Health Beauty and Wellness Awards 2025 | 29 Australia’s economy has long had a strong reliance on vocational education graduates, with millions coming through the ranks every year. Despite these high numbers, the Australian Registered Training Organisation (RTO) industry has been criticised for a range of issues – notably producing graduates who are not properly or adequately trained. The issues facing many RTOs are exacerbated by a lack of highquality learning and assessment resources. Skin Deep Learning, who sells resources nationally in Australia, is on a mission to improve educational outcomes by engaging students through high quality resources. We caught up with CEO Hayley Costa to find out how. Most Outstanding VET Resource Provider 2025 – Queensland modern, government-aligned learning materials they develop being complemented by a range of insightful resources such as classroombased activities and guides to help with marking papers. Hayley told us: “We engage directly with RTOs to ensure our materials are helping them deliver the best possible training to their students.” “We often have salons wanting to purchase our resources for their staff to help them understand the theory side of what they are doing to make them better therapists.” Tapping into the increased demand for quality, industry-relevant training whilst also taking advantage of the current digital learning transformation, SDL’s commitment to innovation and engagement sets it apart, with its unique ability to create modern and aligned learning and assessment resources stemming in large part from Hayley herself. Having worked in the field of health and beauty for many years, Hayley’s understanding of the industry’s demands helped her set the wheels in motion to raise standards across the industry. Hayley explained: “By working closely with industry experts and actively seeking feedback from our customers, we continuously enhance our offerings – ultimately contributing to the growth and professionalism of the entire health, beauty, and wellness sector.” Despite its overwhelming successes, SDL has nevertheless had to overcome its fair share of challenges, with these making it much stronger in the long run. For example, with financial challenges impacting the education sector, the company has diversified its resources, today creating materials for the aged care and disability sectors. Further diversification was seen in the COVID-19 pandemic, where SDL was forced to offer more digital solutions and adapt its methods of content delivery, reaching new markets in the process. With a track record of resilience and innovation to boot, SDL is looking ahead to a future of continued growth and development, seen through initiatives such as adopting AI across its services to personalise the learning experience for students. Alongside this technology, plans for the company going forwards include doubling down on its aforementioned efforts beyond the beauty therapy and hairdressing sectors, without ever losing sight of its primary focus of supporting students and teachers alike with high-quality resources. A company dedicated to reshaping the industry around it, Skin Deep Learning’s enthusiasm is infectious, with countless across Australia’s VET landscape having benefited from its wealth of materials and services. As a result, it is our privilege to recognise the company as the Most Outstanding VET Resource Provider 2025 – Queensland in this programme. Contact: Hayley Costa Company: Skin Deep Learning Web Address: https://www.skindeeplearning.com/ TOs are the only bodies in Australia authorised to train and give qualifications to those in the field of vocational educational and training (VET) services. Skin Deep Learning (SDL) has recognised that these entities need support in being able to deliver high-quality learning and assessment resources, and that is why it has designed an innovative learning and assessment system for use in the beauty therapy and hairdressing education sector. SDL’s unique, comprehensive education system has been proven to enhance both engagement and outcomes in students, presenting them with all of the complex information they need to know surrounding topics like anatomy, chemistry, and nutrition, but presents the subject matter in a way that is easy for students to understand. From imagery and straightforward language to touches of humour and real-world examples, SDL pulls out all the stops to help learners understand why this information is important and how it will actually help them in their future careers. The strengths of this approach are abundantly clear, with SDL analysis showing that students who fully understand what they are being taught feel more empowered - not only during their training, but also once they take their first steps into their chosen industry. Slowly but surely, this approach is redefining the vocational graduate industry, demonstrating to trainers how to get the most out of their students by teaching difficult concepts in novel ways. As well as supporting students on their journeys, Hayley and the team are equally passionate about helping teachers, with the R
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