Australian Qualifications Framework lower-level qualifications: Outcomes for people over 25

This report investigates the outcomes of lower-level vocational qualifications (certificates I and II) for people aged 25–44 (prime-aged) and for those over 45 (mature-aged). Certificate I and II qualifications comprised about 30% of all nationally accredited course enrolments, and a little under a quarter of training hours, for people aged 25 years and over in 2002.

The findings indicate that there were no substantial vocational and further study outcomes for prime- and mature-aged people who had undertaken certificate I and II qualifications.

• Employment-related reasons were the main motivation for undertaking these courses. Very low proportions indicated further study as a motivation.
• Rates of completing courses at certificate I and II levels were low. It was projected that about a quarter of those who enrolled in certificate I courses will eventually complete a course, with between a quarter and 30% of those enrolled in certificate II courses completing. People who had undertaken preparatory courses were estimated to have even lower rates of completion. Interestingly, this is despite over a third of the prime-aged, and over one-third of the mature-aged already having a certificate III level or above as their highest prior level of education.
• There was no discernable difference between graduates and subjects-only completers of certificates I and II in terms of gaining employment.
• There were modest career advancement benefits from certificate I and II courses, with full-course completers or graduates more likely to realise these than subjects-only completers. However, the benefits for graduates were less than for the completion of a certificate III. There were also high proportions reporting no job-related benefit from the course. In particular, the large majority of subjects-only completers reported no job-related benefit from the course.
• Study pathways were not a major outcome of certificate I and II courses. Around 30% of graduates and less than 10% of subjects-only completers were estimated to have gone on to further study at a higher level. However, subjects-only completers were estimated to be the large majority of all students, meaning that, overall, only small proportions enrolled in further study at a higher level. Similarly, only small proportions of people who had undertaken preparatory courses enrolled in further study at a higher level.

This report investigates where lower-level qualifications (certificates I and II) lead people in the prime-aged group (25–44) and the mature-aged group (45 years and over). These qualifications provide basic skills that can lead to employment-related outcomes, or they can be used as pathways to further study; they can also provide preparatory skills (for example, job searching skills) which may lead to employment or further study at a later time.

Data were analysed from two of the national data collections held by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). The 2003 Student Outcomes Survey was used to investigate employment-related and further study outcomes as well as motivations for undertaking lower-level qualifications recognised by the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). NCVER’s National Provider Collection (for 2002 and 2003) was used to gain a picture of where certificate I and II qualifications sit in terms of overall enrolments, and also to project rates of completion for these courses; that is, what proportion of students graduate.

Throughout the report, outcomes are analysed for both graduates (full-course completers) and non-graduates (subjects-only completers), for both certificate I and II level programs. Outcomes were also analysed for students who had enrolled in preparatory courses at certificate levels I and II. Where relevant, outcomes from certificate III courses are used to provide comparative ‘benchmark’ data, as this qualification level is considered to be the core of the VET system.

Findings

As context to an examination of the outcomes from certificate I and II courses, we investigated the motivations of prime- and mature-aged students undertaking the courses. Very low proportions (6% or less) stated further study as a motivation; the majority of people stated employment-related reasons, although significant proportions stated personal interest. Within this overall picture we found that full-course completers or graduates were more likely than subjects-only completers to report employment-related reasons for undertaking the course. Furthermore, we found that substantial proportions of graduates and subjects-only completers from these courses (generally over a third of 25 to 44-year-olds and over 40% of the 45-year-olds) already had a certificate III or above as their highest prior level of education.

When we looked at rates of completing courses for both age groups, we found that about a quarter of those who enrolled in certificate I courses are projected to complete. At certificate II level, about 30% in the prime-aged group are projected to complete, with about a quarter in the mature-aged group being projected to complete. This means that the large majority are non-completers (or subjects-only completers), a point to keep in mind when analysing outcomes from the courses.

In our investigation we examined three employment-related outcomes; namely, gaining employment, career advancement, and enrolling as a requirement of the job. Overall, employment-related outcomes from these courses were modest. Firstly, only about 9–10% of graduates not employed before the course were employed after the course. Similarly, small proportions of subjects-only completers not employed before the course gained employment after the course, although they fared no worse than graduates.

When we looked at career advancement (increased earnings, promotion and changed job), we found a modest proportion of graduates (less than 20%) reporting these benefits, with promotion more likely to be reported as a benefit. Only small proportions of subjects-only completers (about 10% or less) reported these benefits. Some students also reported that they had enrolled in the course as a requirement of their job. However, these proportions were not large, with about 12% of graduates and less than 10% of subjects-only completers reporting this reason.

Proportions who reported no job-related benefit from the course were high. About a half of certificate I graduates and over 40% of certificate II graduates reported no job-related benefit, while over 60% of subjects-only completers at both certificate levels reported no employment benefit.

Following our investigation of employment-related outcomes, we looked at the extent to which these courses were being used as pathways to further study. We found that overall about 30% of certificate I and II graduates enrolled in further study at a higher level. However, graduates were estimated to form only about a quarter of all prime- and mature-aged people who had undertaken the courses. By comparison, it was estimated that less than 10% of subjects-only completers enrolled in further study.

Our research also investigated further study outcomes from preparatory courses. These formed a significant proportion of enrolments at certificate I level—about 45%. They also comprised about 10% of all certificate II enrolments. We found that rates of completing these courses were very low, particularly at certificate I level, where only about 17% of students in both the prime- and mature-aged groups are projected to eventually complete a course. This needs to be kept in mind in interpreting further study outcomes.

There were reasonable proportions of graduates from preparatory courses enrolling in further study at a higher level, about a third at certificate I level, and about a quarter at certificate II level. However, it was estimated that, overall, only about 5% of subjects-only completers enrol in further study at a higher level. There were also students who had begun in certificate I and II preparatory courses in 2002 who were still enrolled at the same and/or lower-level courses at the end of 2003 (about 18% at certificate I level and 15% at certificate II level). Nevertheless, we need to keep in mind the nature of preparatory courses, and that there may be short-term benefits, such as increased self-esteem, which may translate into employment and/or further study outcomes at a later time.

Conclusions

Overall, there were no major employment-related or further study outcomes for prime- and mature-aged students who had undertaken certificate I and II courses. In addition, low proportions of students are projected to complete these courses, about a quarter at certificate I level and between a quarter and 30% at certificate II level.

Outcomes in terms of gaining full-time employment after the course for those not employed before the course were quite poor (about 10%). Other employment-related outcomes from the course, such as career advancement or as a requirement of the job, were not major, and this was reflected in the proportions of those who did not report a job-related benefit from the course. A minority of prime- and mature-aged people were estimated to enrol in further study at a higher level (not much more than 10%). Further study outcomes from those enrolled in preparatory-type courses were also not significant.