The number of students enrolled in the national public vocational education and training (VET) system increased for the fourth consecutive year in 2011 to 1.9 million students, an increase of 4.6% from 2010.
Released by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), Australian vocational education and training statistics: Students and courses 2011 – preliminary data provides a snapshot of training activity taken from the annual collection of student enrolments.
Student numbers increased in most states and territories, with the greatest increases reported in Victoria (14.8%), Northern Territory (1.5%) and Western Australia (1.1%).
Compared with 2010, the largest increases in student numbers occurred in Victoria (77 000 more students) and New South Wales (3 500 more students) and Queensland (2 800 more students).
The largest increase in student numbers occurred in qualifications at Certificate III and higher: Certificate III (9.9%), Certificate IV (20.4%) and Diploma or higher (12.7%).
Hours of delivery and full-year training equivalents in 2011 also increased by 8.6% nationally.
NCVER will release detailed data on training activity in July this year.
Copies of Australian vocational education and training statistics: Students and courses 2011 – preliminary data are available from www.ncver.edu.au/publications/2504.html
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