Total VET students and courses 2025

Introduction

This publication provides data and insights on nationally recognised vocational education and training (VET), delivered by Australian registered training organisations (RTOs), to domestic and international students.

Report

Students undertaking VET

In 2025, 5.1 million domestic and international students were enrolled in nationally recognised vocational education and training (VET), continuing the growth observed in recent years, with a slight increase of 1,585 students compared with 2024.

Whilst the number of domestic students aged 15 to 64 years increased slightly in 2025, the domestic VET participation rate for these students declined marginally to 26.4%, reflecting population growth outpacing increases in domestic student numbers.

Nationally, there were changes to the mix of students undertaking training.

Growth in VET was concentrated among younger students, including those in school, as well as students from regional and remote areas, students with a disability and First Nations students.

At the same time, the number of full-time students and female students undertaking VET declined.

These changes were influenced by shifts in the type of training undertaken. The number of students undertaking qualifications declined by 108,360, whereas there were increases in students engaged in short courses and stand-alone subjects.

Students in qualifications declined but increased in short courses and stand-alone subjects.

In 2025, 38.6% of students were in qualifications (down 5.2% to 1,982,745), 4.4% in short courses (up 3.5% to 228,395) and 71.1% in stand-alone subjects (up 1.7% to 3,656,585).

The number of students in qualifications declined across most provider types, down 11.0% for community education providers, 7.1% for TAFE institutes and 5.5% for private training providers.

Student numbers in stand-alone subjects have been increasing since 2015, except for a brief decline in 2020. This growth corresponds with an increase in students at private training providers. A similar trend is evident for short courses, although there were far fewer students in this type of training.

Despite some shifts in the types of training being undertaken, the majority of TAFE students continue to engage in qualifications (87.3%), whereas those with a private training provider or community education provider were largely enrolled in stand-alone subjects (77.7% and 88.2% respectively).

For more information on training providers, including the number across states and territories, see TVA Fact Sheet: Training providers.

The mix of training activity continued to shift across funding markets.

Australian RTOs deliver nationally recognised training to both domestic and international students. In 2025, compared with 2024:

    • government-funded students decreased by 5.8% to 1.2 million

    • domestic fee-for-service students increased by 1.4% to 4.1 million

    • international fee-for-service students decreased by 4.6% to 282,785.

These changes were accompanied by a shift in the type of training undertaken. Qualification enrolments declined across all three funding markets, while student numbers in stand-alone subjects increased across all three markets. Students engaged in short courses increased in both the fee-for-service markets, but declined in government-funded training.

Qualification enrolments

Both government-funded and fee-for-service qualification enrolments have decreased.

In 2025, there were 2.5 million qualification enrolments, down 5.9% from 2024. These enrolments comprised:

    • 1,395,225 government-funded qualification enrolments (down 6.6%)

    • 783,040 domestic fee-for-service qualification enrolments (down 4.7%)

    • 361,015 international fee-for-service qualification enrolments (down 5.6%).

The overall decline in qualification enrolments was largely driven by a decrease in Certificate III and Certificate IV enrolments, particularly among government-funded qualifications.

Fewer qualification enrolments are from new commencements than a decade ago.

Commencing qualifications accounted for 61.2% of total qualification enrolments in 2025, a decline of 2.3 percentage points from their share in 2024. The number of commencing enrolments decreased across all three markets.

In contrast, the share of continuing enrolments increased across all markets. However trends in continuing enrolment numbers varied by funding source, with decreases in government-funded enrolments, and increases for both domestic and international fee-for-service funding.

Qualification enrolments vary by field of education and funding source.

The highest number of qualification enrolments in 2025 was in Management and Commerce (508,890 enrolments), followed by Society and Culture (445,800 enrolments) and Engineering and Related Technologies (424,570 enrolments).

Architecture and Building was the only field of education to have an overall increase in qualification enrolments in 2025, with 13,975 more than in 2024. This was due to an increase in both domestic and international fee-for-service enrolments.

While government-funded qualification enrolments declined across all fields of education, domestic fee-for-service enrolments increased in Management and Commerce, Architecture and Building, Information Technology, and Natural and Physical Sciences.

The top ten training packages differed by funding type.

Community Services remained the largest training package overall in 2025, with 403,875 qualification enrolments. Despite this, enrolments declined across all three funding types compared with 2024.

Among the top ten training packages overall, enrolments increased for Construction, Plumbing & Services Integrated Framework (up 12,945 enrolments or 7.0%), Electrotechnology (up 6,610 or 7.8%) and Sport, Fitness and Recreation (up 3,075 enrolments or 2.7%).

Within the domestic fee-for-service market, half of the top ten training packages recorded increases in qualification enrolments. The largest increases in absolute numbers were for Business Services (up 4,640 enrolments or 4.4%) and Financial Services (up 4,520 enrolments or 14.8%).

Within the government-funded market, three of the top ten training packages recorded increases in qualification enrolments, with the largest being in Electrotechnology (up 5,820 enrolments or 7.9%).

International fee-for-service qualification enrolments in Construction, Plumbing and Services Integrated Framework increased by 64.7% (or 12,590 enrolments) from 2024.

Short course enrolments

In 2025, there were 264,905 short course enrolments, an increase of 2,990 enrolments (or 1.1%) from 2024.

Since 2021, participation in short courses among domestic fee-for-service students has increased pronouncedly, with 81,505 (or 63.7%) more enrolments during that time, and 29,340 (or 16.3%) more since 2024.

In contrast, government-funded short course enrolments remain comparatively low. However, this likely reflects government priorities, where Certificate III or higher qualifications were historically prioritised in agreements such as the National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development.

The type of short course undertaken varies by funding source.

Fee-for-service short courses are predominantly focused on workplace compliance and regulatory requirements, such as responsible service of alcohol, first aid, and workplace safety. Significant growth can be seen in domestic fee-for-service activity in the Responsible service of alcohol (SITSS00071) skill set (increasing 253.4% to 43,630 enrolments in 2025). This coincides with a corresponding decrease of 43,480 enrolments in the stand-alone subject Provide responsible service of alcohol (SITHFAB021) for all funding sources (see figure 12). This suggests the shift reflects a move from stand‑alone subjects to skill set enrolments for Responsible service of alcohol training, rather than an overall increase in participation.

In contrast, government-funded short courses are more likely to be foundation-level courses, designed to provide learners with the basic knowledge and skills needed to progress to higher-level training. Significant growth can be seen in government-funded courses in English as an Additional Language (EAL), with the top two EAL courses increasing by 12,160 enrolments or 76.4% from 2024.

Stand-alone subject enrolments

In 2025, there were 9.2 million enrolments in stand-alone subjects, an increase of 268,480 enrolments (or 3.0%) from 2024.

Stand-alone subject activity is predominantly domestic fee-paying, with domestic fee-for-service enrolments generally trending upwards since 2015, increasing by 162.4% over this period.

Stand-alone subject enrolments are largely related to workplace health and safety, covering resuscitation and first aid, and other compliance-based training.

The three most common subjects undertaken in 2025 continue to be those relating to cardiopulmonary resuscitation, first aid and basic emergency life support, comprising 51.9% of all stand-alone subject enrolments. These subjects have increased by 208,465 enrolments (or 4.6%) since 2024.

Program completions

Program completions measure the number of students who complete their training and provide an important indicator of training outcomes. However, not all learners complete a qualification or course, with many leaving after gaining the specific skills or competencies needed for work or further learning.

For information on qualification completion rates, which report on the proportion of a commencing cohort who eventually complete their qualification, refer to  NCVER’s VET qualification completion rates.

In 2025, there were 845,165 qualification completions, down 4.8% from 2024, following strong growth in the year prior. The decline was primarily driven by an 11.3% decrease in domestic fee-for-service qualification completions.

Overall, declines in training package qualifications were mainly within Training and Education (down 43.3%), Community Services (down 16.4%), Property Services (down 13.3%) and Tourism, Travel and Hospitality (down 5.7%). Continued growth can be seen in Electrotechnology (up 18.6%) and Construction and Plumbing (up 15.0%).

In contrast there was strong growth in domestic fee-for-service short course completions, which increased by 32.7%. Training package skill sets accounted for much of this growth, rising by 67.6% from 2024.