We chose not to grow past the point where it stops working
ACME Education started in 2009 as an English language school with two classrooms. It now teaches about 1,400 students a year across three sectors, which is roughly the largest we can be while still capping classes at 24 and having teachers mark their own students' work.
That constraint costs us revenue and we keep it anyway, because it is the only thing that makes the rest of what we claim true. A weekly check on every student's attendance and progress is meaningless at 12,000 students and entirely achievable at 1,400.
We teach three things and refer people elsewhere for everything else. If you want to study nursing, hospitality or trades, we will tell you who does it well rather than enrolling you in something adjacent.
Seventeen years, three sectors
2009
Founded in Sydney as an English language centre with two classrooms and eleven students.
2013
Registered as a training organisation and began delivering the Diploma of Information Technology.
2018
Melbourne campus opened. Leadership and management programs added for working supervisors.
2023
Registered as a higher education provider and launched the Bachelor of Information Technology.
Who decides what, and who checks
Academic decisions are made by academic staff, not by the people responsible for revenue. That separation is written into our constitution rather than left as a convention.
Board of Directors
Six directors including two independent non-executives. Responsible for financial viability, risk and the appointment of the Chief Executive. It does not make academic decisions.
Academic Board
Chaired by an external academic. Approves courses, sets assessment standards, and is the only body that can vary an academic requirement. It reports to the Board but is not directed by it.
Course Advisory Committees
One per program, with employer and industry members. They review currency annually — a course that has not been reviewed on schedule cannot take a new intake.
Teacher currency
Every teacher holds the qualification they teach at or above the level they teach it, plus a current teaching credential. Industry currency is evidenced annually. We track the expiry dates and stop rostering a teacher whose currency lapses, rather than discovering it at audit.
Course review
Each course is reviewed at least annually against completion rates, employer feedback, assessment validation and any regulatory change. Overdue reviews are visible to the Academic Board every meeting.
Some things are worth saying out loud
- We do not guarantee visas. No provider can. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either mistaken or lying.
- We do not guarantee jobs. We publish where graduates actually go and arrange the placement; we do not promise an outcome we do not control.
- We do not let agents charge students. Agents are paid by us. A student who is asked for a placement fee has been mistreated.
- We do not enrol people into the wrong course. If we are not the right provider for you we will say so, even when you are ready to pay.
Come and look
Campus tours run most weekday afternoons. You can sit in on a class before you apply.