VET completions hold steady during Covid pandemic

Completion rates for vocational education and training (VET) qualifications held steady at a high rate according to the latest report released today by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER).

The VET qualification completion rates 2023 report shows that 47.3 percent of all VET qualifications that commenced in 2019 – the year before the Covid-19 pandemic hit – were completed by the end of 2023.

This is comparable to the 47.6 percent completion rate for qualifications that commenced in 2018 and were completed by the end of 2022.

Despite disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, including impacts to work placements, training delivery and student engagement, completion rates for qualifications that commenced in 2019 are higher than those that began between 2015 and 2017.

The report also shows that completion rates increase as the level of education rises. For instance, 55.9 percent of diploma or higher qualifications commenced in 2019 were completed by 2023, compared with 35.6 percent of certificate I qualifications.

Data collected from the 2023 National Student Outcomes Survey reveals that the three most common reasons students do not complete a qualification are changing jobs, personal circumstances, and that training that does not meet expectations.

Image: NCVER/ Completion rates after 4 years for VET qualifications commencing in 2016 to 2019 (%)