The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) recently released a research report, VET for secondary school students: insights and outcomes, examining the merits of vocational education and training (VET) for secondary school students in preparing students for work or further training from the perspectives of students, parents, industry stakeholders and employers.

The research also explored the models of provision used in government and non-government school sectors. Case studies of a sample of government and non-government schools that have been successful in state, territory and or national training award competitions, or nominated as having successful programs, provide useful learnings for the VET sector.

Findings include:

• The number of students in VET for secondary school students has ranged from about 230,000 to 260,000 over the past 10 years
• During this period, Certificate II qualifications have been the most popular qualification (131, 220 students in 2020), followed by Certificate III (88,720 in 2020) and Certificate I (12,520 in 2020)
• School-based apprentices and trainees represent a small proportion (7.4% in 2020) of VET students with the most common in business services, retail services and tourism, travel and hospitality

Feedback sought from students and parents sheds light on how decisions for students to undertake a VET course were informed including:

• 41.1% of students surveyed planned to achieve an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) on completion of Year 12
• Of these, 68.4% intended to count their VET studies towards their ATAR
• 64.5% of students surveyed said one of the reasons for doing VET was "to get a qualification"; 49.8% said it was "to help them get a full-time job when leaving school"; 45% said it was "to be able to use the facilities, equipment and materials that are available in the course"
• 70.6% of students had decided to enrol in the VET course themselves
• 77.5% indicated that they had "always wanted to learn the skills and knowledge" in the course they had chosen, followed by "I want to get a job in this industry" (52.8%)
• 59.7% of the students surveyed described their aspiration for their final year of schooling as being "to complete Year 12 and obtain their Senior Secondary Certificate of Education", while for 27.7% it was "to achieve an ATAR"
• For 60.6% of the students, what best described their post-school aspirations was to undertake further education or training, followed by gaining full-time/part-time or casual employment (28.6%)
• The majority of parents surveyed (79%) had encouraged their child to enrol in a VET course while at school, with most reporting they had received sufficient information to inform their decision

Download full report