Young people's intentions to pursue post-school study established in secondary school.
This paper discusses how a 'gap-taker' can be defined, noting that gap-taking is not the same as deferral.
This briefing paper explores the link between wellbeing and the stages of transition of participants from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) from 1995 to 2006. The paper also examines trends in the physical, emotional and psychological health of young people. The report finds that, although young people are generally disability-free, there are some concerning trends in their wellbeing over time. Notable changes in life satisfaction ratings of young people are also observed during the transition process and coincide with different milestones at different stages.
This briefing paper draws on two prominent social capital frameworks to investigate how the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) can be used to investigate social capital and youth transitions. It also explores the impact of social capital on the educational and social outcomes of young people by looking at international studies as well as related research that makes use of LSAY data.
Achieving the transition to adulthood is not straightforward. This briefing paper defines a successful youth transition based on previous research and considers a range of factors that affect transitions. A number of interventions which can help young people make a successful youth transition are also discussed.
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.
This briefing paper considers how young people fared in previous downturns, and discusses how structural labour market changes over the past 20 years have affected the three million young Australians aged between 15 and 24 in the first 12 months of the most recent economic downturn. It also looks at the qualitative evidence from respondents in the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) on how they perceived the economic downturn to have affected their work and study intentions in 2009, and explores the themes arising.
This briefing paper draws on existing research on 'at risk' youth and some primary data analysis to consider whether being at risk is a permanent or transitory state. Generally, those considered to be at risk fall into three categories: those who are disengaged from full-time education or full-time employment, those who are unemployed, and those who did not complete their senior secondary education. This paper suggests that rather than counting the numbers of young people at risk, we should instead turn our attention to young people who remain detached from work, study or meaningful activities for extended periods.
Using data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY), this briefing paper explores the impact of literacy and numeracy levels on the educational gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth. The paper focuses on the early post-school outcomes of Indigenous and non-Indigenous young people between 1999 and 2007. Raising the levels of literacy and numeracy for Indigenous youth would help to improve some of their educational outcomes. However, many Indigenous young people face multiple disadvantages, such as poor access to post-school education and poor health, in addition to low literacy and numeracy levels, which subsequently affect their outcomes.
This briefing paper assesses the effect VET in Schools programs have on school retention, post-school vocational education and training (VET) and employment, and on young people's school and post-school aspirations. VET in Schools programs are seen as a way to increase Year 12 retention through broadening subject choices in the school curriculum. Research based on the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth suggest that, while participation in these programs has positive effects on attitudes to and satisfaction with school, it does not necessarily lead to increased Year 12 retention. However, participation in VET in Schools can influence a small group of students, who are intent on getting a job straight after school, to change their post-school plans to include further VET study or an apprenticeship or traineeship.
This briefing paper draws on findings from several LSAY Research Reports (5, 27, 31, 33 and 41) which report on how student attitudes and engagement in the formative school years influence subsequent participation in post-compulsory education and training. Data is used from two LSAY cohorts: students who were in Year 9 in 1995, and students who were in Year 9 in 1998. Attitudes to school in the LSAY program are based on student responses to a set of 30 items, and intentions to further study are recorded in Year 9. This paper, published by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), is part of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) research program.
This briefing paper draws together findings from two LSAY (Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth) research reports: 'Participation in and progress through New Apprenticeships'; and the 'VET pathways taken by school leavers'. These two reports use data obtained from young people who were in Year 9 at school in 1995 and whose educational and occupational activities were traced each year thereafter. Student characteristics, fields of training, commencement and completion rates, and reasons for discontinuing are all explored. This paper, published by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), is part of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth research program.
This briefing paper presents information about the initial tertiary education experiences, such as satisfaction with aspects of student life and changes to initial enrolments, of two groups of young people, based on two recent LSAY research reports. One study focussed on the first year experiences of a group of young people who completed Year 12 in 2001 and entered tertiary education (university and TAFE) the following year. In this study, TAFE students who were enrolled in traineeships or apprenticeships were excluded from the analyses. The second study examined course changes and attrition from university study among a group of young people who completed Year 12 in 1998 and entered university in 1999 or 2000. Their experiences of university study were analysed up until the end of 2001, that is, during their first two years of study. Briefing paper no.14 This paper, published by the Australian Council for Educational Reasearch (ACER), is part of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) research program.
This briefing paper looks at participation in VET in Schools programs by members of three groups of young people who have been part of LSAY since 1995, when VET in Schools offerings experienced sustained growth. The first group comprises young people who were in Year 9 in 1995 and included vocational education and training (VET) subjects as part of their Year 11 or Year 12 studies in 1997 and 1998. The second group comprises young people who were in Year 9 in 1998 and included VET subjects as part of their senior secondary studies in 2000 and 2001. Both of these groups participated in VET in Schools while the program was still developing and have provided valuable data on their post-school pathways. The third group included in this briefing paper were 15 years old in 2003. At the time, some were in Year 11, but most were in Year 11 in 2004. For this group, data are available for Year 11 only. The three cohorts provide an opportunity to examine changes in participation in VET in Schools between 1997 and 2004 and their outcomes. Briefing paper no.15 This paper, published by the Australian Council for Educational Reasearch (ACER), is part of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) research program.
The data for this briefing paper are from the 1995 cohort of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY). The findings reported here are from three recent LSAY research reports, which are listed at the end of this briefing paper. The cohort comprises young people who were in Year 9 at school in 1995. Data in this briefing paper have been collected annually to 2005. This briefing paper concentrates on those who undertook an apprenticeship or traineeship after leaving school, or enrolled for non-apprenticeship study at a TAFE institution or a private VET provider. Briefing paper no.17 This paper, published by the Australian Council for Educational Reasearch (ACER), is part of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) research program.
This briefing paper provides a summary of students' experiences at school and their attitudes and perceptions of these experiences at ages 15 and 16. It is based on information obtained in both years from these young people who participated in PISA in 2003 and who are now part of the LSAY 2003 cohort. Table 1 shows the distribution, by year level, of the cohort in both 2003 and 2004. Briefing paper no.16 This paper, published by the Australian Council for Educational Reasearch (ACER), is part of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) research program.
The data for this briefing paper were collected from two LSAY cohorts: the Year 9 class of 1995 and the Year 9 class of 1998. Information on the education and labour market activities of these groups has been collected annually. The findings reported here follow the experiences of university entrants from these groups up to age 23. The findings are discussed in further detail in three recent LSAY research reports on the first year experience (Hillman, 2005), university completion (Marks, 2007) and unmet demand (Marks, 2005). Earlier LSAY research, based upon previous groups of young people followed over longer periods of time, are also used. Briefing paper no.18 This paper, published by the Australian Council for Educational Reasearch (ACER), is part of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) research program.