This report was originally published 08 July 2015.

Summary

Main post-school destination

The most common main post-school destination among Year 12 completers in 2014 was a Bachelor degree (52.5%), while 20.3% had entered a VET program; 7.3% were in Certificates IV+, 4.9% in apprenticeships, 4.4% in traineeships and 3.7% in Certificates I-III. Year 12 completers not in further education (27.2% of all Year 12 completers) were typically working part-time (12.5%), although 6.6% were working full-time, 5.5% were looking for work and 2.6% were not in the labour force, education or training.

The main correlates of whether a Year 12 completer entered a Bachelor degree (or not) in the 2014 survey were gender, parental SES, reading and numeracy NAPLAN results, school sector, region, language spoken at home language spoken at home, and participation in a VET or Life Skills course while at school.

Since the 2010 destination survey, there appears to have been an increase (up 5.1 points) in Year 12 completers entering a Bachelor degree. This increase was associated with small decreases in those entering Certificate IV+ courses (down 2.6 points), Certificates I-III (down 2.3 points) courses and fulltime employment (down 2.3 points). Further, there has been a slight increase in those not in the labour force, education or training (up 1.6 points).

Stark differences in the post-school destinations between those who complete Year 12 and those who leave the school system early continue to be evident. Few early school leavers (0.9%) reported studying at a Bachelor degree, while a majority (55.0%) had entered a VET program; typically an apprenticeship (26.2%), although 7.8% had entered a Certificate IV+, 14.6% had entered a Certificate I-III and 6.5% had entered a traineeship. Early school leavers not in further education (37.6% of all early school leavers) were typically looking for work (17.2%) or working part-time (12.2%), although 8.3% were working full-time and 6.4% were not in the labour force, education or training.