A quarter of young have VET qualification – NCVER

By age 22, the highest qualification completed for just over a quarter (26 percent) of young Australians is a vocational qualification, while a further quarter (25 percent) had completed a university degree, according to data from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER).

Generation Z: life at 22 uses results from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) to explore how young people fared when they were 22 years old in 2022.

Females were more likely than males to complete a university degree (29 percent compared with 21 percent) while males were more likely than females to complete a vocational qualification (27 percent compared with 24 percent).

Most 22-year-olds were either working or studying in 2022 (93 percent), with 87 percent working and 41 percent studying.

Just under half were working full-time (46 percent) and of those working full-time, 57 percent saw their current job as their career job.

NCVER Managing Director Simon Walker said: “The latest LSAY data shows the changing nature of young people’s education and employment pathways.

“The results also showed young Australians are experiencing increasing rates of financial stress and mental illness.”

Picture: NCVER