Australian vocational education and training statistics Government-funded students and courses January to September 2019 National Centre for Vocational Education Research Highlights In the first nine months to 30 September 2019, 1 011 000 students were enrolled in government-funded vocational education and training (VET). They included: 972 900 students enrolled in nationally recognised training 76 100 students enrolled in non-nationally recognised training. Government-funded program enrolments comprised: 90.0% in nationally recognised programs 5.5% in locally developed programs 4.5% in non-nationally recognised programs. 86.7% of program enrolments were in qualifications: 78.3% of program enrolments were in training packages 8.4% were in accredited qualifications. For qualification enrolments: 47.2% were at certificate III level 18.5% of qualifications were at certificate IV level. Reporting issues in Western Australia and improvements in reporting practices in the Northern Territory have affected
Transcript
Australian vocational education and training statistics
Government-funded students and courses January to September 2019
National Centre for Vocational Education Research
HighlightsIn the first nine months to 30 September 2019, 1 011 000 students were enrolled in government-funded vocational education and training (VET). They included: 972 900 students enrolled in nationally recognised training 76 100 students enrolled in non-nationally recognised training.Government-funded program enrolments comprised: 90.0% in nationally recognised programs 5.5% in locally developed programs 4.5% in non-nationally recognised programs.86.7% of program enrolments were in qualifications: 78.3% of program enrolments were in training packages 8.4% were in accredited qualifications.
For qualification enrolments: 47.2% were at certificate III level 18.5% of qualifications were at certificate IV level.Reporting issues in Western Australia and improvements in reporting practices in the Northern Territory have affected percentage change calculations between 2018 and 2019. Consequently, caution must be used
With the exception of the cover design, artwork, photographs, all logos, and any other material where copyright is owned by a third party, all material presented in this document is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia <creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au> licence.
The details of the relevant licence conditions are available on the Creative Commons website (accessible using the links provided) as is the full legal code for the CC BY 3.0 AU licence <creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode>.
The Creative Commons licence conditions do not apply to all logos, graphic design, artwork and photographs. Requests and enquiries concerning other reproduction and rights should be directed to the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER).
This document should be attributed as NCVER 2020, Australian vocational education and training statistics: government-funded students and courses — January to September 2019, NCVER, Adelaide.
This work has been produced by NCVER on behalf of the Australian Government and state and territory governments, with funding provided through the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment.
The views and opinions expressed in this document are those of NCVER and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government or state and territory governments.ISSN 2205-4391TD/TNC 139.01
Comments and suggestions regarding this publication are welcomed and should be forwarded to NCVER.
Published by NCVER, ABN 87 007 967 311
Level 5, 60 Light Square, Adelaide SA 5000PO Box 8288 Station Arcade, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia
ContentsIntroductionAbout this publicationMore informationTablesTermsExplanatory notes
Tables 1 Government-funded students by type of training and state/territory, January to
September 2019 (’000)2 Government-funded students by type of training, January to September 2015–193 Provider reporting type by state/territory, January to September 20194 Provider reporting type, January to September 2015–195 Government-funded students by provider reporting type and state/territory,
January to September 2019 (’000)6 Government-funded students by provider reporting type, January to September
2015–19 (’000)7 Government-funded student characteristics by state/territory, January to
September 2019 (’000)8 Government-funded student characteristics, January to September 2015–19 (’000)9 Government-funded program enrolments by type of training and state/territory,
January to September 2019 (’000)10 Government-funded program enrolments by type of training, January to
September 2015–19 (’000)11 Government-funded program enrolments by field of education and state/territory,
January to September 2019 (’000)12 Government-funded program enrolments by field of education, January to
September 2015–19 (’000)
13 Government-funded qualification enrolments by level of education and state/territory, January to September 2019 (’000)
14 Government-funded qualification enrolments by level of education, January to September 2015–19 (’000)
15 Government-funded subject enrolments by type of training and state/territory, January to September 2019 (’000)
16 Government-funded subject enrolments by type of training, January to September 2015–19 (’000)
17 Summary by state/territory, January to September 2015–19 (’000)
Figures1 Government-funded students by type of nationally recognised training, January to
September 2019 (%) 52 Government-funded program enrolments by field of education, January to September 2019
6
4 Australian vocational education and training statistics
3 Government-funded students by training provider type, January to September 2019 7
Government-funded students and courses – January to September 2019 5
Introduction
This publication provides a summary of data relating to estimated students, programs, subjects and training providers in Australia’s government-funded vocational education and training (VET) system.
Data are presented by the state or territory that administered the funding of the training activity.
For further information, please refer to the terms on pages 17—19 and explanatory notes on pages 20—23.
About this publication
This publication covers Commonwealth and state/territory government-funded training (Commonwealth or state recurrent funding, Commonwealth specific purpose funding or state specific funding). No fee-for-service activity is included.
Data for the Government-funded students and courses series are received by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) in four cumulative submissions:
January to March, submitted in May January to June, submitted in August January to September, submitted in November January to December, submitted in March.
This allows additional data to be reported and corrections made to previously submitted data.The data in this publication cover the period of 1 January to 30 September 2019. For comparative purposes it also examines these data against previously submitted data for 1 January to 30 September 2015—18.Caution must be used when comparing student counts due to differing rates of duplication, which can be due in part to varying rates of USI provision. See explanatory note 2 for further detail.
More information
Caution must be used for quarter to quarter comparisons as several jurisdictions have experienced implementation and system issues in different quarterly submissions. Furthermore, some training authorities do not report data for the first three quarters, which affects the comparison of quarterly data with annual data. Refer to the Data quality and comparability issues section in the explanatory notes (pages 20—23) for details of the issues affecting this publication.
Data in this publication may be revised for a variety of reasons. For the latest and additional data on government-funded training activity, please visit the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) Portal <https://www.ncver.edu.au/research-and-statistics/collections/students-and-courses-collection>.
6 Australian vocational education and training statistics
SummaryStudents In the first nine months to 30 September 2019, 1 011 000 students were enrolled in government-funded VET.Some students enrolled in one or more programs, others in stand-alone subjects.In the first nine months to 30 September 2019, 972 900 government-funded students were enrolled in nationally recognised VET, consisting of: training package qualifications (807 400 students or 83.0%) accredited qualifications (83 000 students or 8.5%) training package skill sets (9 500 students or 1.0%) accredited courses (26 100 students or 2.7%) locally developed skill sets and courses (55 700 students or 5.7%) comprised of at least one
nationally recognised subject stand-alone nationally recognised subjects (47 100 students or 4.8%).
Figure 1 Government-funded students by type of nationally recognised training, January to September 2019 (%)
Tra
inin
g pa
ckag
e qu
alifi
catio
ns
Acc
redi
ted
qual
ifica-
tions
Tra
inin
g pa
ckag
e sk
ill se
ts
Acc
redi
ted
cour
ses
Loca
lly d
evel
oped
sk
ill se
ts
Loca
lly d
evel
oped
co
urse
s
Sta
nd-a
lone
sub
ject
s
Nationally recognised programs Locally developed programs Nationally recognised sub-
jects
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
83.0
8.5
1.0 2.75.1
0.74.8
Stu
dent
s %
Note:The sum of students and proportions will not add to the total or 100% as a student may have enrolled in multiple programs and/or subjects in
the reporting period.
Government-funded students and courses – January to September 2019
In the first nine months to 30 September 2019, 76 100 government-funded students were enrolled in non-nationally recognised VET, consisting of: non-nationally recognised programs (48 300 students) non-nationally recognised stand-alone subjects (28 000 students).
Program enrolmentsIn the first nine months to 30 September 2019, there were 1 155 100 government-funded program enrolments. Engineering and related technologies was the most popular field of education in the January
to September 2019 period, with 16.4% of government-funded program enrolments, followed by society and culture with 15.3%.
Most qualification enrolments were in certificate III level qualifications (47.2%), followed by certificate IV (18.5%).
Figure 2 Government-funded program enrolments by field of education, January to September 2019
Note: (1) Training package skill sets and locally developed skill sets are not assigned a field of education.
8 Australian vocational education and training statistics
Type of training providerIn the first nine months to 30 September 2019, 1564 training providers delivered government-funded VET. There were: 565 400 (55.9%) government-funded students at TAFE Institutes 308 200 (30.5%) government-funded students at private training providers.
Figure 3 Government-funded students by training provider type, January to September 2019
Other training providers
Private training providers
Community education providers
Other government providers
TAFE institutes
0 100 000 200 000 300 000 400 000 500 000 600 000
60 400
308 200
57 100
51 000
565 400
Students
Note: The sum of students (n=1 042 100) does not add to the total (1 011 000) as some students have enrolled at more than one training provider type in the reporting period.
Government-funded students and courses – January to September 2019
TablesTable 1 Government-funded students by type of training and state/territory, January to September 2019 (’000)
A dash (-) represents a true zero figure, with no data reported in this category.Refer to the explanatory notes on pages 20–23 for notes relevant to this table.1. Nationally recognised programs are comprised of programs with at least one nationally recognised subject, delivered by a registered training
organisation.2. Non-nationally recognised training is either programs comprised entirely of non-nationally recognised subjects or non-nationally recognised
stand-alone subjects, or subjects submitted by non-registered providers.Note: The sum of students does not add to the total (1 011 000) as a student may have enrolled in multiple programs and/or subjects in a reporting period.
Table 2 Government-funded students by type of training, January to September 2015–19 (’000)
Total 1 005.0 1 036.1 968.5 958.0 1 011.0 5.5Refer to the explanatory notes on pages 20–23 for notes relevant to this table.1. Nationally recognised programs are comprised of programs with at least one nationally recognised subject, delivered by a registered training
organisation.2. Non-nationally recognised training is either programs comprised entirely of non-nationally recognised subjects or non-nationally recognised
stand-alone subjects, or subjects submitted by non-registered providers.Note: The sum of students does not add to the total (1 011 000) as a student may have enrolled in multiple programs and/or subjects in a reporting period.
10 Australian vocational education and training statistics
Table 3 Provider reporting type by state/territory, January to September 2019
Training providers NSW Vic. Qld SA WA Tas. NT ACT Aust.
Other training providers 96 46 53 42 18 38 31 20 254
Total 361 496 516 159 172 95 82 87 1 564A dash (-) represents a true zero figure, with no data reported in this category.Refer to the explanatory notes on pages 20–23 for notes relevant to this table.
Table 4 Provider reporting type, January to September 2015–19
Other training providers 24.9 13.1 6.9 5.3 2.1 4.4 2.5 1.2 60.4
Total 351.6 263.1 199.2 59.4 85.7 21.9 13.7 16.4 1 011.0A dash (-) represents a true zero figure, with no data reported in this category.Refer to the explanatory notes on pages 20–23 for notes relevant to this tableNote: The sum of students does not add to the total (1 011 000) as a student may have enrolled in multiple programs and/or subjects in a reporting period.
Table 6 Government-funded students by provider reporting type, January to September 2015–19 (’000)
StudentsJan-Sep
2015Jan-Sep
2016Jan-Sep
2017Jan-Sep
2018Jan-Sep
2019
Jan-Sep 2018 to Jan-Sep 2019
change (%)
TAFE institutes 501.6 565.8 539.8 528.5 565.4 7.0
Other government providers 39.7 41.7 42.6 44.8 51.0 13.8
Community education providers 61.9 58.5 54.3 58.0 57.1 -1.5
Private training providers 363.8 338.8 302.3 297.3 308.2 3.7
Other training providers 55.8 59.6 58.7 58.8 60.4 2.8
Total 1 005.0 1 036.1 968.5 958.0 1 011.0 5.5Refer to the explanatory notes on pages 20–23 for notes relevant to this tableNote: The sum of students does not add to the total (1 011 000) as a student may have enrolled in multiple programs and/or subjects in a reporting period.
Government-funded students and courses – January to September 2019 11
Table 7 Government-funded student characteristics by state/territory, January to September 2019 (’000)
Student characteristics NSW Vic. Qld SA WA Tas. NT ACT Aust.Gender
Not known 3.4 5.3 2.3 0.1 2.2 0.2 1.5 0.2 15.3Total students 351.6 263.1 199.2 59.4 85.7 21.9 13.7 16.4 1 011.0
A dash (-) represents a true zero figure, with no data reported in this category.Refer to the explanatory notes on pages 20–23 for notes relevant to this table.1. Please refer to ‘Not known’ information table on page 23.
12 Australian vocational education and training statistics
Table 8 Government-funded student characteristics, January to September 2015–19 (’000)
Age group14 years and under 2.4 2.1 1.2 1.1 1.1 0.115 to 19 years 244.3 237.6 232.4 223.6 233.0 4.220 to 24 years 202.3 203.9 195.7 197.2 207.2 5.025 to 44 years 365.4 390.5 360.2 360.0 383.8 6.645 to 64 years 173.3 186.1 164.7 161.7 170.4 5.465 years and over 16.2 15.5 14.0 14.3 15.5 8.4Not known 1.0 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.0 -64.2
Disability (including impairment or long-term condition)
With a disability 89.4 92.7 89.2 90.2 97.6 8.2
Without a disability 852.1 877.3 812.2 800.2 856.8 7.1
Not known 63.5 66.1 67.0 67.6 56.6 -16.3
English (Main language spoken at home)Non-English 187.9 189.3 182.2 181.0 192.7 6.5English 750.6 775.2 722.7 719.9 768.7 6.8Not known 66.5 71.6 63.5 57.1 49.6 -13.2
Labour force statusEmployed 572.5 592.7 538.6 525.4 566.7 7.9Unemployed 233.7 231.7 218.6 201.8 211.1 4.6Not in the labour force 120.3 127.9 130.4 130.0 137.3 5.6Not known 78.6 83.8 80.9 100.8 95.9 -4.8
School statusAt school 84.7 83.4 77.7 69.0 60.2 -12.7Not at school 888.2 920.3 863.2 860.2 684.5 -20.4Not known1 32.1 32.4 27.5 28.8 266.3 823.8
Apprentice/trainee status Apprentices and trainees undertaking off-
the-job training 241.5 246.2 246.5 257.1 265.0 3.1
Not apprentices and trainees 763.6 790.0 722.0 700.9 746.0 6.4SEIFA (IRSD)
Total students 1 005.0 1 036.1 968.5 958.0 1 011.0 5.5Refer to the explanatory notes on pages 20–23 for notes relevant to this table.1. Please refer to ‘Not known’ information table on page 23.
Government-funded students and courses – January to September 2019 13
Table 9 Government-funded program enrolments by type of training and state/territory, January to September 2019 (’000)
Program enrolments NSW Vic. Qld SA WA Tas. NT ACT Aust.
A dash (-) represents a true zero figure, with no data reported in this category.Refer to the explanatory notes on pages 20–24 for notes relevant to this table.1. Nationally recognised programs are comprised of programs with at least one nationally recognised subject, delivered by a registered training
organisation.2. Non-nationally recognised training is either programs comprised entirely of non-nationally recognised subjects or non-nationally recognised
stand-alone subjects, or subjects submitted by non-registered providers.
Table 10 Government-funded program enrolments by type of training, January to September 2015–19 (’000)
Refer to the explanatory notes on pages 20–23 for notes relevant to this table.1. Nationally recognised programs are comprised of programs with at least one nationally recognised subject, delivered by a registered training
organisation.2. Non-nationally recognised training is either programs comprised entirely of non-nationally recognised subjects or non-nationally recognised
stand-alone subjects, or subjects submitted by non-registered providers.
14 Australian vocational education and training statistics
Table 11 Government-funded program enrolments by field of education and state/territory, January to September 2019 (’000)
Program enrolments NSW Vic. Qld SA WA Tas. NT ACT Aust.
Field of educationNatural and physical sciences 2.4 1.7 1.9 0.7 0.7 0.1 0.0 0.2 7.6
Total 410.5 292.2 225.5 57.5 115.5 22.8 12.4 18.8 1 155.1Refer to the explanatory notes on pages 20–23 for notes relevant to this table.1. Training package skill sets and locally developed skill sets are not assigned a field of education.
Table 12 Government-funded program enrolments by field of education, January to September 2015–19 (’000)
Program enrolments Jan-Sep
2015Jan-Sep
2016Jan-Sep
2017Jan-Sep
2018Jan-Sep
2019
Jan-Sep 2018 to Jan-Sep 2019
change (%)
Field of educationNatural and physical sciences 8.9 7.1 6.7 6.2 7.6 23.6
Information technology 25.8 22.6 22.6 22.8 24.1 5.6
Engineering and related technologies 223.8 202.6 201.7 179.2 189.0 5.5
Architecture and building 103.2 104.8 107.6 104.7 105.9 1.2
Agriculture, environmental and related studies
41.4 41.1 40.4 32.3 34.3 6.2
Health 57.2 56.0 53.5 55.0 58.9 7.2
Education 70.9 82.8 80.8 68.8 72.5 5.4
Management and commerce 171.3 170.7 149.2 143.8 146.2 1.7
Society and culture 159.9 151.5 146.9 156.8 176.2 12.3
Creative arts 23.6 23.1 24.7 21.8 22.4 2.6
Food, hospitality and personal services 96.1 91.4 96.0 81.4 83.1 2.0
Mixed field programmes 157.0 153.6 152.3 157.4 167.8 6.6
Not assigned1 10.2 118.2 78.0 59.8 67.0 12.1
Total 1 149.2 1 225.7 1 160.3 1 090.1 1 155.1 6.0Refer to the explanatory notes on pages 20–23 for notes relevant to this table.1. Training package skill sets and locally developed skill sets are not assigned a field of education.
Government-funded students and courses – January to September 2019 15
Table 13 Government-funded qualification enrolments by level of education and state/territory, January to September 2019 (’000)
Qualification enrolments NSW Vic. Qld SA WA Tas. NT ACT Aust.
Total 324.1 273.2 212.8 55.6 87.3 19.4 11.8 17.7 1 002.0A dash (-) represents a true zero figure, with no data reported in this category.This table consists of training package qualifications and accredited qualifications with at least one nationally recognised subject, delivered by a registered training organisation.Refer to the explanatory notes on pages 20–23 for notes relevant to this table.
Table 14 Government-funded qualification enrolments by level of education, January to September 2015–19 (’000)
Qualification enrolments Jan-Sep
2015Jan-Sep
2016Jan-Sep
2017
Jan-Sep
2018Jan-Sep
2019
Jan-Sep 2018 to Jan-Sep 2019
change (%)
Level of educationGraduate diploma 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 **
Graduate certificate 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 **
Advanced diploma 15.2 13.8 11.8 11.1 11.3 2.3
Diploma 113.7 128.3 119.0 116.0 119.7 3.2
Certificate IV 205.2 182.8 167.7 167.9 185.7 10.6
Certificate III 502.2 478.6 485.1 458.1 473.0 3.3
Certificate II 164.8 159.1 161.4 141.1 149.7 6.1
Certificate I 65.0 66.6 66.6 61.5 62.5 1.6
Total 1 066.4 1 029.3 1 011.9 955.7 1 002.0 4.8This table consists of training package qualifications and accredited qualifications with at least one nationally recognised subject, delivered by a registered training organisation.Refer to the explanatory notes on pages 20–23 for notes relevant to this table.** Percentage change not calculated due to small base numbers.
16 Australian vocational education and training statistics
Table 15 Government-funded subject enrolments by type of training and state/territory, January to September 2019 (‘000)
Subject enrolments NSW Vic. Qld. SA WA Tas. NT ACT Aust.
A dash (-) represents a true zero figure, with no data reported in this category.Refer to the explanatory notes on pages 20–23 for notes relevant to this table.1. Nationally recognised programs are comprised of programs with at least one nationally recognised subject, delivered by a registered training
organisation.2. Non-nationally recognised training is either programs comprised entirely of non-nationally recognised subjects or non-nationally recognised
stand-alone subjects, or subjects submitted by non-registered providers.
Table 16 Government-funded subject enrolments by type of training, January to September 2015–19 (’000)
Refer to the explanatory notes on pages 20–23 for notes relevant to this table.1. Nationally recognised programs are comprised of programs with at least one nationally recognised subject, delivered by a registered training
organisation.2. Non-nationally recognised training is either programs comprised entirely of non-nationally recognised subjects or non-nationally recognised
stand-alone subjects, or subjects submitted by non-registered providers.
Government-funded students and courses – January to September 2019 17
Table 17 Summary by state/territory, January to September 2015–19 (’000)
Jan-Sep
2015Jan-Sep
2016Jan-Sep
2017Jan-Sep
2018Jan-Sep
2019
Jan-Sep 2018 to Jan-Sep 2019
change (%)
Students
Australia 1 005.0 1 036.1 968.5 958.0 1 011.0 5.5
New South Wales 238.1 339.0 310.3 333.7 351.6 5.4
Victoria 330.3 284.9 266.5 249.6 263.1 5.4
Queensland 191.2 190.6 186.5 186.3 199.2 6.9
South Australia 79.6 63.7 54.2 52.1 59.4 14.1
Western Australia 107.0 100.5 93.9 83.9 85.7 2.2
Tasmania 26.4 24.4 22.9 21.8 21.9 0.4
Northern Territory 17.4 18.6 18.5 15.6 13.7 -11.8
Australian Capital Territory 15.1 14.5 15.8 15.0 16.4 9.6
Australian Capital Territory 133.5 124.7 133.2 101.3 107.2 5.8
Refer to the explanatory notes on pages 20–23 for notes relevant to this table.
18 Australian vocational education and training statistics
TermsThe information included in this publication is, unless stated otherwise, derived from the National VET Provider Collection. This collection is governed by the Australian Vocational Education and Training Management Information Statistical Standard VET Provider Collection specifications: release 8.0 (AVETMISS Release 8.0). For other terms and definitions, refer to the resource at <https://www.ncver.edu.au/research-and-statistics/collections/students-and-courses-collection/government-funded-students-and-courses> under More information.Accredited courses refer to nationally recognised courses accredited by VET regulators. They are courses that result in a statement of attainment outcome. The title of such courses commences with the words ‘Course in’.Accredited qualifications refer to nationally recognised courses that lead to a qualification outcome not specified in a national training package.Age of the student as at 30 June of the collection year. It is generally reported in age ranges.Apprentice/trainee status indicates whether a student is undertaking some off-the-job training under an apprenticeship/traineeship training contract.Commonwealth and state funding is expenditure by Commonwealth or state/territory governments for the delivery of vocational education and training.Community education providers are not-for-profit, community-based organisations with a primary focus on adult education. Community-based adult education delivers courses relating to leisure, personal and community development, employment skills, preparation for VET and nationally recognised programs of study.Credit transfer is training credit for a unit of competency or module previously completed by a student.Disability refers to whether the student self-identifies as having a disability, impairment or long-term condition.Enrolment (program/subject) is the registration of a student for the purpose of undertaking a program or subject.Field of education describes the broad area of study related to a program or subject in which a student is enrolled.Gender refers to whether the student identifies as male, female or other. Not known gender includes not specified responses as well as individuals who may have mixed or non-binary sexual characteristics; identify as gender diverse; or identify as neither male nor female.Government-funded activity relates to Commonwealth and state/territory funded activity that is administered by state/territory departments responsible for VET.Indigenous status indicates whether a student self-identifies as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent.Labour force status describes a student’s employment status. Labour force status identifier is based on the Standards for Labour Force Statistics, ABS catalogue no.1288.0, Issue for December 2014.Locally developed programs include non-nationally recognised courses and skill sets to meet an identified training need.Main language spoken at home refers to the main language other than English spoken at home by the student.
Government-funded students and courses – January to September 2019 19
Nationally recognised programs includes training package qualifications, accredited qualifications, training package skill sets and accredited courses that are listed on the National Training Register (training.gov.au).Nationally recognised subjects includes units of competency or modules that are listed on the National Training Register (training.gov.au).Nationally recognised training leads to vocational qualifications and credentials that are recognised across Australia and that are delivered by registered training organisations (RTOs). Nationally recognised training are listed on the National Training Register (training.gov.au).Non-nationally recognised training includes locally developed courses, higher level qualifications and locally developed skill sets. Non-nationally recognised training are not listed on the National Training Register (training.gov.au).Off-the-job training for apprentices and trainees refers to training that takes place away from a person’s job, usually off the premises (for example, at TAFE) but may also be on the premises (for example, in a special training area).Other government providers are government-owned and managed education facilities/organisations, other than TAFE institutes, that deliver VET (for example, agricultural colleges, universities, etc.).Other training providers include secondary schools, non-government enterprises, education/training businesses or centres, professional associations, industry associations, equipment/product manufacturers and suppliers, and other training providers not elsewhere classified.Private training providers refer to privately-owned and operated training providers that are registered by the Australian Skills Quality Authority, or a state/territory accrediting body. Programs refer to structured study where associated subjects are grouped together as qualifications, courses or skill sets.Program level of education identifies the degree of complexity of the program of study. This classification is based on the Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED), ABS catalogue no.1272.0, 2001.Provider reporting type refers to the type of institution or organisation providing the training. Refer to explanatory note 4. Qualifications in the VET sector refer to the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) levels of education from certificate I through to graduate diploma.Registered training organisations (RTOs) are training providers registered by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) or a state or territory registering and accrediting body, to deliver training and/or conduct assessment and issue nationally recognised qualifications in accordance with the Australian Quality Training Framework or the VET Quality Framework.School status indicates whether a student is still at school or not.SEIFA Index of Relative Disadvantage (IRSD) is a general socio-economic index that summarises information about the economic and social resources of people and households within an area. This index focuses on disadvantage. A high score (or quintile) reflects a relative lack of disadvantage rather than relative advantage.Skill sets are groupings of units of competency which are combined to provide a clearly defined statement of the skills and knowledge required by an individual to meet industry needs or a licensing or regulatory requirement. They may be either a training package skill set or a locally developed skill set.Stand-alone nationally recognised subjects are nationally recognised subject enrolments that are not delivered as part of a nationally recognised program.
20 Australian vocational education and training statistics
State or territory that administered funding is the jurisdiction in which the funding of the training activity was administered. Students are individuals who were enrolled in a stand-alone subject and/or program.Student remoteness region (ARIA+) is the degree of remoteness of a location in terms of the ease or difficulty people face in accessing services in non-metropolitan Australia. The Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) divides Australia into six Remoteness Areas and is used for collection and dissemination of geographically classified statistics.Superseded subject training outcome is where a subject is superseded by another before a student has completed it, the final outcome is reported against the subject that succeeded it.Technical and further education (TAFE) institutes are created by an Act of parliament and have responsibilities specified in that and other legislation and via ministerial directions. These institutes are public bodies in receipt of government funding and provide a range of technical and VET courses and other programs (for example, entry and bridging courses, language and literacy courses, adult basic education courses, senior secondary certificate of education courses, personal enrichment courses, and small business courses).Training packages are developed by Service Skills Organisations (formerly by Industry Skills Councils) to meet the training needs of an industry, or a group of industries. Each training package is made up of three components; units of competency, qualifications framework and assessment guidelines. For further information refer to <http://www.training.gov.au>.Training package qualifications are nationally endorsed qualifications specified in a national training package.Training package skill sets are nationally recognised skill sets, specified in a national training package. They are groupings of units of competency that have been combined to provide a clearly defined statement of the skills and knowledge required by an individual to meet industry needs or a licensing or regulatory requirement.Unique student identifier (USI) uniquely identifies an individual who accesses vocational education and training over his or her lifetime.Universities include Australia’s universities, which have been established or recognised under state or territory legislation, except the Australian National University, which is constituted under an Act of the federal parliament. Vocational education and training (VET) refer to post-compulsory education and training that provides people with occupational or work-related knowledge and skills. It also includes programs that provide the basis for subsequent vocational programs.
Government-funded students and courses – January to September 2019 21
Explanatory notes
Scope1 The data are sourced from the administrative records held by the state training authorities
and other relevant bodies. The tables provide information on the government-funded VET delivered by:
TAFE institutes and other government VET providers community education providers private training providers other training providers.
This publication does not cover the following types of training activity: fee-for-service VET delivery undertaken at overseas campuses of Australian VET institutions credit transfer superseded training VET delivered in schools, where the training activity was undertaken as part of a
senior secondary certificate any activity where revenue was earned from another training provider in terms of
subcontracting, auspicing, partnership or similar arrangements.
Student counts and participation2 From 1 January 2015, all new and continuing students undertaking nationally recognised VET
in Australia are required to have a unique student identifier (USI) to receive a qualification or statement of attainment.The USI is a randomly generated alpha-numeric code recorded against any nationally recognised training undertaken and remains with an individual for life. The implementation of the USI provides a mechanism with which to better estimate student counts by identifying and potentially removing duplicate student records.NCVER uses a two-step process to de-duplicate student counts in Government-funded students and courses, which uses the USI where available and a count of distinct client identifiers within each submission for the residual data. This is similar to the process used to estimate total VET student counts, the only difference is that government-funded student counts are de-duplicated within each state, that is by the state/territory that administered the funding of the training activity, and not across states as is done in Total VET students and courses. Where comparisons of student counts are made within the publication, the same de-duplication process has been applied to all periods. Caution must be used when comparing de-duplicated student counts due to differing rates of duplication in student numbers across periods, which in part could be due to varying rates of USI provision.For further information on the de-duplication of student counts refer to the technical paper Counting students in Total VET students and courses located at<https://www.ncver.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0028/796213/Technical-paper-Counting-students-in-Total-VET-students-and-courses.pdf>.
Reporting derivations3 In 2019, NCVER introduced new tables presenting training activity by nationally recognised
training and non-nationally recognised training. Students undertaking nationally recognised
22 Australian vocational education and training statistics
training have undertaken at least one nationally recognised subject delivered by a registered training organisation. Because students may enrol in multiple programs and/or subjects in a calendar year, the sum of students will not add to the total (1 011 000 students).
4 Government-funded students and courses reports training activity according to the state/territory that administered the funding of that training. NCVER apply a number of derivations to the data submitted by state training authorities so that the data are reported from a state/territory perspective. One of the other major derivations is provider reporting type, which determines how training organisations are reported in the various Government-funded students and courses resources. A matrix was developed by NCVER — in consultation with the state training authorities in each jurisdiction — which determines how different types of training providers are reported in each state/territory. The provider reporting type derived field is based on the combination of the submitter identifier and training organisation type identifier. For example, training delivered by a TAFE in its own jurisdiction is reported as being delivered by a TAFE. However, if the TAFE successfully contests funding contracts in other jurisdictions, then any training delivery is reported as being delivered by ‘other training provider’ in that jurisdiction.In South Australia (up to and including 2016) and New South Wales, there are separate data submissions for adult and community education training. Training submitted through these submitters are all reported as being delivered by community education providers, irrespective of the actual training organisation type identifier of the training providers. A consequence of this approach is that in these two states, a training provider that submits ACE and other activity may be reported as having two different training provider types.
Data quality and comparability issues
National reporting5 Some field of education fields are reported as blank because they are associated with
‘subject only enrolments — no program’, ‘skill sets — no program’ or are ‘missing data’.6 Percentage change calculations for training activity at the national level between January-
September 2018 and January-September 2019 have been impacted by reporting issues in Western Australia and improvements to reporting practices in the Northern Territory.
New South Wales7 From 1 January 2019, the number of TAFEs reported in New South Wales declined from 11
to one, as part of the One TAFE consolidation program.8 There was an initial spike in part qualification activity in 2016 due to the introduction of the
Smart and Skilled Part Qualifications program in September 2015. The decrease in the number of students undertaking skills sets training in 2017 may in part be due to a natural drop in activity as initial demand was met. Also in 2017, student demand moved away from short courses and skill sets to higher level full qualifications. Between 2017 and 2018, there was a 3.4% increase in program enrolments at certificate III level, 17.9% increase at certificate IV level and 10.0% increase for diploma and higher qualifications.
9 NSW Workplace Training and NESA do not submit data for the January to March, January to June or January to September data submissions. However, they do submit data for January to December. Consequently, caution should be taken when comparing data from the first three quarters with the annual data.
Northern Territory
Government-funded students and courses – January to September 2019 23
10 The decline in training activity in the Northern Territory between January-September 2018 and January-September 2019 was partly due to improvements in reporting practices in 2019. Previously, some students were enrolled in their training activity prior to commencing the actual training component, and their participation was reported as ‘continuing’. Using the ‘70 – continuing’ outcome identifier meant that the student and their training activity were ‘in scope’ for reporting purposes. This practice changed in the January-March 2019 period, and their participation was reported as ‘not yet started’. This ‘85 – not yet started’ outcome identifier was introduced in AVETMISS release 8.0, for reporting from 2018 onwards. Subjects with an outcome identifier of ‘85 – not yet started’ are not in scope for reporting purposes. If all a student’s training activity had ‘85 – not yet started’ outcomes, then that student would not be counted.
Subject enrolments by selected subject result, Northern Territory, January-September 2018–19Subject enrolments Jan-Sep 2018 Jan-Sep 2019Outcome identifier Not in scope In scope Total Not in scope In scope Total
85 - Not yet started 2 300 0 2 300 10 800 0 10 800
Western Australia11 Western Australia’s TAFE training activity in 2018 was affected by reporting delays caused
by transition to a new student management system. These may have affected percentage change calculations for Western Australia and Australia between January—September 2018 and January—September 2019.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data12 Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) is an ABS-developed product that ranks areas in
Australia according to relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage. Four different indexes are calculated. Each index is a summary of a different subset of Census variables and focuses on a different aspect of socio-economic advantage and disadvantage. This publication uses the Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage (IRSD). Further information on SEIFA can be found at <http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/seifa>.
13 Student remoteness is based on the Access/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA+), which was developed by the Hugo Centre for Migration and Population Research at the University of Adelaide. ARIA+ is now the standard ABS-endorsed measure of remoteness. Data between 2009 and 2010 was based on ABS postal areas and ARIA+. From 2011, Student remoteness (ARIA+) is determined from ARIA+ remoteness regions and ABS SA2 regions. Student remoteness (ARIA+) regions use the same ARIA+ ranges as the ABS remoteness areas and are therefore an approximation of the ABS remoteness areas. For more details of ARIA+ refer to <https://www.adelaide.edu.au/hugo-centre/news/list/2018/11/21/accessibilityremoteness-index-of-australia-plus-aria-2016>.
Training providers14 There have been reductions in the number of TAFE providers reported in New South Wales,
Western Australia and Queensland in recent years due to the implementation of reform measures in those jurisdictions.
15 Training providers submit data via state training authorities as part of their funding agreement. Consequently, some training providers may be reported in more than one state/territory. In New South Wales and South Australia (up to 2016), some training
24 Australian vocational education and training statistics
providers may be reported both as a ‘Community education provider’ and ‘Other provider’. However, they are only reported once in the total.
16 The total is a distinct count of training providers that submitted data through the state training authorities. Some training providers deliver VET in more than one state/territory. Therefore, they are counted in each state/territory’s figures, but only counted once in the total.
Government-funded students and courses – January to September 2019 25
Field of education17 Government-funded students undertaking Skill sets — training package and locally
developed and Subject only — stand-alone nationally recognised subject enrolments are not reported with a program field of education.
‘Not known’ information18 Data reported in the National VET Provider Collection as ‘Not known’ are reported for the
following reasons: information was not collected a student has not responded to a question on the enrolment form invalid information was supplied.The extent of ‘Not known’ data nationally for selected variables is illustrated in the table below.
Students with ‘not known’ data, January to September 2015–19 (%)
Jan-Sep 2015 Jan-Sep 2016 Jan-Sep 2017 Jan-Sep 2018 Jan-Sep 2019Indigenous status 3.3 3.3 3.4 3.3 3.9Disability status 6.3 6.4 6.9 7.1 5.6Main language spoken at home 6.6 6.9 6.6 6.0 4.9Labour force status 7.8 8.1 8.3 10.5 9.5School status 3.2 3.1 2.8 3.0 26.3
In the January to September 2019 data, TAFE NSW reported a high proportion of students with a School status of ‘Not known’.Caution should be taken when using data with a large number of ‘Not known’ responses.
Credit transfer
19 Credit transfer is not reported in this publication (as the training effort occurred in previous years). Data on credit transfer by state/territory for 2015—19 are presented in the table below.
Government-funded subject enrolments by credit transfer and state/territory, Jan-Sep 2015–19 (‘000)
