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In recent years, vocational education and training programs have been introduced into senior secondary schools, increasing the focus on workplace experience and workplace learning. This research, funded by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA) forms part of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY), studying the progress of several groups of young Australians as they move from school into post-secondary education and/or work. The report examines the extent of students' participation in work experience, school-industry and other workplace learning programs and contrasts students' beliefs about the value of their experiences in part-time jobs compared to work experience. It provides current national estimates of the number of Year 10 and Year 11 students participating in work experience and workplace learning programs and analyses participation by state, influence of background factors, the role of and participation in workplace learning programs and covers the outcomes of workplace learning programs.

The increasing emphasise on and expansion of education and the importance of qualifications raises the issue of what happens to those who do not complete their secondary school education. This report, focusing on early school leaving in Australia forms part of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) research program. It focuses on students who leave school before the beginning of Year 11. The first part of the paper examines the social and demographic characteristics of early school leavers. The second part reports on the reasons for early school leaving and the third part of the study compares school leaving with social background, demographic, social and attitudinal factors. It also focuses on the effect of individual schools on early school leaving. The final section of the study examines the post-school activities of early school leavers focusing on their labour force participation.

Failure to attain basic skills of literacy and numeracy is a major educational and social issue. This report investigates the relationships between school achievement at the age of 14 years, social background and labour market outcomes at 19 years of age. It uses longitudinal data from the Australian Youth Survey to examine outcomes such as patterns of employment (and unemployment), income and post-secondary education and training. The study found strong relationships between reading comprehension and numeracy achievement at age 14 and the likelihood of completing school, entering university and employment status at age 19. It also affected the type of work and pay young people have at age 19.

This report forms part of the research program Longitudinal surveys of Australian youth (LSAY), conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and financially supported by the Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DEETYA).

The Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) project studies the progress of several groups of young Australians as they move from school into post-secondary education and/or work. The oldest group in the project was born in 1961 while the youngest were in Year 9 in 1995. Issues investigated in the LSAY project include school achievement and school completion, students in part-time work and employment and unemployment levels. This publication investigates issues concerning participation by young people in education and training in Australia. It presents results on the patterns and processes of educational participation for four national cohorts of young Australians in terms of the completion of Year 12, entry to higher education from Year 12, participation in higher education, participation in a TAFE course (excluding apprenticeships and traineeships), participation in an apprenticeship or traineeship and participation in any form of post-school education and training. Patterns of educational participation by age nineteen are examined for each of the socioeconomic categories. There is a well-established body of literature concerning the link between the knowledge and skills that education and training can provide, the economic returns for the individuals, productivity for business and economic well-being of the nation. Individuals with higher levels of education are more likely to participate in the labour market and less likely to be unemployed. Areas of analysis include estimates of participation in education and training, factors affecting changes in educational participation, equity, subgroups and statistics, gender differences, social, educational and economic origins, ethnicity and rural and urban students. It also provides analysis of the differences among states, public and private schools, as well as comprehensive statistics and tables.