In 2021, a higher proportion of international onshore vocational education and training (VET) students who completed a qualification gained employment after training in Australia, compared to 2020.
The latest statistics from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) shows that in mid-2021, 75.5% of international onshore VET qualification completers were employed after training, up 10.8 percentage points from the same period in 2020. A total of 72.8% were employed in Australia, which was 12.2 percentage points higher than in the previous year.
“Employment outcomes have improved for international onshore VET qualification completers. The increase in employment after training was observed for both those who were employed and not employed before their training,” said NCVER Managing Director Simon Walker.
Of those employed before their training, 36.5% got a better job after training (up 10.0 percentage points from 2020) and 14.5% were employed at a higher skill level (up 3.2 percentage points from 2020). Overall, 64.1% of international onshore VET qualification completers had an improved employment status after training, which was an increase of 10.5 percentage points from 2020.
Satisfaction was also high, with 85.4% indicating that they were satisfied with their training overall (up 1.7 percentage points from 2020). The top two cited reasons for enrolling in a VET qualification in Australia were to develop or start their own business and to improve their general education skills. In all, 88.9% achieved their main reason for training.
For qualification completers who looked for work at some stage after training, 89.3% reported facing at least one barrier. The most commonly cited barrier was with lack of jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic (51.1%), down 9.6 percentage points from 2020.
“Similar to the experience of domestic students, the COVID-19 pandemic also impacted the training experience of international VET students. A total of 84.4% of international onshore VET qualification completers had some or all of their training shift online while over half (53.2%) faced at least one challenge with their online learning experience. Further, of the 61% who undertook a work placement, 43.6% had their work placement delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” stated Mr Walker.
Background:
The report Australian vocational education and training statistics: international onshore VET qualification completer outcomes 2021 provides a summary of the outcomes of international students who completed their VET qualification in Australia in 2020. It uses data collected in mid-2021, with 14 574 international onshore VET qualification completers responding to the survey.
The report is available from https://www.ncver.edu.au/research-and-statistics/publications
Enquiries: Mariane Umali M: 0406 824 184 E: marianeumali@ncver.edu.au
About NCVER: we are the main provider of research, statistics and data on Australia’s VET sector. Our services help promote better understanding of VET and assist policy makers, practitioners, industry, training providers, and students to make informed decisions.
This work has been produced by NCVER on behalf of the Australian Government and state and territory governments, with funding provided through the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment.