Variations in VET provision across Australian schools and their effects on student outcomes

This report aims to develop a school-based typology that captures some of the variation in vocational education and training (VET) provision across Australian schools. The authors construct models of VET provision using information on system-level policies, obtained from state and territory curriculum authorities, and information on school-level delivery derived from a national survey of schools and students. Data derived from the schools and students involved in the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) 1998 Cohort contribute to the construction of the typology. The report also examines the impact of these models of VET provision on school completion rates and on initial post-school outcomes for different groups of students. Schools are grouped into seven types within three broad models: (1) school model with workplace learning: VET studies are integrated with the senior curriculum and accredited towards the school certificate: (a) all programs incorporate workplace learning (12 per cent of all schools); (b) strong emphasis on workplace learning (26 per cent of all schools); and (c) weak emphasis on workplace learning (19 per cent of all schools); (2) TAFE model with workplace learning: most VET studies are stand-alone and not accredited towards the senior school certificate: (a) strong emphasis on workplace learning (13 per cent of all schools); (b) weak emphasis on workplace learning (13 per cent of all schools); and (3) VET without workplace learning or no VET: (a) VET does not include any workplace learning (10 per cent of all schools); and (b) no VET is offered (eight per cent of all schools). It is concluded that at a general level, the results suggest that although schools adopting the integrated models of VET tended to promote higher retention in school for VET participants, the schools providing stand-alone VET programs tended to promote better initial post-school outcomes - better in terms of avoiding unemployment and successfully entering pathways involving tertiary study, apprenticeships and entry to full-time work. In this sense, the ‘TAFE model’ of VET provision in schools seemed to promote positive post-school outcomes while the ‘school model’ seemed to promote better completion rates for participants. Show less