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. This is particularly relevant for anyone embarking on one (or more) of the TAE courses. Good support can spur a smooth, enjoyable TAE 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.

In this article, we talk about the importance of student support, and how to ensure you get the support you’re after when seeking out an e-learning TAE course provider.

The problem with insufficient support

As an online course provider ourselves, we understand that a lot of students are often shopping around for the cheapest option – failing to ask questions about the level of support that’s available and how it will impact their final course outcome.

Choosing a provider based purely on price, without knowing what their support system is like, can result in complications down the track, as displayed in the following post we found in a Trainer and Assessor Facebook Group (We’ve redacted personal information and the name of the Registered Training Organisation (RTO) as we don’t want to shame and blame but to simply highlight the stress a lack of support can create).

As you can see, it can be frustrating, confusing, time-consuming and demotivating to not get the answers you need, and we find that needing answers or at the very least, some clarity, goes hand in hand with TAE assessment tasks.

RTOs offering cheap courses can’t offer sufficient support because support costs money. Training support is best provided by qualified trainers with the skills and knowledge to answer those ‘hairy, scary’ questions but many low-cost RTOs try to minimise their costs by keeping trainer contact to a minimum and instead providing support from offshore.

Unfortunately, the above case isn’t rare. We consult with, enrol and support many students who paid for a low-cost course, gave up because they just didn’t get the support required and enrolled with us (paying fees again).

But how do you ensure you’re getting the right support in the first place?

How to ensure you’re getting sufficient support

To get the right support, you need to ask the right questions. This could include:

• What support do you offer?
• What are your assessment marking times?
• How can I contact a trainer if I need one?
• Do you offer any additional 1/1 support opportunities if I need them?

Getting clear on the provider’s support systems ensures you know what to expect if you enrol and aren’t met with any unpleasant surprises down the track.

Our student support

At Fortress Learning we pride ourselves on the support we provide our students. Our service standards are second to none and our staff are measured on those service standards. When talking to prospective students we always point out that our students really value our punctual support, as reflected in our reviews across Google, Trustpilot and Product Review.

At Fortress Learning:

• Any assessments you submit will be marked within four business days
• All emails are responded to within 8 business hours (and we regularly respond to 50% of our emails within one hour)
• If we miss a call, we’ll call you back within 4 business hours (and it rarely takes that long)

The bottom line

If you’re thinking of studying online, and in particular the TAE, make sure you search for an RTO that offers solid student support. Check out their reviews or ask around on social media to find people who have already studied with that RTO to make sure their claims are true.

And of course, if you want to speak to one of our course advisors give us a call on 1300 141 994 or make a booking with one of our Course Advisors HERE.

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