Traineeship completion: comparing school-based and post-school provision in Australia

The impact of VET in Schools on transition outcomes is currently receiving considerable policy attention in Australia. Almost 50 per cent of Australian senior secondary students participate in VET in Schools, either by taking VET subjects, engaging in structured workplace learning, or enrolling in school-based apprenticeships and traineeships. School-based traineeships are of particular interest because these relatively compact programs contribute to a senior secondary certificate, provide students with considerable workplace exposure and lead to qualifications recognised under the...  [+] Show more

The impact of VET in Schools on transition outcomes is currently receiving considerable policy attention in Australia. Almost 50 per cent of Australian senior secondary students participate in VET in Schools, either by taking VET subjects, engaging in structured workplace learning, or enrolling in school-based apprenticeships and traineeships. School-based traineeships are of particular interest because these relatively compact programs contribute to a senior secondary certificate, provide students with considerable workplace exposure and lead to qualifications recognised under the Australian Qualifications Framework. What has remained unclear is whether school-based traineeships have a positive impact on training completion compared with post-school workplace-based traineeships. While there is much support for VET in Schools programs, the effectiveness of school-based compared with post-school vocational programs is of policy interest as school-based VET programs have been criticised as not leading to productive employment outcomes.

This paper uses data from the Apprentice and Trainee Destinations Survey, administered by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research, to examine whether students who commence a school-based traineeship exhibit higher completion rates when compared to similar young people who undertake a traineeship post-school. We find that school-based traineeships have higher completion rates than post-school traineeships, especially for females.

Published abstract.