On Track 2009 Data Released

June 2010

Results from the 2009 On Track Survey of school leavers has indicated that non-government school students are still more likely to go to university than government school students, but that more students overall are undertaking tertiary study.

In 2009, 48.8 per cent of school leavers went on to university after completing school, compared with 45.4 per cent of 2008 school leavers. In non-government schools, 57.1 per cent of 2009 leavers enrolled in university compared to 41.2 per cent of government school students.

The number of school leavers enrolling in TAFE courses remained at 18 per cent, with 20.9 per cent of government school students and 14.8 per cent of non-government school students choosing this option. The number of school leavers who were not at university, TAFE or in training decreased from 28.1 per cent in 2008 to 24.7 per cent in 2009.

The proportion of students who had deferred their studies also dropped in 2009, from 12.1 per cent of students to 9.8 per cent. In particular, changes to the Australian Government’s Youth Allowance were credited for causing a large drop in the number of deferrals by students from regional Victoria.

The Victorian Minister for Education, Ms Bronwyn Pike, argued that government policies had enabled a greater number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds to attend university, claiming that 42.5 per cent of government school students who succeeded in entering university had come from the ‘two lowest socioeconomic groups’, compared with 32 per cent the previous year.

 

 

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