The Australian education system works well for most students. However, equitable access to secondary education is problematic for First Nations people living in remote communities. There is a strong emphasis on Year 12 completion as an indicator of successful engagement in remote First Nations education. This has been partly driven by Australian…

Despite compelling qualitative arguments for scale and scope economies in university-level distance education, as distinct from traditional class-based face-to-face instruction, there is little rigorous quantitative evidence in support. In this paper, we explore the scale and scope economies of distance education using a multiplicatively separable…

Dropouts have become an international problem, and it is useful to examine the solutions arrived at by other countries. A major difference is in vocational education. The United States, for example, uses vocational education mainly as a means to motivate uninterested students. Countries with low dropout rates have vocational education and training…

This study reports on the initial experiences of first entering students at the University of Limpopo registered for 2010 Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.). I argue the initial experiences of first entering students at universities have implications for how they cope with studies and could lead to some dropping out. I place my argument within the…

Economic inequality is high and rising in a number of developed countries, including in the United Kingdom and the United States. There are growing concerns that this may have negative implications for equality of opportunity, and the extent to which social disadvantage is transmitted across generations. It is widely believed that providing…

This annual publication provides a summary of training activity in apprenticeships and traineeships in Australia, from the period 1998 to 2008, including information on training rates, attrition rates, completion rates, training within the trades and duration of training. The figures in this publication are derived from the National Apprentice and…

This study examines non-completion of Year 12 at school for a nationally representative sample of young people who were 15 years old and still attending school in 2003. The study explores relationships between non-completion and selected socio-demographic and school-related factors, and changes in rates of school non-completion from the early…

Australian researchers examined why, despite government efforts to provide an environment where all people could access education, training, and work, there has been little change in school retention and completion rates in recent years. Three studies included "Young Persons' Education, Training and Employment Outcomes with Special Reference…

Australian researchers investigated the education training outcomes of young people (age 15-19 years), focusing on early school leavers. Data came from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the National Center for Vocational and Educational Research. About one-third of the 270,000 students who leave school each year leave before 12th grade. The…

The purpose of this study was to design, implement and evaluate a program for senior secondary regional students making choices about their future careers. The program provided information and experiences to help students decide whether to pursue their interest in early childhood through studying at their local university. Nineteen students…

A study was done of the destinations of secondary school dropouts in 1990 in the Northern Territory of Australia, focusing on aspects of the school-to-work transition. The study contacted students through mailed surveys and telephone interviews. Information on dropouts not contacted through these methods was gained from the Northern Territory…

This study presents survey data for 1971-72 on young Australian people aged 15-24 who leave school. Members of the armed forces, diplomatic personnel, the institutionalized, and those reported as permanently unable to work are not included. Data are collated on slightly less than 110,000 dropouts, and do not represent the detail sought by many…

This publication provides a synopsis of the issues, as identified in recent research reports, relating to non-completion of New Apprenticeships and Traineeships in Australia. Some of the key findings of the research reports are the following: (1) during the mid-1990s, non-completion rates were approximately 45 percent for trainees and between…