The NCVER has released a new report, ‘Laying the foundations: how foundation skills shape VET student outcomes’, which examines “the relationship between foundation skill learners’ characteristics and outcomes, and how foundation skills programs contribute to learners’ VET outcomes, employment and further study.”
For VET trainers, the message from the research is clear: students who undertook foundation skills training alongside their VET studies were more likely to complete their courses (by up to 1.8 percentage points) and find employment (by up to 5.6 percentage points).
“Students did not need to complete a foundation skills program to experience better outcomes… but each additional foundation skills subject successfully completed was associated with higher VET program completion rates.”
The research identified two main groups: learners who speak a language other than English at home (LOTE learners), who typically start their VET journey with foundation skills – mainly English language – and non-LOTE learners, who often enrol in foundation skills after struggling in their vocational studies.
The research found VET trainers may need to take different approaches to support each group. For example, LOTE learners might benefit from scaffolded English language support, while non-LOTE learners may need contextualised literacy or numeracy help within their VET subjects.
The report also signals that full-time foundation skills delivery, particularly without the pressure of concurrent VET study, increases completion. However, many students do not intend to complete the full qualification – especially if they are using foundation skills to catch up or build confidence in targeted areas.
The study confirms that non-LOTE learners who successfully complete foundation subjects report stronger personal and employment outcomes. For LOTE learners, the personal benefits of foundation skills study were more mixed and in fact these learners “had significantly lower satisfaction of achievement (-1.8%) and advancement of skills generally (-2.5%) in the presence of a foundation skills enrolment.”
For the VET sector this underscores the value of building student confidence, communication, and workplace readiness alongside technical skills. The report encourages practitioners to see foundation skills not as a separate track, but as a core enabler of vocational success – and to treat them as a shared responsibility across the teaching team.
“The research suggests that addressing foundational skills early, either before or alongside other VET programs, helps students to succeed by better preparing them for learning and for the workforce, leading to improved completion rates and job outcomes.”
