Page 152 - Invited Paper Session (IPS) - Volume 2

IPS193 Michael Beahan
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students who do VET in Schools are more
likely to complete Year 12 and that male VET in Schools students who study a
trade gain better employment outcomes.
Dr Patrick Korbel from the National Centre for Vocational Education
Research (NCVER) said that while the annual VET in Schools data gave
information about students in the year of collection, it didn’t provide any post-
school insights.
Quoting Dr Korbel:-
 “However, by linking NCVER’s training data from 2006 with 2011
Census data we could see the educational and employment outcomes
of those students 5 years down the track,”
 “We could see whether the students went on to any further study, the
highest level of qualification they attained, whether they were currently
employed or still studying and the level of income they had attained.
All of this information could paint the picture of the benefits of the VET
training they had undertaken at school.”
 “By linking NCVER’s VET data about students’ education with Census
employment outcomes we capture new and important information. It’s
really valuable information and it revealed that one of the main
predicted benefits of in-school vocational training – to keep students
in the school system until they finish Year 12 – is happening,”
 “The new standard is a Year 12 education – gone are the days of leaving
school at Year 10 and taking up a trade. Now we can show who is
participating in the workforce and the outcomes they are achieving.
It’s a great basis for future research to see what is working and what is
not,”
 “Surveys are expensive and time consuming and it’s very difficult to
trace these students once they leave school. If you wanted to follow
up with another survey it would not only be cost prohibitive, it would
be unfeasible to track them,”
 “Data integration is crucial and the premise is collect once, use many
times. Now that we have linked this data once, it will be easier next
time and since NCVER collects information from across the VET sector,
the opportunities are endless to learn about the outcomes these
programs and policies achieve.”

The Road Forward
Of course none of this is easy and certainly doesn’t happen overnight. The
ABS has had to navigate a range of issues in arriving at a point where we now
are significantly better able to provide a service to the Australian government
and its associated research communities.

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