JSA has just released its report: Strong and Responsive VET Pathways. As it notes, “this publication is the latest release from the VET National Data Asset (VNDA), established by Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) in partnership with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).”
It “provides statistical insights on over 430,000 domestic, non-school students, who completed a nationally recognised VET qualification in the 2019-20 financial year [and] highlights the economic, employment and further study outcomes at the national level following course completion.”
As readers may know, the VNDA “links individual records from the Total VET Activity data collected by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research with other government administrative data, including data from the ABS, the Australian Taxation Office, Department of Education and Department of Social Services.”
What the publication tells us
Message 1: There is improved income post training
Median incomes and income uplifts were examined for a range of different student groups, but outcomes varied considerably for different cohorts. Those with the largest median uplift in income following VET completion were:
- Apprentices and trainees (median income uplift of $25,800)
- Graduate Diploma/Certificate completers (median income uplift of $23,700)
- Graduates under the age of 25, and in particular there was uplift of $22,200, for those aged under 20 years and one of $22,400, for those aged 20-24 years.
As the paper pointed out: “the uplift in income diminishes with age, however.”
In terms of AQF level, the lowest uplift was for Cert Is. There was also not that much change for Cert IVs either, but I suspect this might be because these might well be the first post-initial qualifications undertaken. There were also reported differences in uplift in terms of gender, whether people had a disability or were first nations.
Message 2: There were improved employment rates after training
The publication reported that:
“There was an uplift in employment rates across all cohorts, with an uplift of 15 percentage points nationally to 84% in the year following qualification completion. The largest uplift in employment rates were generally in cohorts that had lower employment rates prior to enrolment.
The groups with the largest uplift in employment rates following VET completion were:
- those who were not employed in the year prior to enrolment (uplift of 62 percentage points)
- those aged under 20 (uplift of 37 percentage points)
- those who had not completed year 12 or previously completed a Certificate III or higher qualification (uplift of 20 percentage points).”
There are lots of other useful details about employment outcomes post completion for a variety of groups in the paper too, including that:
- “higher AQF levels are generally associated with higher rates of employment, with Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate completers having the highest employment rate after graduation (92%),” and
- “Certificate I, II and III graduates all had substantial uplifts in employment rate (between 17 and 21 percentage points).”
Employment rates were lower for females, first nations peoples and those with a disability prior to enrolment. However, and happily, gaps in employment rates closed for these priority groups following completion. Unfortunately, though, “the gap in employment rates between graduates with and without disability remained unchanged at 20 percentage points (65% compared to 85%) after course completion.”
In addition, the paper also looks at employment rates based on other characteristics such location of study (city, rural or remate) and student type. Next, the paper examines further study outcomes. Briefly, the paper reports on further study by age group, AQF level (e.g. diploma and above tend to move into HE, while below that higher level VET quals are undertaken), location, student characteristics and according to priority cohorts.
Finally, it looks at the level of reduction and reliance on income support after graduation.
Overall, it’s rich in its information and well worth a look if this stuff is your thing!
