A fee-for-service strategy to move a TAFE beyond government funding

This TAFE, a vocational education and training (VET) provider, annually trains over half a million students via on-campus, in-workplace, online and distance teaching.

The TAFE sought to turn around its declining fee-for-service training

The TAFE’s fee-for-service training performance was falling due to external market and policy changes, exacerbated by an internal misalignment of responsibilities and disconnection across the value chain components. The TAFE sought Nous’ help to develop a new fee-for-service strategy.

Nous used consultation and market analysis to design a fee-for-service revenue strategy

Nous worked closely with the TAFE to identify fee-for-service strategic priorities and rigorously analysed the market to develop a new strategy. Specifically, we:

1. reviewed the TAFE’s current fee-for-service performance
2. identified six strategic priorities via consultation with the TAFE’s leaders and experts; including 26 stakeholder interviews, four executive leadership workshops, five steering committee meetings and five regional group interviews
3. anticipated skills in demand in future by reviewing market trends and triangulating VET enrolment data from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research, the TAFE’s internal enrolment data and Nous’ live job market data from Burning Glass
4. developed a new fee-for-service definition
5. determined a purpose for the TAFE’s future participation in fee-for-service, including specific products to grow
6. developed strategic priorities and initiatives to achieve the purpose
7. identified organisational changes required to deliver on the resulting strategy.

Our report detailed findings on subject, qualification, and customer segment demand, and included a breakdown of our methodology to inform future market analysis.

The strategy will deliver millions in additional annual revenue

The fee-for-service strategy is expected to deliver an additional $25-39 million in annual revenue in the short term and $100-172 million over the medium-to-long term. It will do this through 14 initiatives across six strategic priorities that build on current strengths and decommission low-performing products. The strategy will be staged to deliver sustainable benefits without affecting non-fee-for-service training activity.