Notes on the data: Aboriginal education

Subject completion rates for Aboriginal students in vocational education and training, 2022

Policy context: Vocational education and training (VET) is post-compulsory education and training that provides people with occupational or work-related knowledge and skills [1]. VET programs may be government-funded, or delivered on a fee-for-service basis by public or private providers. Courses are practical and skills-based, and many study areas include work placements or work-based learning [2].

Accredited VET programs cover a wide range of activities, including part-day employer-specific training, general use courses such as first aid training, year-long employment-related certificates, multi-year apprenticeships, and postgraduate diplomas, including those provided at Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) levels 1 to 6, and level 8, as well as non-award courses [3].

Subject completion rates are referred to by NCVER as ‘load pass rates’. As subjects are of different lengths, the load pass rate is weighted and is the ratio of hours studied by students who passed their subject(s) to the total hours committed to by all students who passed, failed or withdrew from the corresponding subject(s). A detailed description of the calculation is shown under ‘Definitions’, below.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples commencement in a VET program increases the likelihood of achieving sustainable employment compared to those who had not commenced at VET program, irrespective of whether students complete the program or not [4]. In 2022, an estimated 4.5 million students were enrolled in VET with an Australian training provider, of those 3.9% identified as Indigenous [3].

Notes:

Vocational education and training (VET) data include all VET activity delivered in Australia to Australian residents by government providers (TAFE institutes, Universities and other government providers), community education providers, enterprise providers, private training providers and schools.

NCVER uses an ABS coding index (click here for more information) to allocate data with partial address information to a single SA2 area. Coding indexes are tables that list a geographic area against its most appropriate match; data for addresses not in this index are included in the Australia total only (approximately 9% of NCVER records are affected).

Definitions

Load Pass Rate: The load pass rate (LPR) is the ratio of hours, or full-year training equivalents (FYTEs), attributed to students who gain competencies/passed assessment in an assessable module or unit of competency to all students who were assessed and either passed, failed or withdrew. The calculation is based on the annual hours (or FYTEs) for each assessable module or unit of competency and includes competencies achieved/units passed through recognition of prior learning (RPL) [4].

The calculation for LPR is as follows:

Competency achieved passed + RPL granted, as a proportion of

Competency achieved passed + Competency not achieved failed + Withdrawn discontinued + RPL granted.

Note: Non-Indigenous data for VET can now be found in the Indigenous status comparison atlas. The difference between the total population figures and the sum of Aboriginal and non-Indigenous figures arises from unknown Indigenous status and data compilation issues.

Reference

NCVER. Terms and Definitions: National VET Provider and VET in Schools Collections. National Centre for Vocational Education Research, Adelaide 2023. https://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A97660
Vocational Education and Training (VET). Study Australia, Australian Government. https://www.studyaustralia.gov.au/en/plan-your-studies/vocational-education-and-training#ref0 Accesssed 12th of March 2024.
The Vocational Education and Training Sector: A Quick Guide. Parliament of Australia. https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp2324/Quick_Guides/VocationalEducationandTraining. Accesssed 12th of March 2024.
NCVER. From VET to Sustainable Employment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. NCVER, Adelaide 2023. https://www.ncver.edu.au/research-and-statistics/publications/all-publications/from-vet-to-sustainable-employment-for-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-peoples Accesssed 11th of June 2024.
National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), Australian vocational education and training statistics: the likelihood of completing a government-funded VET program, NCVER, Adelaide, 2016.

Geography: Data available by Indigenous Area, Primary Health Network, Quintile of socioeconomic outcomes (based on IRSEO) and Remoteness Area

Numerator: Vocational education and training subjects passed, expressed in hours

Denominator: Total assessable vocational education and training subjects, expressed in hours

Detail of analysis: Per cent

Source: Compiled by PHIDU based on data from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research DataBuilder (https://www.ncver.edu.au/research-and-statistics/data/databuilder), 2022