The number of people enrolled in government-funded training declined 10.7% to 1.6 million students in 2015 compared with 2014, according to the latest data released by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER).
Government-funded students and courses 2015 provides a snapshot of government-funded training activity, which is broadly defined as all training delivered by government providers and government-funded activity delivered by community education and other registered providers.
In terms of participation, one in ten of working aged people (aged 15 to 64 years) undertook government-funded vocational education and training (VET) in Australia in 2015.
“While there have been state and territory increases and decreases in enrolments in government-funded training between 2011 and 2015, the overall national trend shows a decline with fewer enrolments last year than in 2011”, said Dr Craig Fowler, Managing Director, NCVER.
Of the 1.6 million students in government-funded training last year:
- 1.2 million were Commonwealth or state-funded students
- 373 100 were fee-for-service students at TAFE and other government providers (where the training was paid for by the student or an employer).
Comparing 2015 with 2014, subject enrolments declined by 9.4% to 14.4 million subjects and hours of delivery and full-year training equivalents both decreased by 13.7%.
Of the students who undertook government-funded VET in 2015:
- 42.3% were aged between 15 and 24 years
- 52.7% were male
- 82.1% studied part-time.
Copies of Australian vocational education and training statistics: Government-funded students and courses 2015, are available from www.ncver.edu.au/publications/2872.html. An infographic is also available from NCVER’s Portal.
This work has been produced by NCVER on behalf of the Australian Government and state and territory governments, with funding provided through the Department of Education and Training.
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