extend that reputation to all salespeople. Trainers, on the other hand, are held in high esteem. So what could a trainer possibly learn from a profession so low in the public trust?
What Document Was That?
Have you ever noticed how much of your work as a trainer is tied up in paperwork? It seems like that old saying about “the job isn’t finished till the paperwork is done” was made up for trainers. Everything we do must be documented before, during the training and after the fact.
The Ten Painful Truths About The Certificate IV TAE
To be brutally frank, the Certificate IV TAE may well be Australia’s most resented qualification. For many people, it is something that they would rather have done than something that they want to do. For many people, it is something that they have to do to satisfy someone else’s requirements rather than something that they want to do to satisfy their own requirements.
Taking Longer to Get Assessments Done Sooner
It may seem like a time-saver to skim read assessment instructions and quickly jot down some words that seem to match but you might miss key instruction words. Yes, pesky words like “list, explain, describe, reflect…” Assessors are clued into instruction words like that and it is often glaringly obvious when a student has not responded in kind.
Give Me a Little Feedback
Feedback is one of the greatest quality tools ever invented. Think about it a moment; who knows better whether you are meeting the customer’s quality expectations than the customer themselves. So, their feedback is essentially a quality control report, telling you how well you are meeting the only quality specification that matters… that of the customer.
Encourage Learner Participation
Any trainer who’s been in the business for a while can tell which learners are going to do well on their assessment and which ones are going to struggle. The winners all follow a similar pattern, while the losers follow a much different pattern. A lot of the difference between the two is how much they participate in the learning process.
Didn’t Get Marked as Satisfactory the First Time? It’s Not the End of the World.
Sometimes at Fortress Learning, our students get an assessment submission marked as Not Yet Satisfactory. This can cause disappointment, anxiety, sadness, and even anger! The reality is, being marked as Not Yet Satisfactory is not the end of the world. It just means you get to have another shot at fulfilling the requirements of the task.
Dear Future Student
When we begin, we will put together a bit of a plan, and that will give us direction. But as we get started, we might decide to change it along the way. Like a walk in the woods, sometimes it is easier to go around a log than over it, and sometimes it’s actually easier to build a raft than swim across a river. We will do that together.
Characteristics Of A Good Teacher - What Students See
What are the important characteristics students look for in a good teacher? In most academic and industrial educational settings, the question is interesting but not particularly relevant since students rarely have the opportunity to select their own instructors.
Building a Question-Friendly Environment As A Trainer
Trial lawyers are often told never to ask a question to which they don't already know the answer. That might be true in the courtroom, but in the classroom, that mentality is one of many things teachers and trainers do to discourage a question-friendly environment. Intellectually, we all know the ability to ask questions is a critical learning component. Practically, creating an atmosphere that encourages refraining from questioning and answering does not take much.
Accountability: It's A Two Way Street
Here is the definition for “accountability” in the Business dictionary: “The obligation of an individual or organisation to account for its activities, accept responsibility for them, and to disclose the results in a transparent manner.”Here at Fortress, we pride ourselves on being accountable. However, the thing about accountability is it takes two.Below are a few scenarios we deal with from time to time, which demonstrate how we are accountable to our students, and how our students are accountable to us.
What are you looking for?
Hi. I really enjoyed the learning experience offered by fortress learning. I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a supportive and well organised online learning experience. A great team.
Andrew Trosic
So far the best RTO that I have been with. Great support from the admin team, stable online blackboard platform, experienced trainers like Richard Gietman & Deb Thomas, along with efficient student processing services. Thank you Fortress, and 5 stars for the team!
Suresh Suppiah
I had an excellent experience completing the Diploma of Vocational Education and Training through Fortress Learning. The whole team was incredibly supportive throughout the process—special thanks to Karen, Bheng, Jane, Maniya, and Emma for their professionalism and encouragement at every step. I would particularly like to thank my trainer, Emma, for her outstanding guidance, clear feedback, and responsiveness, which made the RPL journey smooth and achievable. I highly recommend Fortress Learning to any VET professional seeking a structured, supportive, and well-managed qualification pathway.
Yun Qian
I have completed a few Cert IV and Diploma units with Fortress over the years and have had nothing but positive experiences (even with RPL). The team at Fortress are always helpful and supportive.
Christiana Mergan
The Fortress Team were extremely professional to deal with all throughout my course. Always helpful, understanding and a pleasure to deal with. I would happily recommend them to anyone.
Lee Guest
I really enjoy my study journey in fortress learning. The teachers and staff really helpful.
Physio Dian Nawir
Highly recommend. Reasonably priced, easy to use interface, quick marking times and responsive trainers.
Bel Callea
The TAE cert iv certainly isn’t an easy course to complete. I had to learn a whole new language and although I was expecting to be taught how to teach, it’s nothing like that - more like learning how best to support our students and to present the information to them in a way they can understand. The support provided by Fortress was really good - I chose the middle package as a safety net just in case I needed it. Initially my trainer was Brian, an awesome mentor, huge experience and very helpful. He left last year, and my new mentor was Richard - again fabulous support, almost always available relatively quickly and able to point me in the right direction. Marking turnaround was typically 1-2 days - shorter than the advertised time too which also helped. I have no hesitation in recommending Fortress Learning to anyone looking to further their VET journey. Many thanks Fortress and the team
Andy Graham
Fortress learning was fantastic in all areas. From the customer support team to the trainers. The support team was always professional at all times and the communication was fantastic. The trainers were knowledgeable, empathetic and supportive during the whole course. I would highly recommend fortress learning. A special mention to Deb who is definitely an asset to the team and any future students.
Clint Parkes
I have recently completed the TAESS00021 Facilitation Skillset, and the training material and content was not only top quality but also interesting. The admin staff and trainers were extremely punctual and helpful. Big thankyou to trainer Deb. I highly recommend training with Fortress Learning.
Sienna hardie
I am so glad that I chose Fortress Learning for my course. The team was available and helpful along my entire journey. It was not easy, but my advisor exceled in encouraging me and enabling me to keep going! I highly recommend Fortress Learning to anyone! They are amazing at what they do.
Tim Hildebrand
Fortress Learning is an outstanding RTO that delivers exceptional training and support. I recently completed my TAE upgrade, and the process was seamless, efficient, and well-structured. A huge thank you to Mel, Jan, and my incredible assessor, Deb, for their guidance and professionalism. Their expertise and dedication truly make them champions of TAE!
Daniela Accary
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