Have school VET programs been successful?

School vocational education and training (VET) programs were introduced to provide more diverse pathways to work and further study for young people. This report investigates whether these programs provide successful outcomes for participants, in terms of retention to Year 12 (or its vocational equivalent) and full-time engagement with employment or learning. The report finds that participation in school VET programs has a small negative impact on retention from Year 10 to Year 12 overall but that there is a positive impact on Year 10 to Year 11 retention. There is a clear positive impact on post-school outcomes for students who participate in school VET programs in Year 11 but do not go on to complete Year 12. Finally, the report looks at whether school VET programs have been successful in establishing post-school VET pathways. The results show that these programs provide a clear pathway for some students, particularly for boys studying in the areas of building and engineering. For most students, however, the pathway is not so direct.

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