Behind every successful course is a deep understanding of the people it serves. This session explores how TAFE NSW is using human-centred design to reimagine vocational education—improving course quality, strengthening teaching practice, and supporting student success. Central to this approach is the Course Performance Accelerator, recently recognised with a GOLD Good Design Award in 2025 (embargoed until 17 October 2025) for its impact on learning and teaching.
First piloted in Certificate III in Fitness, the accelerator applies a deep-dive methodology to course performance. By listening to learners and teachers, mapping real classroom experiences, and co-designing practical solutions with staff and industry, the program surfaces the barriers that hold learners back and identifies opportunities for improvement. This process has delivered revitalised course models that better integrate theory with practice, streamline assessment, reduce teacher workload, and build learner confidence.
Importantly, the accelerator is not a one-off intervention. It has proven to be a repeatable and scalable model for accelerating improvement across TAFE NSW. By breaking down siloes and fostering collaboration across curriculum, teaching, and support teams, the program creates shared ownership of change and ensures that insights are rapidly translated into action.
Attendees will gain an inside look at how design methods—once seen as the domain of product development—can be successfully applied in vocational education to tackle complex challenges. The session will share tools, strategies, and real examples that show how placing people at the heart of decision-making can lift quality, spark innovation, and deliver outcomes that matter to learners, teachers, industry, and the wider VET ecosystem.
Walk away inspired by a proven model that turns research into results, and with practical approaches you can apply in your own context to help every learner thrive.