This report presents the findings of an external review and analysis of relevant recent practices, research and data on the delivery of Vocational Education and Training (VET) to secondary students. The review and analysis were commissioned by the NSW Department of Education and were conducted by the Centre for Vocational and Educational Policy at the University of Melbourne to identify best possible practices and make recommendations for future practice.
• What do the VET programs offered in Australian schools look like?
• Who participates in these VET programs and why?
• What are useful measures of VET program effectiveness?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the current VET programs in NSW government schools?
• What recommendations are made for improving VET programs in NSW government schools?
Phonics Screening Check (PDF, 1.3MB)
The Year 1 Phonics Screening Check is a short assessment that takes 5-7 minutes and indicates to classroom teachers how their students are progressing in phonics. The Phonics Screening Check is designed to be administered in Year 1, after students have had time to develop phonic knowledge, but with enough time left to make sure interventions and targeted teaching can still make a difference.
The Phonics Screening Check complements existing school practices used to identify students’ progress in developing foundational literacy skills.
This document provides a summary of information and data from the Phonics Screening Check trial delivered in 2020.
Check-in assessments – Years 3, 5 and 9 (PDF, 600KB)
The Check-in assessments are optional online reading and numeracy assessments designed to assist schools following the disruptions to schooling in 2020. The assessments cover similar aspects of literacy and numeracy as in NAPLAN reading and numeracy tests.
These formative assessments are offered for schools to:
This page provides a summary of information and data from the Check-in assessments delivered in 2020.
Each assessment in 2020 was designed to be quick and easy to administer, consisting of approximately 40 multiple choice questions. Suggested completion time was 50 minutes, however, teachers could use their discretion based on the needs of their students.
Students in Years 5 and 9 completed the assessments during Term 3, Weeks 5 to 7 (17 August–4 September). Students in Year 3 completed the assessments during Term 3, Week 10 to Term 4, Week 2 (21 September–23 October).
Initial results were available to schools within 48 hours of test completion, enabling teachers to rapidly move to use the results in addressing learning gaps.
To assist teachers in using the results, test items were aligned to the NSW syllabus, National Literacy and Numeracy Learning Progressions and teaching strategies.
Student assessment feedback and mapping against the syllabus and learning progressions indicators was made available in the department’s reporting platform, Scout.
Features of the school reports included:
Records of student achievement of learning progression indicators were also available in the department’s PLAN2 platform, where teachers could monitor student progress and create ‘Areas of Focus’ for targeted teaching and skill development.
Professional learning and assessment support was available to all teachers in participating schools for 2020 assessments. This included how best to make use of the assessment package for each school context, administration of the assessment, how to access and use feedback to help inform planning and strategies for teaching.
As at 10 November, more than 4,700 teachers had accessed:
Participation in the Check-in assessments was high, with 83% (1,775) of department schools participating (of schools with students in Years 3, 5 or 9). Participation was higher among primary schools than secondary schools, with 88% of all Year 3 students, 86% of all Year 5 students, and 61% of all Year 9 students participating in the Check-in assessments.
Participation was largely representative across various student and school groups.
*Note (for tables 1-3): Remoteness area is based on ASGC2016 remoteness area classifications. Inner regional and outer regional Australia are combined, as are remote and very remote Australia. Percentages of schools participating are calculated based on the total number of schools with enrolments in the relevant scholastic year, for each school type. Figures are based on the test participation data extracted from the test platforms on 10 November 2020.
For each 2020 assessment, a quarter of the test items were NAPLAN items with known psychometric properties and difficulty estimates on the NAPLAN scales. This provided the possibility of linking the Check-in assessments with these scales to assist with further analysis.
After scaling and equating exercises for available results from Year 3, Year 5 and Year 9 tests, five assessments in Year 3 reading, Year 3 numeracy, Year 5 reading, Year 5 numeracy and Year 9 numeracy were able to be equated to the NAPLAN scales. Year 9 reading was not able to be linked to the NAPLAN scale due to a range of factors including test design differences between NAPLAN and the Check-in assessment.
As the Check-in assessments were optional, results were weighted (at student level and by prior performance band in NAPLAN test for Year 5 and 9 or prior performance band in Best Start Kindergarten assessment for Year 3, and remoteness) to arrive at population estimates.
Table 4 presents the estimated proportions of students in NAPLAN bands based on Check-in assessments measured in August-October 2020.
Note: Check-in assessment results were weighted to arrive at population estimates. Results need to be interpreted with caution as they have larger uncertainty than typical NAPLAN results.
Table 5 presents the mean scaled scores for each assessment, for 2019 NAPLAN and as estimated from Check-in assessments measured in August-October 2020. This table shows the August-October results in 2020 were similar to previous years’ NAPLAN results, assessed in May for Year 3 reading, Year 5 reading and numeracy, and Year 9 numeracy. In contrast, Year 3 numeracy Check-in results in September/October were substantially higher than previous years' NAPLAN results assessed in May (note that NAPLAN did not take place in 2020 due to COVID-19).
Note: Due to differences between the Check-in assessments and NAPLAN tests (e.g. test design, purpose of tests), caution is needed when comparing Check-in results to NAPLAN results.
The response from schools as to the diagnostic value of the assessments has been overwhelmingly positive. Teachers have commented:
“the rich data gleaned is simply amazing!”
and
“as a class we use the Check-in assessment feedback to talk about how we solve number problems and what strategies we use”.
The 2020 Check-in assessments demonstrate the feasibility of conducting formative assessments that provide schools with rapid insight and highly targeted support in a short timeframe and reduced administrative complexity. The high take-up and strong support across schools demonstrates the willingness and ability of schools to use formative assessment to support their professional judgments in rapidly identifying gaps in student learning. The inability to equate Year 9 reading also demonstrates to some degree the limitation of a fast deployment in single state context. In the longer term the availability of pre‑calibrated assessments for use by teachers would further increase the uptake and usability of check-in type assessments.
At the system level, the comparison with 2019 NAPLAN demonstrates that students were generally performing in August-October 2020 at the same levels previously seen in May (with the exception of Year 3 numeracy). This indicates that on average students have fallen approximately 3-4 months behind in Year 3 reading, and 2-3 months behind in Year 5 reading and numeracy and Year 9 numeracy.
This paper aims to support early childhood education (ECE) practitoners and policy-makers by bringing together the available research on formative assessment, contextualised to early childhood education in NSW. Formative assessment is an educational practice that has broad applicability and support.
In this paper, several aspects of formative assessment are discussed:
Vocational education and training (VET) programs have featured in the Australian secondary school curriculum since the mid-1990s. Around this time, the Adelaide Declaration on National Goals for Schooling specifically recognised the provision of VET programs as a national goal. These programs were targeted at upper secondary students and originally aimed at increasing retention of less academically engaged youth in school and preparing students for employment and further training. However, about 20 years since the introduction of VET programs in schools, there is inconclusive evidence about the extent to which their aims and vision have been realised.
The Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation has conducted an investigation into the post-school education, training and employment pathways of NSW students who recently enrolled in at least one VET course as part of their senior secondary education. In this report, we investigate four research questions:
1. What are the characteristics of the secondary students who enrolled in VET and how do they compare to those of students who did not enrol?
2. Which characteristics independently predict secondary student enrolment in VET?
3. What are the post-school destinations of the secondary students who enrolled in VET and how do they compare to those of students who did not enrol?
4. Which features of VET delivery were associated with post-school destinations?
• We found that the characteristics of the secondary students who enrolled in VET were somewhat different to those of students who did not enrol. For example, there were substantial differences in Year 9 NAPLAN Numeracy and Reading scaled scores and student and school measures of socio-educational advantage.
• When we used a multivariable model to investigate the second research question, we found that most of the assessed characteristics independently predicted student enrolment in VET. That is, when we accounted for the relationships between the explanatory variables, we still
found independent relationships between most of the assessed characteristics and student enrolment in VET.
• When we compared secondary students who enrolled in VET to a group of students who had similar characteristics but did not enrol, we found that the students who did enrol were equally likely to much less likely to be not working or studying. These results provide evidence that the provision of VET as part of senior secondary education may help some students transition into work or study after they leave school.
• We found that differences in features of VET delivery (external provider versus VET at school, undertaking a work placement, and certificate level II versus III) were associated with different post-school destinations. For example, undertaking a work placement as part of a VET course decreased the likelihood that a student enrolled in VET would not go on to work or study.
Language, Learning & Literacy (L3) review (PDF, 1.1MB)
Language, Learning & Literacy (L3) is a pedagogical approach to teaching reading and writing (not a collection of curriculum resources or a programmed scope and sequence). L3 Kindergarten was developed first as a Tier 2 intervention to provide personalised instruction for individuals and small groups of students within a whole class setting. L3 Stage One was developed later not as a tiered intervention, but as a professional learning program for Stage One teachers.
The aim of this review was to examine the design, content and implementation of L3. We used three methods to achieve this: document review, quantitative survey analysis and qualitative interview analysis. This review does not include an outcome evaluation.
In this review, we addressed seven research questions:
Since 2017, the department has undertaken a range of strategic activities and developed a suite of new resource to support schools with early literacy instruction. These are available via the links below.
Effective reading instruction in the early years literature review
All school leavers fact sheet (PDF, 315kB) or read online below.
Go to the main post-school destinations 2019 report.
This page provides a high level overview of findings from the 2019 NSW Secondary Students’ Post-School Destinations and Expectations survey of students who left school in 2018, including early school leavers and Year 12 completers. In 2019, a total of 24,912 school leavers completed the survey.
In 2019, 88.5% of all school leavers were in education, training or employment. The remainder were either looking for work or not in the labour force, education or training.
The proportion of recent school leavers involved in higher education, training or employment has remained stable since 2014.
Bachelor degree
36.5% (down 5.1 percentage points since 2014)
VET Cert IV+
5.3% (down 2.1 percentage pointssince 2014)
VET Cert III
3.4% (up 0.3 percentage points since 2014)
VET Cert I-II
1.6% (down 1.3 percentage points since 2014)
Apprenticeship
11.2% (up 1.9 percentage points since 2014)
Traineeship
4.7% (down 0.1 percentage points since 2014)
Full time work
8.7% (up 1.8 percentage points since 2014)
Part time work
17% (up 4.6 percentage points since 2014)
Looking for work
8.3% (up 0.3 percentage points since 2014)
NILFET
3.2% (down 0.2 percentage points since 2014)
1. Business management (6.1%)
2. Building (5.9%)
3. Teacher education (5.0%)
1. Sales assistants and sales workers (19.8%)
2. Hospitality workers (16.8%)
3. Storepersons (8.6%)
• Female students were more likely than male students to undertake a bachelor degree, traineeship, VET certificate IV+, VET certificate III or part-time work.
• Male students were more likely than female students to be in an apprenticeship, full-time work, looking for work or NILFET.
• Students who speak a language other than English at home were more likely than those who do not, to undertake a bachelor degree or VET certificate IV+.
• Students who do not speak a language other than English at home were more likely than those who do, to be in VET certificate III, VET certificate I-II, an apprenticeship, traineeship, full-time work, part-time work or looking for work.
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students were more likely than non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to be in a VET certificate III, VET certificate I-II, a traineeship, looking for work or NILFET.
• Non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students were more likely than Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to undertake a bachelor degree or VET certificate IV+.
• Higher parental socioeconomic status (SES) students were more likely than lower parental SES students to undertake a bachelor degree.
• Lower parental SES students were more likely than higher parental SES students to be in a VET certificate III, an apprenticeship, traineeship, full-time work, part-time work, looking for work or NILFET.
• Students living in Greater Sydney were more likely than students living in the rest of NSW to undertake a bachelor degree or VET certificate IV+.
• Students living in the rest of NSW were more likely than students living in Greater Sydney to be in a VET certificate III, VET certificate I-II, an apprenticeship, traineeship, full-time work, part-time work or looking for work.
Comparison of Year 12 completers and early school leavers fact sheet (PDF, 290kB) or read online below.
Go to the main post-school destinations report for 2019
The NSW Post-School Destinations and Experiences Survey collects information about students’ main destination1 in the year after completing Year 12 or leaving school. We spoke to 18,777 Year 12 completers and 6,135 early school leavers.
This fact sheet provides a brief overview of the differences between NSW Secondary School Students who completed Year 12 in 2018 and those who left school in 2018 before finishing Year 12 (known as early school leavers).
Year 12 completers were more likely than early school leavers to be in some form of education or training (65.7% compared with 54.2%). Close to half of Year 12 completers were undertaking a bachelor degree, whereas this was the least common destination for early school leavers.
Early school leavers were more likely than Year 12 completers to be in the following destinations:
Most common areas of study for Year 12 completers:
Most common areas of study for early school leavers:
Most common areas of study for Year 12 completers:
Most common areas of study for early school leavers:
Most common areas of study for Year 12 completers:
Most common areas of study for early school leavers:
Most common areas of study for Year 12 completers:
Most common areas of study for early school leavers:
Most common apprenticeships for Year 12 completers:
Most common apprenticeships for early school leavers:
Most common traineeships for Year 12 completers:
Most common traineeships for early school leavers:
Most common occupations for Year 12 completers:
Most common occupations for early school leavers:
Most common occupations for Year 12 completers:
Most common occupations for early school leavers:
Most common reason for Year 12 completers:
Most common reason for early school leavers:
1A total of ten post-school destinations were defined from responses to a number of items relating to participation in further education and current employment. This classification system is a hierarchical classification system, which prioirities education related post-school destinations over particiaption in employment. As such, it represents a young person's main destination since leaving school.
Regional differences in apprenticeships, traineeships, occupations and areas of study fact sheet (PDF, 480kB) or read online below.
Go to the main post-school destinations report for 2019
The 2019 NSW Post-School Destinations and Experiences Survey collects information about students' main destination1 and school experience in the year after completing Year 12 or leaving school early. We spoke to 18,777 Year 12 completers and 6,135 early school leavers.
This page provides a brief overview of regional differences in apprenticeships, traineeships, occupations and areas of study being undertaken by NSW School Leavers in 2019. Region (Greater Sydney, Rest of NSW) is based on the location of the school attended by the student. Greater Sydney and Rest of NSW are based on intuitive groupings of the 28 Statistical Area Levels (SA4) for NSW defined within the ABS Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS).
Elecricians 25.2%
Bricklayers, and carpenters and joiners 20.7%
Plumbers 13.1%
Electricians 21.9%
Fabrication engineering trades workers 15.1%
Bricklayers, and carpenters and joiners 14.4%
Bricklayers, and carpenters and joiners 23.0%
Plumbers 17.8%
Electricians 15.8%
Bricklayers, and carpenters and joiners 20.7%
Automotive electricians and mechanics 15.7%
Electricians 12.3%
Child carers 28.2%
General clerks 10.4%
Sales assistants and salespersons 8.7%
Child carers 25.0%
General clerks 16.6%
Sales assistants and salespersons 12.2%
Child carers 37.9%
Sales assistants and salespersons 13.1%
General clerks 8.5%
Sales assistants and salespersons 20.6%
Child carers 17.2%
Hospitality workers 7.5%
Community and personal service workers 26.4%
Sales workers 25.8%
Professionals 14.8%
Community and personal service workers 29.7%
Sales workers 26.9%
Labourers 13.9%
Sales workers 24.7%
Labourers 22.2%
Community and personal service workers 19.5%
Labourers 27.6%
Sales workers 24.7%
Community and personal service workers 21.6%
Health 21.4%
Society and culture 18.6%
Creative arts 11.6%
Society and culture 21.4%
Health 18.3%
Natural and physical sciences 12.4%
Management and culture 16.0%
Creative arts 15.3%
Health 14.3%
Health 17.9%
Society and culture 12.6%
Food, hospitality and personal services 7.5%
1A total of ten post-school destinations were defined from responses to a number of items relating to participation in further education and current employment. This classification system is a hierarchical classification system, which prioritises education related post-school destinations over participation in employmnet. As such, it represents a young person's main destination since leaving school.
2Of those undertaking an apprenticeship
3Of those undertaking a traineeship
4Of those who are employed full-time or part-time
5Of those undertaking further education
Go to the main post-school destinations report for 2019
This report summarises the data collection and methodological aspects of the 2019 NSW Secondary Students’ Post-School Destinations Survey conducted by the Social Research Centre (SRC) on behalf of the Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation (CESE).
We are committed to providing accessible content for all users. To request an accessible version of this content, please contact us.
Aboriginal Year 12 completers and early school leavers (PDF, 710kB)
Go to the main post-school destinations report for 2019
This page provides a high level overview of findings from the 2019 NSW Secondary Students’ Post-School Destinations and Experiences Survey relating to two different cohorts of Aboriginal recent school leavers: Year 12 completers and early school leavers. The content was produced in collaboration with the Aboriginal Education and Communities Directorate.
• In 2019, 1,007 Aboriginal Year 12 completers and 695 Aboriginal earlyschool leavers completed the survey.
• For non-Aboriginal students, 17,770 Year 12 completers and 5,440 earlyschool leavers also completed the survey in 2019.
• Sociodemographic characteristics were similar between Aboriginal surveycompleters and non-completers, indicating that survey findings arerepresentative of the population of Aboriginal recent school leavers.
• Response rates for both cohorts have remained fairly stable over time,ranging from 43.2% to 50.7% for Aboriginal Year 12 completers and 21% to 26.7% for Aboriginal early school leavers.
In 2019, 82.3% of Aboriginal Year 12 completers were in education, training or employment and 63.8% of Aboriginal early school leavers were in education, training or employment.
In 2019, 92% of non-Aboriginal Year 12 completers were in education, training or employment and 81.3% of non-Aboriginal early school leavers were in education, training or employment.
The post-school destinations for Aboriginal Year 12 completers have remained relatively stable over time.
Bachelor degree
24.6% (up 1.6 percentage points since 2014)
VET Cert IV+
6% (down 0.9 percentage pointssince 2014)
VET Cert III
5.4% (down 0.7 percentage points since 2014)
VET Cert I-II
2% (down 2.5 percentage points since 2014)
Apprenticeship
6.3% (up 1.9 percentage points since 2014)
Traineeship
7% (down 1.4 percentage points since 2014)
Full time work
9.9% (down 0.2 percentage points since 2014)
Part time work
21% (up 3.2 percentage points since 2014)
1. Teacher education
2. Nursing
3. Business and management
4. Human welfare and services
5. Communication and media studies
1. Hospitality worker
2. Retail sales assistant
3. Store assistant and warehouse assistant
4. Carer and aide
5. Sales support worker
The proportion of Aboriginal early school leavers in employment has increased over time, while the proportion of Aboriginal early school leavers looking for work has decreased over time.
Bachelor degree
0.4% (up 0.1 percentage points since 2014)
VET Cert IV+
2.5% (down 1.1 percentage points since 2014)
VET Cert III
9.6% (up 3.2 percentage points since 2014)
VET Cert I-II
4.9% (down 6.2 percentage points since 2014)
Apprenticeship
16% (up 2.5 percentage points since 2014)
Traineeship
7.5% (up 2.7 percentage points since 2014)
Full time work
8.3% (up 5.1 percentage points since 2014)
Part time work
14.6% (up 3.3 percentage points since 2014)
1. Building
2. Human welfare studies and services
3. Personal services (such as hairdressing, beauty therapy)
4. Food and hospitality
5. Automotive engineering and technology
1. Retail sales assistant
2. Food preparation assistant
3. Store assistant and warehouse assistant
4. Hospitality worker
5. Sales support worker
The proportion of:
• Aboriginal Year 12 completers
• Aboriginal early school leavers
• non-Aboriginal early school leavers
in education or training has remained stable over time.
The proportion of non-Aboriginal Year 12 completers in education or training has decreased over time.
7.9 percentage point decrease entering business and management studies since 2014 (from 11.7% to 3.8%).
4.9 percentage point decrease entering human welfare studies and services since 2014 (from 8.6% to 3.7%).
6.8 percentage point increase entering building studies since 2014 (from 10.3% to 17.1%).
6.3 percentage point decrease entering business and management studies since 2014 (from 9.7% to 3.4%).
The proportion of:
• Aboriginal early school leavers
• non-Aboriginal Year 12 completers
• non-Aboriginal early school leavers
in employment has increased over time.
The proportion of Aboriginal Year 12 completers in employment has remained stable over time.
8.1 percentage point decrease entering a retail sales assistantrole since 2014 (from 23.8% to 15.7%).
6.8 percentage point increase entering a hospitality role since 2014 (from 11.8% to 18.7% of employed completers).
6.6 percentage point decrease entering a farm, forestry and gardern worker role since 2014 (from 10.8% to 4.2%).
6 percentage point increase entering a store assistant and warehouse assistant role since 2014 (from 4.6% to 10.6%).
• Females more likely to be in a bachelor degree, traineeship or VET Cert III.
• Males more likely to be in an apprenticeship.
• Higher parental SES more likely to be in a bachelor degree.
• Lower parental SES more likely to be looking for work.
• Government school students more liekly to be VET Cert III, looking for work or not in the labour force, education or training.
• Non-government school students more likely to be in a bachelor degree.
• Students living in Greater Sydney more likely than those living in the rest of NSW to be in an apprenticeship.
• Females more likely to be in a VET Cert III ot VET Cert IV+.
• Males more likely to be in an apprenticeship.
• Lower parental SES more likely to be not in the labour force, education or training.
• Government school students more likely to be looking for work.
• Non-government school students more likely to be in an apprenticeship
• Students living in Greater Sydney more likely than those living in the rest of NSW to be in an apprenticeship.
• Students living in the rest of NSW more likely to be looking for work.
NSW Post-School Destinations and Experiences 2019 report (PDF, 962kB) or read online below
NSW Post-School Destinations and Experiences – 2019 technical report
Regional differences in apprenticeships, traineeships, occupations and areas of study
Comparison of Year 12 completers and early school leavers
Aboriginal Year 12 completers and early school leavers
The NSW Post-School Destinations and Experiences Survey collects information about students’ main destination1 in the year after completing Year 12 or leaving school early. The survey provides information on education pathways, attainments and destinations of young people in NSW and informs policy making related to students’ post-school education, training and employment.
In 2019, all students who left school in 2018 before finishing Year 12 (known as early school leavers) were invited to complete the survey about their current situation. Among those who finished Year 12, all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and students who attended Connected Communities schools were invited to complete the survey. A random sample of the other students who completed Year 12 were also invited. A total of 39,336 Year 12 completers and 19,272 early school leavers were invited to take part in the 2019 survey. Responses were received from 18,777 Year 12 completers and 6,135 early school leavers and are analysed in this report2.
Two thirds (65.7%) of 2018 Year 12 completers were in some form of education or training in 2019. The main post-school destination for this cohort continued to be a Bachelor degree (48.4%). One-quarter (26.1%) were employed (8.4% full-time and 17.7% part-time), while a smaller proportion were looking for work (5.7%), or not in the labour force, education or training (NILFET*; 2.5%. *Not in the labour force means that a person is not working and not looking for work).
In 2019, the main post-school destinations among 2018 early school leavers were substantially different from Year 12 completers. More than half (54.1%) were undertaking some form of education or training. The most common post-school destination among this cohort was an apprenticeship (29.1%). A quarter of early school leavers were employed (9.8% full-time and 15.2% part-time), while a smaller proportion were looking for work (15.7%), or NILFET (5.2%).
Two-thirds (65.7%) of Year 12 completers were in education or training in 2019. This is fewer than in each year since 2014.
There has been a 3.5 percentage point decrease since 2018.
48.4% (down 4.1 percentage points since 2014)
5.1% (down 2.3 percentage points since 2014)
2.1% (down 0.2 percentage points since 2014)
1.0% (down 0.8 percentage points since 2014)
5.1% (up 0.2 percentage points since 2014)
3.9% (down 0.5 percentage points since 2014)
Bachelor degrees were the most popular destination among Year 12 completers despite being down 4.1 percentage points since 2014.
Participation in VET certificate IV+ has also decreased since 2014
What were they studying?
21.4% (down 2.1 percentage points since 2014)
19.0% (down 3.1 percentage points since 2014)
18.3% (up 3.2 percentage points since 2014)
Females were more likely than males to be studying society and culture, health, creative arts or education.
Males were more likely than females to be studying management and commerce, engineering, natural and physical sciences.
The most common study areas by level of course were:
• Bachelor degree – Society and culture (22.6%).
• VET certificate IV+ – Creative arts (18.3%).
• VET certificate III – Health (14.6%).
• VET certificate I-II – Mixed fields programmes (14.7%).
What type of apprenticeship?
23.7% (up 7.4 percentage points since 2014)
17.9% (down 4.5 percentage points since 2014)
10.2% (up 8.6 percentage points since 2014)
Females were more likely than males to be undertaking an apprenticeship in food trade.
Males were more likely than females to be undertaking an apprenticeship as an electrician or fabrication engineering trades worker.
What type of traineeships?
26.6% (up 9.7 percentage points since 2014)
13.6% (up 4.3 percentage points since 2014)
10.5% (down 14.1 percentage points since 2014)
Females were more likely than males to be undertaking a traineeship in childcare or as a general clerk.
Males were more likely than females to be undertaking a traineeship as an accountant, auditor and company secretary or as a hospitality worker.
8.4% (up 1.8 percentage points since 2014)
17.7% (up 5.2 percentage points since 2014)
One-quarter (26.1%) of Year 12 completers were employed and not in education in 2019. Participation in full-time and part-time employment has increased since 2014.
5.7% (up 0.2 percentage points since 2014)
One in twenty (5.7%) Year 12 completers were looking for work. This rate remains similar to 2014.
2.5% (down 0.1 percentage points since 2014)
The proportion of Year 12 completers who were NILFET remains unchanged since 2018 (2.5%), and similar to 2014.
What jobs are they doing?
27.6% (down 0.4 percentage points since 2014)
26.2% (down 6.7 percentage points since 2014)
11.1% (down 3.8 percentage points since 2014)
Females were more likely than males to be working as community and personal services workers, sales workers, or clerical and admin workers.
Males were more likely than females to be working as machinery operators and drivers, labourers, or technicians and trades workers.
Main reason
37.8% (down 7.7 percentage points since 2014)
23.2% (down 2.2 percentage points since 2014)
9.1% (down 1.1 percentage points since 2014)
Among those who were not in the labour force, education or training, there were no differences in the broad main activity categories for males and females.
Males were however more likely than females to report recreational activities as their main activity.
Almost one-third (29.0%) of Year 12 completers who were NILFET indicated they were enrolled in a course of study but have deferred it.
Those who were employed deferred further education at a similar rate:
• 30.0% full-time employment.
• 24.9% part-time employment.
Those who were looking for work were less likely to have deferred a course than those who were NILFET (17.7%).
• Female students were more likely than male students to undertake a bachelor degree, traineeship or VET certificate III
• Male students were more likely than female students to be in an apprenticeship, NILFET or looking for work.
• Government school students were more likely than non-government school students to be in a VET certificate IV+, VET certificate III, VET certificate I-II, part-time work, looking for work and NILFET.
• Non-government school students were more likely than government school students to undertake a bachelor degree.
• Higher parental socioeconomic status (SES)3 students were more likely than lower parental SES students to undertake a bachelor degree.
• Lower parental SES students were more likely than higher parental SES students to be in VET certificate IV+, VET certificate III, VET certificate I-II, an apprenticeship, traineeship, full-time work, part-time work or looking for work.
• Students who speak a language other than English at home were more likely than those who do not, to undertake a bachelor degree or VET certificate IV+.
• Students who do not speak a language other than English at home were more likely than those who do not, to be in VET certificate III, VET certificate I-II, an apprenticeship, traineeship, full-time work or part-time work.
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students were more likely than non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to be in a VET certificate III, VET certificate I-II, a traineeship, part-time work, looking for work or NILFET.
• Non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students were more likely than Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to undertake a bachelor degree.
• Students living in Greater Sydney were more likely than students living in the rest of NSW to undertake a bachelor degree.
• Students living in the rest of NSW were more likely than students living in Greater Sydney to be in a VET certificate III, VET certificate I-II, an apprenticeship, traineeship, full-time work, part-time work or looking for work.
Over half (54.2%) of 2018 early school leavers were in education or training in 2019. This is fewer than in 2018 (57.1%) but similar to the proportion over the period from 2015 to 2017.
1.5% (down 0.6 percentage points since 2014)
5.9% (down 1.9 percentage points since 2014)
7.3% (down 0.3 percentage points since 2014)
3.2% (down 3.8 percentage points since 2014)
29.1% (up 2.9 percentage points since 2014)
7.1% (up 0.6 percentage points since 2014)
Apprenticeships continued to be the most popular destination among early school leavers. Despite being up 2.9 percentage points since 2014, apprenticeship participation is down 3.3 percentage points compared with 2018 (32.4%).
Participation in VET certificates I-II and IV+ has decreased since 2014.
What are they studying?
16.3% (up 9.0 percentage points since 2014)
13.6% (down 5.0 percentage points since 2014)
13.0% (up 0.7 percentage points since 2014)
Females were more likely than males to be studying health, society and culture, and food
hospitality and personal services.
Males were more likely than females to study information technology.
The most common study areas by level of course were:
• Bachelor degree – Society and culture (19.9%).
• VET certificate IV+ – Creative arts (22.4%).
• VET certificate III – Health (17.1%).
• VET certificate I-II – Mixed fields programmes (18.1%).
What type of apprenticeships?
21.7% (up 3.2 percentage points since 2014)
13.9% (up 4.6 percentage points since 2014)
13.4% (down 1.6 percentage points since 2014)
Females were more likely than males to be undertaking an apprenticeship in food trade or hairdressing.
Males were more likely than females to be undertaking an apprenticeship in automotive and engineering mechanics, bricklaying, carpentry and joinery or as an electrician.
What type of traineeships?
25.7% (up 10.5 percentage points since 2014)
17.5% (down 7.4 percentage points since 2014)
7.7% (down 0.4 percentage points since 2014)
Females were more likely than males to be undertaking a traineeship as a general clerk.
Males were more likely than females to be undertaking a traineeship as a farm, forestry or garden worker.
9.8% (up 1.5 percentage points since 2014)
15.2% (up 3.0 percentage points since 2014)
One-quarter (25.0%) of 2018 early school leavers were employed and not in education in 2019.
Participation in part-time employment has increased since 2014 but remains relatively unchanged from 2018.
15.7% (down 1.5 percentage points since 2014)
One-in-six (15.7%) early school leavers were looking for work; down 1.5 percentage points since 2014 but up 2.8 percentage points since 2018.
5.2% (down 1.2 percentage points since 2014)
The proportion of 2018 early school leavers who were NILFET is also down since 2014, accounting for one-in-twenty (5.2%) early school leavers in 2019.
What jobs are they doing?
25.5% (down 2.1 percentage points since 2014)
24.7% (down 7.0 percentage points since 2014)
20.8% (up 4.5 percentage points since 2014)
Females were more likely than males to be working as community and personal services workers, sales workers, or clerical and admin workers.
Males were more likely than females to be working as labourers or machinery operators and drivers.
Main reason
26.2% (down 2.2 percentage points since 2014)
19.5% (down 10.5 percentage points since 2014)
19.3% (down 4.0 percentage points since 2014)
Among those who were not in the labour force, education or training, there were no differences in the broad main activity categories for males and females.
Males were however more likely than females to report recreational activities as their main activity.
One-in-twenty (5.3%) of early school leavers who were NILFET indicated they were enrolled in a course of study but had deferred it.
Other cohorts had deferred at a similar rate:
• 3.6% full-time employment.
• 4.7% part-time employment.
• 4.8% looking for work.
• Female students were more likely than male students to be in a bachelor degree, VET certificate IV+, VET certificate III, VET certificate I-II, traineeship, part-time work or NILFET.
• Male students were more likely than female students to be undertaking an apprenticeship.
• Students who left school before the age of 17 years were more likely than those who left school aged 17 years or older to undertake a VET certificate IV+, apprenticeship or traineeship.
• Students who left school aged 17 years or older were more likely than those who left school before the age of 17 years to be in a bachelor degree, full-time work, part-time work, looking for work or NILFET.
• Government school students were more likely than non-government school students to be in part-time work, looking for work or NILFET.
• Non-government school students were more likely than government school students to undertake a bachelor degree, VET certificate IV+ or apprenticeship.
• Higher parental socioeconomic status (SES)3 students were more likely than lower parental SES students to undertake a bachelor degree, VET certificate IV+ or VET certificate I-II
• Lower parental SES students were more likely than higher parental SES students to be looking for work.
• Students who speak a language other than English at home were more likely than those who do not, to be undertaking a VET certificate IV+ or looking for work.
• Students who do not speak a language other than English at home were more likely than those who do, to be undertaking an apprenticeship or traineeship.
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students were more likely than non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to be looking for work or NILFET.
• Non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students were more likely than Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to undertake be in a VET certificate IV+ or apprenticeship.
• Students living in Greater Sydney were more likely than students living in the rest of NSW to undertake a bachelor degree or VET certificate IV+.
• Students living in the rest of NSW were more likely than students living in Greater Sydney to be in a VET certificate III or part-time work.
This report provides a brief overview of the main findings of the 2019 NSW Post-School Destinations and Experiences Survey. Several points should be kept in mind when considering the findings.
A total of ten post-school destinations are defined from responses to a number of items relating to participation in further education and current employment. This classification system is a hierarchical classification system, which prioritises education related post-school destinations over participation in employment. As such, it represents a young person's main destination since leaving school. A full discussion of the classification system can be found in the technical report.
All data are weighted to match relevant population parameters. Survey weighted t-tests have been conducted to assess differences between subgroups and between survey waves. Analyses were conducted in R (R Core, 2017) using the survey package (Lumley, 2017). Results reported as “different” imply that a statistically significant difference at a 99 per cent confidence level has been established. This level has been used due to the large sample sizes.
In some cases values may differ from the apparent sum of their component elements. This is due to the effects of rounding.
Where appropriate, comparisons have been made to previous waves of this survey. Field of education was coded using Australian Standard Classification of Education (Australian Bureau of Statistics catalogue number 1272.0). Occupation was coded to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (Version 1.2, Australian Bureau of Statistics catalogue number 1220.0).
For further information about the survey background and method, please refer to the 2019 technical report.
The 2019 NSW Post-School Destinations and Experiences Survey was conducted in partnership with the Social Research Centre, a wholly owned of the subsidiary of the Australian National University. The survey is supported by the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA), Catholic Schools NSW and the Association of Independent Schools NSW. We thank them for their assistance and input into the research. We particularly thank the numerous young people and their parents, carers and/or guardians who gave their time and shared their experiences.
1A total of ten post-school destinations are defined from responses to a number of items relating to participation in further education and current employment. This classification system is a hierarchical classification system, which prioritises education related post-school destinations over participation in employment. As such, it represents a young person's main destination since leaving school.
2A detailed outline of the survey method, including eligibility to and the selection process can be found in the technical report.
3Parental socioeconomic status (SES) is an individual measure of SES derived from students’ recollection of their parent(s) main occupation and highest level of education. Further information about its derivation can be found in the technical report.
The impact of bushfires on student wellbeing and student learning (PDF, 1.3MB)
The catastrophic bushfires that occurred across NSW in late 2019 to early 2020 have had a significant impact on school operations. In response to the fires, the NSW Premier declared a State of Emergency on three separate occasions and the bushfires received wide media coverage both in Australia and internationally. A large number of schools temporarily ceased operation during the bushfire crisis. In February 2020, the NSW Department of Education formed a new Bushfire Relief Strategy Directorate charged with developing a strategy that provides direction for managing future bushfire seasons. The strategy outlines the department’s approach to assisting schools to recover from bushfires across the short, medium and long term.
This paper aims to support the strategy by bringing together the available research on the potential impact of natural disasters on student wellbeing and student learning, contextualised to school education in NSW. The first section describes the research on students’ distress and mental health in the short-term and long-term stages after bushfires and other natural disasters. The second section looks at the potential impact of bushfires on student learning and considers the implications for NSW schools in relation to student learning, student assessment, and disaster education.
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The elements of effective professional development (PDF, 700kB)
Teacher professional development begins with initial teacher education and continues until retirement, and it is generally agreed by teachers and other education professionals to be a good investment of education dollars.
Professional development is available to all teachers in NSW.
One of the most cited meta-analyses looking at the effect of professional development on student outcomes calculates an effect size of 0.541. It claims that average students would increase their achievement by 21 percentile points if their teachers participated in quality professional development.
However, a question arises:
In teaching what are the elements of professional development that improve outcomes for students?
This is not to say that professional development programs of a longer duration and professional learning communities do not work to improve student outcomes. However, there is no conclusive evidence to definitively support these elements.
Many studies investigate the impact of professional development on teacher knowledge, teaching practice and teacher satisfaction. Far fewer take the extra step of examining the impact of professional development on student achievement.
There is a clear need for further research that focuses on which elements of professional development have the greatest impact on student learning outcomes.
1Yoon et al 2007, ‘Reviewing the evidence on how teacher professional development affects student achievement’, Issues & Answers Report REL 2007-No. 033: 14.
What works best: 2020 update (PDF, 1.6MB)
Access our other 'What works best' resources
This paper is an update to our 2014 publication. The 2020 update outlines eight quality teaching practices that are known to support school improvement and enhance the learning outcomes of our students. The themes are not an exhaustive list of effective practices, but are a useful framework for teachers and school leaders to consider when deciding how to tackle student improvement.
The eight themes identified as likely to make the biggest difference to our students are:
Teachers’ beliefs about their students influence how they teach and interact with them. High expectations are linked with higher performance for all students. The reverse can also be true. Students may achieve less than their full potential if expectations of their ability are low.
Explicit teaching practices involve teachers clearly showing students what to do and how to do it, rather than having students discover that information themselves. Students who experience explicit teaching practices make greater learning gains than students who do not experience these practices.
Effective feedback provides students with relevant, explicit, ongoing, constructive and actionable information about their performance against learning outcomes from the syllabus.
Teachers use data to check and understand where their students are in their learning and to plan what to do next. Effective analysis of student data helps teachers identify areas where students’ learning needs may require additional attention and development.
High quality student assessment helps us know that learning is taking place. Assessment is most effective when it is an integral part of teaching and learning programs.
Classroom management is important for creating the conditions for learning. Effective classroom management minimises and addresses all levels of disengagement and disruptive behaviours.
At school, the practices that support student wellbeing involve creating a safe environment; ensuring connectedness; engaging students in their learning; and promoting social and emotional skills.
Professional collaboration allows best practice to be identified and shared across classrooms. Effective collaboration explicitly aims to improve teacher practices and student outcomes.
Our What works best in practice resource provides strategies to support teachers to implement the eight themes in the classroom.
The School Excellence Framework supports school leaders take a planned and whole-school approach to improvement. The eight themes closely align with the School Excellence Framework.
Trauma-informed practice in schools: An explainer (PDF, 722kB)
This explainer briefly summarises the evidence on trauma-informed practice within an educational context. It is intended as a brief introduction to the topic for teachers, principals and other school staff.
The accompanying discussion guide has been created to support principals, executive, teachers and school staff to unpack and reflect on the explainer, and to explore implications for their schools.
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