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VET Student Outcomes 2025 is published in a new and more accessible format. Users can now download visualisations and expanded data for each chart, toggle between charts and tables, and access more time-series data.
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Purpose
This publication provides a summary of the outcomes and satisfaction of students who undertook nationally recognised vocational education and training (VET) delivered by registered training organisations (RTOs) in Australia during 2024. The figures are derived from the National Student Outcomes Survey, which is an annual survey of students who undertook VET in Australia during the previous calendar year. The 2025 results are based on the responses of 276,304 VET students collected between June and August 2025.The report presents findings from four student groups:
- Qualification completers - who undertook and successfully completed a qualification
- Qualification part-completers - who completed part of but not the full qualification
- Short course students - who undertook a training package skill set or accredited course
- Subject(s) only completers - who completed one or more subjects not delivered as part of a nationally recognised program.
Report
Main reason for training
Nearly three-quarters of qualification completers (73.1%) and part-completers (72.9%) undertook their training for employment related reasons. The most common main reason for training for these students was to ‘to get a job’, at 24.1% and 20.9% respectively.More than 8 in 10 short-course students (83.4%) and subject(s) only completers (87.1%) undertook training for employment related reasons. The most common main reason for training for these students was because it was a requirement of their job, at 41.2% and 52.4% respectively.
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A graph listing reported main reasons for undertaking training, for 2025 and 2024. Reasons are sorted by most commonly reported in 2025. The length of bars indicates how frequently they were reported.
Achieving their main reason varies by why they undertook the training. Qualification completers and part-completers who undertook their training for personal reasons were more likely to achieve their reason for training compared with those who undertook training for employment or training reasons. For short-course students and subject only completers, over 90% of those who undertook training for employment related reasons achieved this reason.
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A graph showing the proportion of students in each group that achieved the main reason for doing the training. For each group, results from 2021 to 2025 are shown for comparison.
Outcomes of the training
Improved employment status is a composite outcome capturing whether a student reported being employed after training when they were not employed beforehand, whether they received at least one job-related benefit, or whether they were employed at a higher skill level following the training.
The proportion of qualification completers reporting an improved employment status decreased from 2024 by 2.0 percentage points to 62.4%. The trend is similar for all student groups.
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A graph showing the proportion of students in each group that reported improved employment outcomes. For each group, results from 2021 to 2025 are shown for comparison.
Compared to 2024, the rate of students’ reporting an improved employment status after training went down across most priority cohorts in 2025.
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A graph showing the proportion of students in selected priority cohorts that reported improved employment outcomes.
Those who completed a qualification in ‘Electrotechnology’ (76.7%), ‘Construction, Plumbing & Services Integrated Framework’ (73.9%) and ‘Automotive Industry Retail, Service and Repair’ (72.6%) were more likely than those who completed other training packages to have improved their employment status. The trend is similar for qualification part-completers.
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A graph showing the proportion of students in selected training packages that reported improved employment outcomes. The 10 most popular training packages are shown, according to the number of program enrolments in 2024.
Of those employed after training, the most commonly cited job-related benefit for all student groups was gaining extra skills for their job.
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A graph showing the job-related benefits of undertaking training, as reported by the selected student group. Benefits are sorted from most commonyl reported to least, with the length of the bars indicating how frequently each was reported.
Nearly a third (32.6%) of those who completed a qualification went on to undertake further study, a slight decrease from 2024. For those who partially completed a qualification, nearly a quarter (23.2%) commenced further study, similar to 2024.
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A graph showing the proportion of students in each group that reported undertaking further study after training. For each group, results from 2021 to 2025 are shown for comparison.
Satisfaction with the training
Overall satisfaction with training among qualification part-completers decreased from 2024 by 2.4 percentage points to 75.4%, but generally satisfaction remains high with around 9 in 10 students satisfied overall.
Students are generally likely to recommend their training providers, with 85% or more of students from most student groups stating they would recommend their training. Qualification part-completers also reported strong recommendation rates, though at a lower level (73.8%). Qualification part-completers reported the lowest rates across all satisfaction measures.
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A graph showing the proportion of students in each group that reported satisfaction with the training. For each group, results from 2021 to 2025 are shown for comparison.
Part-completion
This section reports on reasons for partial completion of a qualification or short course. Only a small proportion of the short-course students did not complete their full course (3.1%). They are referred to as short course part-completers in this section.
Personal reasons were the most common reason for discontinuing training, for both qualification and short course part-completers. The most cited personal reasons were illness or health related, having too many pressures on their time, and family reasons. Nearly a tenth of students discontinued their training as they got what they wanted from it.
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A graph showing the reasons for discontinuing training, for 2025. The length of bars indicates how frequently each reason was reported, and reasons are sorted from most commonly reported in 2025 to least.
Students who did not complete their training were asked what changes were needed to encourage completion. Various training-related reasons were specified by 38.4% of qualification part-completers and 37.4% of short course part-completers, namely better support, flexibility and workload.
On the other hand, 17.3% of qualification part-completers and 22.6% of short course part-completers reported there was nothing that could have changed to encourage their completion.
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A graph showing the main change students would need to encourage completion. The length of bars indicates how frequently each chagne was reported, and changes are sorted from most commonly reported to least.
© Commonwealth of Australia, 2025
For details and exceptions visit the NCVER Portal.
This document should be attributed as NCVER 2025, VET student outcomes 2025, NCVER, Adelaide.
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 Employment and Workplace Relations.
The views and opinions expressed in this document are those of NCVER and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government or state and territory governments.
- ISSN
- 1837-1477
- TD/TNC
- 162.06
Published by NCVER, ABN 87 007 967 311
DataBuilder
The DataBuilder provides extensive data on students’ satisfaction with training, reasons for training, and their employment and further study outcomes. Users can filter by a selection of variables (including by state or territory), view the margins of error (to determine the amount of certainty/error in survey estimates) and export their results:
DataBuilder: VET student outcomes 2025
DataBuilder: Government-funded student outcomes 2025
The figures in this product are derived from the National Student Outcomes Survey, which is an annual survey of students who completed their vocational education and training (VET) in Australia during the previous calendar year.
Data dictionary
The National Student Outcomes Survey 2025: data dictionary is designed to assist users of unit record files (URFs) to understand the variables in the 2025 survey. Information is also included on the 2016 to 2024 surveys. This data dictionary is provided in an online format and includes a search function and print options to help you find and export information. The information is presented across three different views (data element name, variable name and topic) to suit the needs of various users.