The distinction between VET and higher education in Australia is blurring. The purpose of this paper is to examine – through the conduct of a case study of engineering qualifications (AQF6) delivered in Victoria – how education and training providers and students are likely to respond to different fees and funding arrangements under the student entitlement model.
Using data from the 2009 Student Outcomes Survey, this report looks at the pay-offs of completing of a vocational education and training (VET) qualification on a range of outcomes, and identifies the groups for whom completion is particularly important.
This report compares the outcomes for young people who complete certificate I or certificate II qualifications with the outcomes for similar individuals who are not participating in post-school education and training, using data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth.
This paper quantifies the impact of different dimensions of socioeconomic disadvantage on Year 12 completion.
This paper discusses how a 'gap-taker' can be defined, noting that gap-taking is not the same as deferral.
The Student Outcomes Survey is an annual national survey of vocational education and training (VET) students. Since 1995, participants have been asked to rate their satisfaction with different aspects of their training, grouped under three main themes: teaching, assessment, and general skills and learning experiences. In this paper we review and compare three different methods of creating summary measures — Rasch analysis, weighted means and simple means — that encapsulate the three main themes of student satisfaction. We find that all three methods yield similar results and so recommend using the simple means method to create the summary measures.
Mental illness can be particularly disruptive to education and training outcomes. This report explores the factors that contribute to successful course completion for students with a mental illness, with a particular focus on the role of disclosure.
This Community of Practice paper seeks to determine whether peer-to-peer mentoring is a successful way of transferring skills and knowledge between music students at Nirimba College. The study comprised an eight-week mentoring trial and several surveys and interviews with the group of music students who participated in the mentoring trial. The aim of the research was to find out the students' perspectives on TAFE music teaching and learning, their attitudes towards music and their own career goals, as well as their thoughts on the mentoring trial.
This publication presents information about students’ intentions to complete a vocational education and training (VET) course.
In this report the authors seek to answer the question of whether combining school and work is detrimental or beneficial to a student's school educational performance and labour market outcomes. They find that young people who combine school and work are distributed right across the school population. Results show that individuals can combine school and work with minimal impact on their study if the hours are modest and those working longer hours show a stronger orientation towards work than study. The authors used data from the 2003 cohort (Y03) of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth.
In this paper, the authors identify various educational paths involving school and post-school study and assess the effectivness of these in relation to post-school outcomes at age 25 years. They use the 1995 cohort of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth and find that, for males, undertaking an apprenticeship after completing senior secondary and university are attractive paths. For females, the best path is that of university study, even for those with low academic orientation.
The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) commissioned the Nous Group (Nous) to undertake a stakeholder consultation to inform a detailed business case for a unique student identifier (USI) for the vocational education and training (VET) sector. During May and June 2011, Nous interviewed 30 key stakeholders in several jurisdictions to obtain a cross-section of views and also received 850 responses to a survey of VET students in New South Wales.textThis summary report provides an overview of feedback received through this consultation.textSee related items for discussion paper.
The Nous Consulting Group was engaged by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), on behalf of the Data and Performance Measurement Committee of the Ministerial Council for Training, Education and Employment, to conduct stakeholder consultations on the possible introduction of a unique student identifier (USI) for the vocational education and training (VET) sector.textThis paper provides stakeholders with a further opportunity to comment on the introduction of a USI for the VET sector after the completion of the recent formal consultation.textAny comments should be sent to: by 31 August 2011textSee related items for public consultation report.
This report looks at what factors influence the participation of low-skilled and low-paid workers in vocational education and training. Information comes from students, employers, employees and providers in the retail, food-processing and non-residential aged care sectors across four Australian states. It finds that although barriers to training do include lack of money and time to study, many of the challenges related to integrating work, home life, community interests and study. The main driver of training is the need to gain or retain a job, and the costs of participation are high as far as time, money and effort goes. For low-paid workers the financial rewards for training are low.
In this interview, Steve Davis talks with researcher Cain Polidano about the report 'Outcomes from combining work and tertiary study'. This study investigates the motivations for and the education and employment outcomes from working while studying for both VET and higher education students. While, in general, tertiary students who work while studying are less likely to complete than those who do not, being employed in the final year of study significantly improves the chances of finding full time employment in the first year following study.
In this position paper, NCVER's Managing Director, Dr Tom Karmel, argues that the submission of vocational education and training student data should be mandated as a condition of registration for all registered training organisations, including private providers. This will ensure a comprehensive data collection that gives a realistic view of training activity occurring within the sector, which is essential for informing public policy, ensuring quality assurance and providing accurate information to potential students. However, he notes that the process needs to be as painless as possible.
The learning preferences of part-time agriculture students at the Western Sydney Institute of TAFE are the focus of this paper. The ability for providers to offer students flexible attendance patterns and hands-on practical training allied with a balance of alternative course delivery options may improve access and increase student numbers. The research was funded through the NCVER's Building Researcher Capacity initiative and was undertaken by a novice researcher in the Community of Practice Scholarship Program.
This report looks at the potential use of information from the Student Outcomes Survey, including the use of student course satisfaction information and post-study outcomes, as a means of determining markers of training quality.
Research messages 2010 is a collection of summaries of research projects published by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). The summaries are clustered under five broad themes used by NCVER to organise its research and analysis: Industry and employers; Students and individuals; Teaching and learning: VET system; and VET in context. Research messages 2010 also has an overview essay that captures the themes and highlights from the research for the year.
This study, which defines the lowering of educational or occupational ambitions by high school students as 'lost talent', looks at the extent to which talent loss occurs among high achieving students and the consequences of this on later occupational attainments.