For much of my career in the tax industry, professional development followed a familiar path: build technical expertise, accumulate experience, earn the trust of clients and colleagues, and establish a reputation through consistent performance.
Those fundamentals remain as important as ever. But the way people acquire, update and demonstrate their knowledge is changing, and the shift has implications well beyond the tax profession.
Across the education sector, there is growing interest in learning that is more targeted, flexible and responsive to the needs of individuals and employers. From universities and vocational education providers to professional associations and corporate training programs, modular learning is increasingly becoming part of the conversation.
The reasons are not difficult to understand. People are working in environments characterised by rapid technological change, evolving professional expectations and increasingly specialised roles. At the same time, many are juggling work, family and other commitments that make returning to traditional, longer-form study difficult.
The challenge for education providers is how to deliver meaningful learning that fits around those realities without compromising quality or outcomes.
In the tax profession, this challenge is particularly evident. Practitioners are operating in an environment of increasing legislative complexity, heightened client expectations and accelerated technological change. Maintaining professional competence is essential, but staying current and developing deeper expertise are not necessarily the same thing.
Tax professionals already meet their continuing professional development obligations through conferences, technical updates, webinars and industry events. These activities play an important role in maintaining professional knowledge. However, there is also a growing need for more structured opportunities to develop expertise in specific areas.
This is where modular learning and microcredentials have an increasingly important role to play.
Rather than committing to a lengthy qualification or broad program of study, learners can focus on a particular skill, knowledge area or professional capability. They can build expertise incrementally, apply what they learn in their workplace and return to further study as their needs evolve.
The appeal is not confined to tax practitioners. It reflects a broader shift in how people think about education and career development. Learning is becoming less of a one-off exercise undertaken at the beginning of a career and more of an ongoing process that evolves alongside professional and personal circumstances.
Time remains one of the biggest obstacles. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the most commonly reported barrier for people seeking work-related training was having too much work or not enough time, cited by 44 per cent of respondents. That finding highlights the importance of delivery models that make education more accessible to people already in the workforce.
There are also indications that individuals are taking a more active role in investing in their own education. DigitalDefynd estimates that individual learners will account for approximately 43 per cent of end-user demand in the Australian online education market in 2026. While online learning is not necessarily synonymous with modular learning, the growth of digital delivery is helping make shorter, more targeted education programs accessible to a wider audience.
The motivations for undertaking further training are equally revealing. ABS data indicates that 45 per cent of people undertaking work-related training do so to improve their employment prospects or change careers, while 35 per cent seek to develop skills for their current role or because training is required by their employer.
These motivations point to an education market that is increasingly diverse. Some learners want to advance within their existing profession, others are looking to change direction, while many simply need to acquire new capabilities to remain relevant in a changing workplace.
For The Tax Institute, as the specialist education provider, this creates both an opportunity and a challenge. There is considerable potential to develop more flexible learning pathways, but the quality, recognition and relevance of what is being delivered will matter.
Microcredentials, for example, should not simply be shorter versions of existing courses. Their value lies in being carefully designed around identifiable learning outcomes, relevant industry needs and knowledge that learners can put into practice.
For professional associations such as The Tax Institute and its microcredential offering Tax Academy, this means creating opportunities for practitioners to deepen their expertise in particular areas while balancing the demands of professional practice. The most successful practitioners are not simply keeping pace with change. They are identifying emerging knowledge gaps, strengthening specific capabilities and positioning themselves as trusted advisers in increasingly specialised fields.
But the same principle applies across other sectors. Universities can use modular offerings to provide pathways into further study and support lifelong learning. Vocational education providers can respond to changing industry skills requirements, while employers can use targeted learning to address capability gaps within their organisations.
Importantly, modular learning does not mean abandoning traditional qualifications or structured education. Degrees, diplomas and comprehensive professional programs continue to provide the foundations on which careers are built. Nor should microcredentials be seen as a substitute for the depth and rigour of longer-form education.
Instead, they offer an alternative way of thinking about how education is structured and delivered. For example, many of our corporate partners are choosing to enrol employees from their graduate program in a microcredential pathway towards the Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) designation, before seamlessly transitioning into our structured Higher Education programs.
This approach allows learning to be accumulated over time, tailored to specific organisational and individual needs, and ultimately connected to broader qualifications and long-term career pathways.
Ultimately, the question for education providers is no longer simply what qualifications they offer, but how effectively they support people to keep learning throughout their working lives.
The demand for flexible, relevant and accessible education is unlikely to diminish. For learners, modular education offers an opportunity to take greater control of their professional development. For providers, it presents an opportunity to rethink traditional delivery models and build closer connections between education, industry and the workforce.
The future of education will not necessarily be shorter courses replacing longer ones. It may instead be a combination of both, with learners moving between formal qualifications and targeted learning as their careers and industries evolve.
Article sources:
ABS: Work-Related Training and Adult Learning, 2024-25 financial year | Australian Bureau of Statistics
Online Education Market in Australia [40 Facts & Statistics][2026] – DigitalDefynd Education
Sharon Smulders is the Academic Director at The Tax Institute
