VET IN THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM reason. In particular, Various policies at both national and state levels are aimed at helping scored VET subjects disadvantaged individuals to reach their educational potential and appear to be scaled improve their labour market opportunities. The introduction of VET in down more than general Schools in the 1990s is one such initiative that aims to retain less subjects. This is academically inclined students in school, while also providing them with a because there is a broad range of post- secondary options. This initiative was expanded in relatively high the early 2000s with the introduction of scored VET subjects, which allows proportion of for some VET in Schools subjects to count towards a national VET students in qualification and a university entry score, providing yet more options for these subjects who do students. not apply for university This aspect of VET in Schools programs is the focus of Does scored VET in but who concentrate schools help or hinder access to higher education in Victoria? (Polidano, their effort in VET Tabasso & Zhang 2014). The motivation for introducing scored VET subjects subjects, possibly to was to improve the status of VET in the secondary school curriculum. A attain a vocational further benefit was that it offered viable options to students who were not qualification. This entirely certain of which pathway to take university or vocational — research highlights an education and training. Victoria was the focus of the research because its example of an VET programs have been highly integrated into the Victorian secondary unintended outcome school curriculum since the 1990s and it was the first state to introduce resulting from efforts to scored VET programs. make VET meet conflicting purposes; namely, opening The effect of undertaking a scored VET subject up VET pathways The study shows that, among those who intend to go to university, without closing off higher education students who take a scored VET subject on average have a university options. entry score of around six points lower than those who do not take a scored VET subject (111 compared with 117 out of a possible 205). Consistent with a lower university entry score, those who take scored Broadening VET VET subjects have a in Schools 12 percentage-point lower chance of receiving a university offer. pathways may not necessarily Most of the lower university entry score can be attributed to the relatively benefit all low scores attained in scored VET subjects. An exploratory analysis suggests students. that current subject-scaling arrangements in Victoria that adjust for differences in the difficulty in attaining the middle ranking in a subject may be a key
VET IN THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM Various policies at both national and state levels are aimed at helping disadvantaged individuals to reach their educational potential and improve their labour market opportunities. The introduction of VET in Schools in the 1990s is one such initiative that aims to retain less academically inclined students in school, while also providing them with a broad range of post- secondary options. This initiative was expanded in the early 2000s with the introduction of scored VET subjects, which allows for some VET in Schools subjects to count towards a national VET qualification and a university entry score, providing yet more options for students. This aspect of VET in Schools programs is the focus of Does scored VET in schools help or hinder access to higher education in Victoria? (Polidano, Tabasso & Zhang 2014). The motivation for introducing scored VET subjects was to improve the status of VET in the secondary school curriculum. A further benefit was that it offered viable options to students who were not entirely certain of which pathway to take — university or vocational education and training. Victoria was the focus of the research because its VET programs have been highly integrated into the Victorian secondary school curriculum since the 1990s and it was the first state to introduce scored VET programs. The effect of undertaking a scored VET subject The study shows that, among those who intend to go to university, students who take a scored VET subject on average have a university entry score of around six points lower than those who do not take a scored VET subject (111 compared with 117 out of a possible 205). Consistent with a lower university entry score, those who take scored VET subjects have a 12 percentage-point lower chance of receiving a university offer. Most of the lower university entry score can be attributed to the relatively low scores attained in scored VET subjects. An exploratory analysis suggests that current subject-scaling arrangements in Victoria that adjust for differences in the difficulty in attaining the middle ranking in a subject may be a key reason. In particular, scored VET subjects appear to be scaled down more than general subjects. This is because there is a relatively high proportion of students in these subjects who do not apply for university but who concentrate their effort in VET subjects, possibly to attain a vocational qualification. This research highlights an example of an unintended outcome resulting from efforts to make VET meet conflicting purposes; namely, opening up VET pathways without closing off higher education options. Broadening VET in Schools pathways may not necessarily benefit all students.
can-vet-create-a-more-inclusive-society-2817.docx