Second-chance vocational education and training

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which vocational education and training (VET) is providing individuals with a second chance in education. 'Second chance VET' refers to opportunities in education taken by individuals who have not followed the conventional academic pathway of school completion followed by post-school study. Two groups are looked at. The first group consists of young early school leavers aged up to and including 24 years who have not completed a non-school qualification. The second group consists of adults aged 25 years and over who have not completed a non-school qualification. The paper examines three research questions: (1) How important is second-chance education within the VET sector?; (2) What proportion of the relevant population avails themselves of the opportunity?; (3) What are the outcomes of those who do undertake second-chance education? The study found that: the percentage of VET students who can be characterised as second chance is very substantial (41% of publicly funded VET students in 2004); females access second-chance VET at higher rates than males; second-chance students enrolled in VET are less likely to undertake higher-level qualifications (certificate IV and higher) compared with other students enrolled in VET; and the percentage of the second-chance population actually completing an award is low, in particular for the completion of VET qualifications at certificate III or higher. Show less