Laying the foundations: how foundation skills shape VET student outcomes

This research demonstrates important differences in the characteristics of foundation skills learners in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector and explains how undertaking foundation skills alongside another VET program can improve completions and job-related outcomes. To date, little research has been conducted on the profile and outcomes of foundation skills learners in VET. The findings of this report are therefore timely and relevant for both policymakers and industry stakeholders, as foundation skills are a key priority under the National Skills Agreement and support entry to further education and employment.

This research tracked the educational and job outcomes of each student who undertook at least one of 131 different nationally recognised foundation skills programs in scope over a five-year period from 2016 onward. The research leverages NCVER’s Master Student Longitudinal Construct (MSLC), which tracks VET student activity over time, and the Student Outcomes Survey (SOS), which captures outcomes reported by students.

Who are foundation skills students?

The analyses identified two distinct groups/clusters of foundation skill learners: predominantly Australian-born English-speaking students (non-LOTE cluster, 46.1% of students), and students born elsewhere speaking a language other than English at home (LOTE cluster, 53.9% of students).

On average, over 60,000 domestic students enrolled in one or more of the designated foundation skills programs each year between 2016 and 2023. These students could be split into two clusters. The LOTE cluster tended to be more highly educated, working-age, female and older. These students overwhelmingly undertook foundation skills programs related to spoken and written English. In contrast, the non-LOTE cluster were younger, with a substantial proportion of early school leavers, and more diverse in terms of gender, disability, and geographic location. The non-LOTE cluster participated in a wider range of foundation skills programs, including those focused on employability skills, digital skills, and general language, literacy, numeracy, and digital literacy capabilities.

Most LOTE cluster students exclusively enrolled in foundation skills programs (56.9% of students), and those who took other VET study tended to have commenced their journey with foundation skills. In contrast, most non-LOTE cluster students took both foundation skills and other VET (75.5% of students), typically starting with a non-foundation skills VET program and subsequently enrolling in a foundation skills program. This indicates that LOTE learners may pursue foundation skills as a standalone goal, while non-LOTE learners may more commonly use foundation skills to support their broader VET studies, possibly due to identified gaps in key competencies/skills. Policymakers and VET stakeholders seeking to evaluate foundation skills delivery should therefore consider and incorporate this distinction in the population of foundation skills learners and the types of training they engage in.

Who successfully completes foundation skills programs?

Foundation skills programs consistently showed lower completion rates compared to other VET programs, regardless of student cluster (23.5% versus 47.4%). The likelihood of completing a foundation skills program was influenced by a range of sociodemographic and program delivery characteristics.

Full-time study emerged as the strongest predictor of program completion in both clusters, with full-time students being at least twice as likely to complete compared to part-time students, independent of all other characteristics. Students concurrently undertaking another VET program alongside their foundation skills program were also roughly half as likely to complete their foundation skills program, particularly those who commenced foundation skills only after starting another VET program. This suggests that students may be enrolling in foundation skills programs to support their other VET studies but may not necessarily intend to complete the foundation skills qualification. A focus on completion rates of foundation skills programs alone may therefore lead to erroneous conclusions about their value.

Numerous sociodemographic and program delivery characteristics were analysed. The key factors associated with completing a foundation skills program are listed below, with the percentage increased odds of completing, after statistically controlling for all other characteristics. For VET sector stakeholders, these results indicate the types of students who are more or less likely to complete, which in turn enables more targeted interventions.

Do foundation skills support VET outcomes?

Foundation skills learners were more likely to complete VET programs when undertaking foundation skills study alongside their enrolment by around 1 to 1.8 percentage points and obtain employment by 4.8 to 5.6 percentage points.

LOTE cluster students appeared to generally benefit from any foundation skills experience, whether undertaking this prior to or concurrent with their other VET enrolment, while non-LOTE students primarily benefited from concurrent foundation skills delivery. Using Student Outcomes Survey responses, we find that students who undertake foundation skills concurrently are more likely to report obtaining employment after a VET program by around 4.8 to 5.6 percentage points as opposed to comparable enrolments without foundation skills. The results indicate that, for training providers, ensuring timely foundation skills support for those who need it alongside a VET program can provide the best student benefits overall.

Students who successfully passed all concurrent foundation skills subjects were substantially more likely to complete their VET program, with each additional passed subject appearing to incrementally increase the likelihood of a VET program completion. This finding suggests that subject-level outcomes in foundation skills programs may be important in identifying benefits. For the non-LOTE cluster, failing to pass one or more foundation skills subjects was highly indicative of non-completion in the concurrent VET program enrolment. This finding can help to alert training providers of the need to provide additional support to students to avoid further failure.