Upskilled

Upskilled is an Australian online training provider and registered training organization (RTO number 40374) that sells two kinds of study: nationally recognized qualifications, from Certificate III up to Diploma and Advanced Diploma, and a long catalog of short courses, skill sets, bootcamps and workplace training, much of it run with partners such as Microsoft, CompTIA, EC-Council, Social Media College and Simplilearn. The home page reports 42,000+ successful enrollments, 24 national qualifications and 100+ industry aligned training programs, and calls Upskilled "a proud winner of the LearnX Awards Gold in 2022." It serves individuals building or changing a career and businesses training their staff.

Qualifications and what they cost

The core of the catalog is the national qualifications in technology, business and community services. Each course card shows the qualification code, the format line "Online | Self-paced | No Exams," and a starting price per week. Upskilled says that because it is a registered training organization, the qualifications it delivers and awards are nationally recognized.

Certificate III courses start at $57 a week for business, business administration and community services, $60 a week for Individual Support (aging and disability), and $64 a week for Information Technology, which comes with focus streams in programming, web development, basic cyber security awareness and basic cloud computing. Certificate IV courses start at $60 a week across business, leadership and management, project management, human resource management, marketing and communication, work health and safety, and entrepreneurship; $67 a week for alcohol and other drugs or mental health; $77 a week for the Information Technology streams, including cyber security, cyber security and AI, programming, networking, web development and systems administration support; and $93 a week for the dual certificate in alcohol and other drugs and mental health.

Diplomas start at $67 a week for leadership and management, $76 a week for business, community services, counseling, project management, human resource management, marketing and communication, work health and safety and the Social Media College diploma in social media marketing with artificial intelligence, and $81 a week for the Diploma of Information Technology and its cyber security, advanced networking and cloud engineering streams. The Advanced Diploma of Community Sector Management starts at $76 a week. "Starting at" is the site's own wording, so the weekly figure is an entry price rather than a total.

Course cards also name a highlight. IT qualifications are marked "Powered by Microsoft," "Powered by Microsoft & Cisco" or "Microsoft | VMware by Broadcom," community services courses carry "Work Placement Support," and business courses offer "Expert Career Guidance." The catalog also lists bachelor degrees from partner institutions, SAE University College (games development, animation) and ACAP (social work, counseling), marked as available on campus only, or as blended delivery for counseling.

Short courses, bootcamps and certifications

Short courses make up most of the list. Nationally recognized skill sets and statements of attainment include short courses in aged care and in disability support starting at $62 a week, an alcohol and other drugs skill set at $79 a week, and an introduction to community services at $69 a week, alongside units in networking, programming, leadership, cyber security awareness, human resources, team management and project management.

Upskilled's own short courses include HR Essentials at $660 and AI in the Workplace at $550, the latter with six months of access. The introductions to disability support and to aged care start for $350, and Work in Disability Support and Work in Aged Care cost $660 each. Social Media College courses run from $599 for single courses such as LinkedIn marketing, YouTube marketing and creating content with AI, through $770 for SEO certification training and $799 for advanced pay per click, to $1199 for Digital Marketing with AI. The Career Academy sells certificates in Xero, MYOB, bookkeeping, small business management ($770) and medical reception ($770, or $990 with terminology). UX Design Institute's Professional Diploma in UX Design starts at $86 a week.

Certification training covers CompTIA (Security+, PenTest+, Linux+, CySA+, Network+, A+ and AI Essentials) and EC-Council (Certified Ethical Hacker, Certified Network Defender, Certified Cloud Security Engineer and a set of Essentials courses), mostly self-paced with 12 months of access. The online bootcamp list includes TechDX's cyber security bootcamp and its Certified Cyber Security Associate ($880), Certified Cyber Security Analyst ($2310) and Certified Web Penetration Tester ($2310), and Simplilearn programs in data analysis, data science with Python, AWS, Azure and Google Cloud architecture, DevOps, PMP and CISSP. Learners heading for coding work have the programming and web development IT streams plus a Full Stack Developer (MERN Stack) course.

The Mini MBA comes in five versions, from Leadership & Strategy to Leadership and ESG, each of eight four-hour modules, online and self-paced.

How study works

Individual learners study in MyUpskilled, which the site calls "an interactive, secure e-learning platform" where study materials are "delivered with 24/7 accessibility." It "provides you with unlimited access to discussion boards, webinars and a trainer/student messaging system," and learners submit assignments to their trainer through it and receive feedback and grading. The home page pitches it as more than PDFs, with interactive tools, extra resources and simple assessments. Each learner is assigned specialist trainers who "will keep in regular contact," and the site promises "1-on-1 mentoring and support." Courses run on "rolling start dates every month."

Enrollment help is available by phone and email from Monday to Friday, 9.00AM to 5.00PM AEST, through education consultants, and through a live chat that the FAQ says is staffed after office hours. Reviews quoted on the home page come from Trustpilot, where the site cites a 4.8+ TrustScore. One student, listed as "Ronaz - Cert IV in IT (Web Development)," writes that "Upskilled provides a straightforward training plan. Following it is key, especially if you're working full time."

Paying for it

The FAQ lists five routes: an upfront payment with "exciting discounts on course fees," Upskilled's own fortnightly or monthly payment plans, Zip's "flexible weekly, fortnightly and monthly interest-free payment plans," Handypay, and government subsidized training depending on the learner's state or territory. The funding schemes it names are Skilling South Australia (SA), Future Skills (WA), User Choice (ACT), Skilled Capital (ACT) and traineeships.

For organizations

Businesses are offered customized technical and leadership training, with what the site calls "special group pricing" all year round. The Tech Academy covers Microsoft training (Microsoft 365, Teams, Word, Excel, Outlook, Project, SharePoint, Azure, Power BI and Fabric), EPI data center certifications taught over two to five days in a virtual classroom, plus CompTIA, EC-Council, ITIL and VMware. The Leadership Academy runs one-day workshops, a 2-day Business Communication Credential and The Leadership Challenge over four days and 28 modules, and AI workshops range from a half-day executive session to a 2-day adoption workshop. Training is delivered virtually, in person or on site.

Who it suits

Upskilled suits an adult in Australia who wants a nationally recognized certificate or diploma while working, a career changer who wants a short course or bootcamp before committing to a full qualification, and a community services worker who values work placement support. It also suits an employer that wants Microsoft, cyber security or leadership training for a team. The caveats are that study is self-directed, so keeping to the training plan matters, and that the weekly prices are starting figures, so the weekly figure alone does not give the total cost of a qualification.