Pop Education: Australia’s Leading Disruptor in Vocational Education Technology
Pop Education has emerged as Australia's leading disruptor in vocational education technology, transforming how adult learners engage with training content across VET, higher education, and corporate sectors. Founded in 2016 by siblings Sarah and Alex Phillips in regional Bendigo, Victoria, the company has achieved a $1.85 million in annual revenue while pioneering innovative digital learning solutions that make educational content truly “pop” with engagement and effectiveness.
The company operates within Australia's $3.9 billion EdTech market—a sector projected to reach $7.4 billion by 2033—positioning itself uniquely at the intersection of compliance expertise, creative design, and cutting-edge technology. As one of 775+ EdTech companies in Australia's rapidly expanding digital education ecosystem, Pop Education has carved out a distinctive niche by focusing on quality over quantity and building genuine relationships with clients across the nation.
From Humble Beginnings to Industry Leadership
Pop Education's origin story reflects the broader transformation of Australia's education sector. When Sarah Phillips, with her extensive VET sector experience since 2005, partnered with her brother Alex Phillips in 2016, they started as a two-person operation with Sarah working part-time and Alex beginning on the NEIS program. Today, the company has a solid team plus an extensive contractor network, making it one of the most trusted education service providers in regional Australia.
Sarah Phillips serves as Managing Director, bringing over 20 years of VET sector expertise, including her previous role as Victorian eLearning Coordinator for the National VET eLearning Strategy. Her qualifications span adult learning and development, e-learning strategy, auditing, and project management, having developed assessments for more than 300 unique units of competency. Recently spearheading the development of Pop Education’s own AI application and working with small language models, Sarah was a finalist in the Weekly Times Shine Awards 2023 and has presented at over 40 major industry conferences.
Other key team members include Alex Phillips as Creative Director (specialising in multimedia and interactive media), Kerri Neven as an Education Designer and Digital Developer, and Shauna Farey as an Education Designer and Project Manager.
This growth trajectory culminated in Smart50 Awards recognition in 2022, where Pop Education was listed as 28th among Australia's fastest-growing SMEs for its resilience and adaptability during challenging business conditions, and a finalist in the Regional Business Category. Pop was also a finalist in the Technology and Innovation Category for the Bendigo Business Awards in 2024.
In addition, Pop Education won Platinum awards for Best Talented Team (Blended Learning Team and Working From Home Team), Diamond awards for Best Learning & Talent Development (Certification Training Industry Specific), Best EdTech (EdTech Custom/Bespoke Learning), Best Talented Team (Learning & Development Team), Best Learning Model (Blended Learning Industry Specific) and Best eLearning Design (Simulation Industry Specific), and Gold awards for Best EdTech (EdTech Innovation) and Best EdTech (EdTech AI Integration) at the 2024 LearnX Awards.
Comprehensive Educational Solutions Across Sectors
Pop Education's service portfolio spans seven core areas that collectively address the entire educational development lifecycle. Their professional development services leverage decades of VET sector experience, delivering webinars, face-to-face training, mentoring, and expert advisory services through conferences, workshops, and public presentations. The company has facilitated professional development for the VET Development Centre and maintains active participation in steering committees and advisory boards across the education sector.
Content creation and learning design represents Pop Education's creative core, with learning designers from every education sector developing courseware, curriculum design, and assessment systems. Pop designs interactive learning experiences using a tried and tested storyboard process for various platforms. They have designed and developed courses across a range of training packages from veterinary services to engineering and specialise in emerging technologies and community services.
The company’s compliance services differentiate it significantly in the market, with VET compliance expertise from assessment specialists and ex-auditors. In addition to assessment system reviews, validations, and rectifications, the team also designs and develops fully compliant VET assessment tools and evidence-mapped resources aligned to current training package standards. They provide compliance system design, educational development process design, “friendly audits,” and Post Audit (VET) support—critical services as the VET sector faces increased regulatory scrutiny.
Digital and technical solutions showcase Pop Education's innovation focus. Their technical capabilities include SCORM packages, interactive e-learning modules, educational games with gamification elements, and comprehensive multimedia production including 2D and 3D animation, sound production, and film editing. Pop also specialises in ensuring compliance with WCAG 2.2 in a range of programs including Articulate Storyline, Moodle and Canvas, Microsoft Word and Adobe programs. Their technical team handles coding and scripting to maximise LMS utilisation and learner engagement.
The company harnesses the power of artificial intelligence through Sethco, their proprietary AI platform designed for immersive, human-centred learning experiences. Built on a secure, closed-circuit architecture powered by OpenAI and hosted on Azure, Sethco enables the creation of advanced conversational agents that simulate realistic interactions for training, education, and organisational development. The platform includes both teacher and organisation interfaces, giving users the ability to self-design and deploy their own AI agents aligned to specific learning outcomes, compliance needs, or workplace contexts.
Their new Professional Development Program empowers trainers, educators, and learning designers to upskill through flexible, industry-relevant microlearning. The program includes TAE Bites—a professional development version of their nationally recognised TAE program in partnership with Blackwater Projects—and Pop Bites, a growing suite of short, practical courses covering topics such as WCAG accessibility across digital platforms, AI development techniques, eLearning design, SCORM authoring, H5P creation, and Learning Management Systems like Moodle. Each course is self-paced and self-serve, allowing participants to complete their professional development requirements at their own convenience. Hosted in their Moodle platform, courses can be purchased instantly via PayPal with automatic enrolment, providing a seamless, on-demand learning experience designed to keep education professionals current, compliant, and confident in emerging digital learning practices.
TAE40122: Flagship Product Partnership
Pop Education's partnership with Blackwater Projects to develop TAE40122 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment resources exemplifies their market positioning and innovation approach. This flagship product addresses one of the most critical qualifications in the VET sector, designed to prepare trainers and assessors with genuinely valuable skills rather than just meeting minimum requirements.
The TAE40122 offering includes three distinct product tiers catering to different organisational needs and budgets. The Traditional Product provides print-ready assessment tools and learning materials, while Traditional + Digital Upload adds SCORM packages and LMS course shells for enhanced digital delivery. The most innovative Traditional + Simulated Program tier includes access to "Popwater"—a fully simulated online RTO complete with intranet, policies, and procedures that provide authentic workplace learning experiences.
For organisations requiring complete customisation, the Custom Program tier offers fully contextualised materials tailored to specific industries or delivery approaches. All tiers include ongoing support for the life of the training product, with continuous updates, link maintenance, and resource updates as industry standards evolve.
The development process reflects Pop Education's commitment to quality, featuring a two-stage editing process, validation of assessment tools with auditors, and comprehensive testing before release. Pop was not first to market, but by validating tools for clients, they worked through challenges, so the client doesn’t have to, demonstrating their focus on delivering proven, reliable solutions rather than rushing to market.
Strategic Market Position in Australian Education
Pop Education operates within the largest segment of Australia's EdTech market—the Pre-K and K-12 sector valued at $2.14 billion (52.4% of the total $3.9 billion market). However, their focus on VET and adult education positions them strategically within the corporate/professional development segment, which represents one of the fastest-growing areas as organisations prioritise upskilling and reskilling initiatives.
In recent years, Pop Education has developed comprehensive learning and assessment resources for a wide range of VET Delivered to Secondary Students (VDSS) programs, navigating the unique complexities of course design within school-based VET delivery. Our experience spans Emerging and Enabling Technologies, Work Health and Safety, Creative Industries, and Community and Health programs. By combining curriculum expertise with practical learning design, Pop ensures that VET in Schools resources meet both industry and educational standards, supporting trainers, teachers, and students in achieving high-quality, compliant outcomes across diverse learning environments.
The company's client base spans TAFE institutions, private training organisations, government departments, higher education institutions, and corporate training departments. They've established partnerships with over 20 TAFE providers and secured more than 30 State and Federal Government contracts, demonstrating their credibility and capability to work at scale across diverse organisational contexts.
Their geographic positioning in Bendigo, Victoria provides strategic advantages, offering access to Melbourne-based markets while maintaining lower operational costs and strong community connections. This regional base aligns with government priorities to support digital divide reduction and regional economic development, while their national service delivery capability ensures broad market access.
Competitive differentiation stems from their unique combination of compliance expertise, creative design capability, and genuine VET sector experience. Unlike many competitors who focus purely on content creation, digital design and development or purely on compliance, Pop Education's integrated approach allows them to deliver solutions that are both engaging and audit-ready—a critical combination in the regulated VET environment.
Innovation Leadership and Future Positioning
Pop Education's innovation approach centers on making learning "engaging, fun, and memorable" rather than simply meeting compliance requirements. Their development of interactive learning experiences with hotspots for visual engagement, gamification elements, and AR/VR educational applications positions them at the forefront of emerging educational technology trends.
AI integration initiatives reflect strategic forward-thinking, with the team actively exploring small language model applications and attending the 2024 AI for Life Summit. The team's work on personalised learning pathways, adaptive content delivery, and predictive analytics for student performance aligns with the 47% CAGR projected growth in AI education applications.
Their simulated learning environment approach, exemplified by the "Popwater" RTO simulation, demonstrates innovative thinking about authentic workplace learning experiences. This approach addresses the critical challenge of providing realistic work-based learning opportunities without requiring physical workplace access—a particularly valuable capability in the post-COVID educational environment.
Partnership strategy emphasises quality relationships over volume, with their Blackwater Projects collaboration serving as a model for strategic industry partnerships. Their continual sponsorship of conferences demonstrates commitment to industry leadership and thought leadership within the VET sector.
Client Success and Market Validation
Pop Education’s client retention rates and repeat business validate the company’s strong market positioning and consistent service quality. Their proven ability to secure government contracts across both state and federal levels demonstrates the capacity to meet stringent procurement standards and deliver projects at scale. Pop’s position on the HumanAbility and Future Skills Organisation Job Skills Council development panels reflects its active role in shaping the future of vocational education and workforce capability in Australia.
With experience spanning health and community services, trades, business, education, food and fibre, and emerging innovation industries, Pop Education continues to demonstrate adaptability, sector insight, and a commitment to advancing skills development across the VET ecosystem.
Industry recognition extends beyond awards to practical validation through regular conference speaking engagements (Sarah Phillips has presented at over 40 conferences including ConVerge, Velg, VDC, Moodle Moot, ACPET, NCVER, and EduTECH), advisory board participation, and thought leadership contributions to sector development initiatives.
