Student Outcomes Survey
CONTACT
Client Services
National Centre for Vocational Education Research
Telephone 1800 00 99 66
Email ncver@ncver.edu.au
DESCRIPTION
The Student Outcomes Survey is a national survey of students who undertook vocational education and training (VET) at technical and further education (TAFE) institutes and other government providers; with Adult and Community Education (ACE) providers (in N.S.W. and Vic. only); or as at government-funded students with private providers. The survey collects information on level and type of training, student employment outcomes, further study patterns, and satisfaction with the training provided.
Scope
The survey covers students who, in the previous year, were awarded a qualification (graduates) or successfully completed a module and then left the VET system (module completers). Only students who have an Australian address as their usual residence are included. Persons who undertook recreational or hobby courses (short courses) are not included.
Reference Period
End of May in the year after respondents completed their course or module.
Frequency of Collection
Annual from 1997
Method of Collection
The survey is a stratified, random sample of graduates and module completers of about 50,000 students Australia-wide. The data are collected by a self-enumeration questionnaire. Questionnaires are mailed out to in-scope students, and are to be returned within two weeks. Despite follow-ups, the response rate is approximately 43% for graduates and 37% for module completers.
The questionnaires for graduates and module completers are similar, so some comparisons can be made between them. However, data for the two populations should not be combined in analysis. ACE students received a shorter questionnaire than the TAFE and private provider students.
DISSEMINATION
Release Schedule
Results are available late the following year.
Publication
Australian Vocational Education and Training Statistics: Student outcomes - Summary. NCVER, Adelaide.
Geography
Information is available for Australia, all states and territories.
Data Service
Five large sets of detailed statistical tables are available from the NCVER website, http://www.ncver.edu.au, in Excel format. For data requests contact NCVER Client Services, surveys_req@ncver.edu.au.
DATA ITEMS
Personal Characteristics
Age
Sex
Country of birth
Whether had a disability or long-term health condition
Main language other than English spoken at home
Proficiency in spoken English
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status
Prior Study
Highest year of school completed
Level of highest educational attainment prior to completion of current course
Institution attended in six months prior to completion of current course
Training
Course name
Level of education
Field of education
Whether part of apprenticeship/traineeship
Attendance
Length of time taken to complete training
Sources of income during training
Recognition for prior learning
Methods of delivery of training
Whether moved to undertake training
Reason for moving to undertake training
Main reason for undertaking training
Whether helped achieve main reason for undertaking training
Benefits/relevance of undertaking training to job
Student's satisfaction with various aspects of the training
Further study (for graduates only)
Reasons did not continue to study (module completers only)
Employment Characteristics
Labour force status (prior to, during and six months after completing training)
Full/time or part-time status (prior to and six months after completing training)
Occupation (prior to and six months after completing training)
Industry of employment (prior to and six months after completing training)
Status in employment
Hours worked
Employer support during training
Earnings
Size of location/business throughout Australia
Sector of employment
Length of time taken to find a job after training
Whether first full-time job
Historical Data
Since 2005 the survey has included all VET students, not just government-funded VET students, causing a break in time series data. Note, in 2004 only TAFE students were surveyed. Historical data to 1997 are available from NCVER.
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