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What is VET delivered to secondary students?
Australian secondary school students can undertake a vocational education and training (VET) program at school. VET delivered to secondary students enables them to get workplace skills through nationally recognised training while still at school.
This gives them an opportunity to gain nationally recognised VET qualifications. The qualifications also provide credits towards their Senior Secondary Certificate of Education.
Students can also begin part-time school-based apprenticeships and traineeships in secondary school.
The qualifications offered in these VET programs vary across states and territories.
Why is it important to deliver VET to secondary students?
VET provides students with opportunities to develop work relevant skills. An enriched senior secondary curriculum provides pathways to further education and work.
VET delivered to secondary students enables them to develop workplace skills through nationally recognised training. This can come from an industry developed training package, or an accredited course. Secondary students can do this training while they complete their senior secondary certificate.
High quality and industry relevant VET is important in supporting students to continue onto further education, training or employment.
Why is reform needed?
Recent reviews, including the Review of Senior Secondary Pathways into work, further education and training recognised the importance of VET in providing alternative vocational pathways to secondary students. VET also supplies the labour market with graduates who have skills and experiences employers value.
However, the reviews have also raised concerns with VET delivered to secondary students, including:
- inconsistent quality of delivery of courses and outcomes for students
- industry concerns with the value of VET qualifications delivered to secondary students
- limitations of current data collections. These make it difficult to measure investment, quality and outcomes and to develop evidence-based policy to achieve the best outcomes.
What is being done?
The National Skills Agreement outlines roles and responsibilities for governments to deliver on shared objectives and outcomes. Under the National Skills Plan, governments will work to build connections and alignment across VET, the education sector including universities and schools, and other relevant systems.
A working group of education and skills government officials are exploring reform options, to ensure high quality, relevant and consistent delivery of VET in schools across Australia and will report back to Skills Ministers in 2025.