Student progression in VET in Western Australia

This report aims to provide a survey of student progression patterns at the course and module/unit of competence level in vocational education and training (VET) in Western Australia (WA). It is based on an analysis of all students who have commenced a course with a public provider or with a publicly funded private provider in WA between the years 1998 and 2000. The scope of the analysis covered all VET enrolments, with only adult and community education (ACE) being excluded. The analysis is derived from standard Australian Vocational Education and Training Management Information Statistical Standard (AVETMISS) statistics.

The key findings, based on a comprehensive scope of analysis, suggest the following implications: (1) there is some question whether the VET system has given sufficient recognition to the fact that only a small proportion of enrolments lead to course graduation; (2) while course graduation patterns for apprentices and trainees can be improved further, the research indicates that they are sigificantly better than or comparable to (respectively) other modes of training; (3) there are indications that the significant number of full-time students who leave their course early without completing any modules reflects an inadequate ‘fit’ between the course and the student’s aspirations (rather than any deficiency in the course per se). Show less