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Have school vocational education and training programs been successful?
This report investigates whether school vocational education and training
(VET) programs provide successful outcomes for their participants. We
define 'success' in the school context as retention to Year
12, and outside school in terms of full-time engagement with employment
or learning, or part-time employment combined with part-time study. Finally,
we look at whether school VET programs have been successful in establishing
post-school VET pathways.
- Participation in school VET programs was found to have a positive
impact on Year 10 to Year 11 retention but a negative impact on retention
from
Year 11 to Year 12. Overall, these programs had a small negative
impact on retention from Year 10 to Year 12.
- The overall negative effect on retention from Year 10 to Year 12
is larger for boys than girls, for which it is close to zero. The negative
impact is too small to be of any real policy significance. This conclusion
is not altered if the vocational equivalent to Year 12 is included.
- There is a clear positive impact on post-school outcomes for students
who participate in school VET programs in Year 11 but do not go on
to complete Year 12. These gains are more sizeable for girls than boys.
Over time, however, the positive effect is diluted. These gains are
not
seen for those who complete Year 12.
- School VET programs provide a clear vocational pathway for some students,
particularly for boys studying in the areas of building and engineering.
However, for most students the pathway is not so direct. Further, when
comparing students of similar ages, we see different types of vocational
education and training studied in and outside the school environment.
For most students, there is a poor alignment between the types of VET
programs studied at school and the requirements of the world of work
or further study.
- Policy issues to emerge include:
- Should school VET programs be offered
at Year 10 rather than being concentrated at Year 11 and Year
12, given that many students leave
before Year 11?
- Should school VET programs be better aligned
with the world of work or, alternatively, concentrate on broad
pre-vocational skills?
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