Australian vocational education and training statistics
Government-funded
students and courses 2014
Preliminary
National Centre for Vocational Education Research
Introduction
This publication presents preliminary figures for the number of students, subject enrolments,
hours of delivery and full-year training equivalents relating to Australia’s government-funded
vocational education and training (VET) system for 2014. As the figures are preliminary, they
may be subject to change as further processing of the data is undertaken. Final data, with
more detail and a wider range of variables, are expected to be released in late June 2015.
This publication supersedes the Australian vocational education and training statistics:
students and courses series.
Highlights

The number of students enrolled in the publicly funded VET system declined by
3.5% in 2014 compared with 2013.

Student numbers increased in the Northern Territory (9.2%), Queensland (4.9%),
Tasmania (1.8%) and New South Wales (0.1%).

Subject enrolments declined to 15.9 million in 2014, a 1.2% decrease from the
previous year.

Hours of delivery and full-year training equivalents both increased by 1.1%
between 2013 and 2014.

Students undertaking diploma or higher qualifications increased by 5.9% between
2013 and 2014, while certificate qualifications (certificates I—IV) declined by 4.3%
overall for the same period.
Table 1
Summaries of state and territory data, 2010–14
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2013–14
(’000)
(’000)
(’000)
(’000)
(’000)
% change
-3.5
Number of students
Australia
1 772.6
1 860.1
1 924.1
1 853.9
1 789.2
New South Wales
578.2
582.0
595.3
560.0
560.4
0.1
Victoria
500.8
581.7
631.1
618.2
587.5
-5.0
Queensland
300.8
304.3
290.7
251.9
264.1
4.9
South Australia
123.9
123.0
142.5
165.7
129.8
-21.6
Western Australia
166.0
167.7
167.3
163.8
152.6
-6.8
Tasmania
49.6
47.4
43.0
43.0
43.8
1.8
Northern Territory
24.0
24.4
24.3
22.9
25.1
9.2
Australian Capital Territory
29.4
29.4
30.1
28.5
25.9
-9.1
Australia
651.9
708.6
772.2
751.1
759.6
1.1
New South Wales
203.8
208.4
213.1
200.2
207.2
3.5
Victoria
204.1
243.9
301.2
294.8
296.7
0.6
Queensland
106.4
114.4
108.7
96.9
114.6
18.2
South Australia
39.6
41.3
49.2
61.3
45.3
-26.1
Western Australia
67.3
68.7
68.3
68.1
65.1
-4.4
Tasmania
13.6
14.6
14.4
13.1
12.8
-2.0
6.6
6.7
6.8
6.2
7.5
20.9
10.6
10.7
10.6
10.4
10.4
0.3
Australia
469 390.8
510 165.2
556 018.8
540 804.9
546 938.7
1.1
New South Wales
146 719.3
150 027.6
153 406.8
144 126.4
149 196.3
3.5
Victoria
146 980.6
175 617.9
216 870.1
212 287.0
213 591.2
0.6
Queensland
76 605.9
82 360.7
78 279.9
69 784.9
82 483.9
18.2
South Australia
28 512.6
29 753.8
35 402.7
44 139.9
32 598.7
-26.1
Western Australia
48 447.4
49 431.6
49 156.6
49 066.9
46 886.4
-4.4
Tasmania
9 772.2
10 478.4
10 369.3
9 421.7
9 237.5
-2.0
Northern Territory
4 731.2
4 795.4
4 915.3
4 490.6
5 431.2
20.9
Australian Capital Territory
7 621.6
7 699.8
7 618.0
7 487.4
7 513.4
0.3
-1.2
Number of full-year training equivalents
Northern Territory
Australian Capital Territory
Number of hours of delivery
Number of subject enrolments
Australia
14 584.6
15 893.5
16 737.8
16 072.4
15 877.3
New South Wales
4 588.2
4 529.9
4 474.8
4 207.9
4 294.0
2.0
Victoria
4 335.4
5 499.2
6 462.8
6 239.3
5 956.6
-4.5
Queensland
2 536.0
2 726.5
2 488.5
2 178.7
2 628.3
20.6
908.4
911.9
1 109.1
1 336.5
914.6
-31.6
South Australia
Western Australia
1 460.5
1 473.0
1 461.4
1 434.8
1 379.1
-3.9
Tasmania
342.0
338.1
314.7
292.0
307.2
5.2
Northern Territory
164.2
167.7
169.3
162.3
175.9
8.4
Australian Capital Territory
250.1
247.1
257.2
220.9
221.6
0.3
A break-in-series is represented by a dashed border.
2
Australian vocational education and training statistics
Table 2
Students by major Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) program level and state/territory, 2010–14
2010
(’000)
2011
(’000)
2012
(’000)
2013
(’000)
2014
(’000)
2013–14
% change
232.7
0.2
1.4
2.2
39.2
0.2
189.5
252.0
550.8
307.0
88.4
1 430.8
341.8
1 772.6
262.0
0.1
2.3
2.5
39.5
0.1
217.5
304.1
605.5
311.0
83.0
1 565.7
294.4
1 860.1
268.0
0.1
2.5
3.1
38.8
0.6
223.0
335.9
657.8
300.2
92.4
1 654.3
269.9
1 924.1
244.3
0.1
2.2
4.0
31.2
0.2
206.7
314.3
655.1
277.3
100.2
1 591.3
262.6
1 853.9
258.8
0.4
1.5
4.0
27.7
0.4
224.8
303.5
655.3
247.1
82.5
1 547.4
241.8
1 789.2
5.9
**
-32.4
2.2
-11.2
73.1
8.8
-3.4
0.0
-10.9
-17.6
-2.8
-7.9
-3.5
65.8
0.1
0.1
0.4
10.5
54.7
79.5
152.0
101.6
24.5
423.3
154.9
578.2
74.0
0.0
0.2
0.0
10.7
63.0
86.8
158.3
104.8
19.1
443.0
139.1
582.0
78.7
0.0
0.4
0.3
10.2
0.0
67.6
91.7
161.1
109.0
21.8
462.3
133.0
595.3
80.7
0.0
0.3
0.5
7.8
0.2
71.9
82.9
159.8
97.1
18.1
438.6
121.3
560.0
100.6
0.2
0.1
0.8
7.3
0.3
92.0
80.3
154.3
92.7
18.7
446.6
113.8
560.4
24.7
**
-57.7
49.3
-6.5
38.9
28.1
-3.2
-3.4
-4.6
3.6
1.8
-6.2
0.1
80.9
0.1
1.1
0.8
17.4
0.2
61.3
71.2
148.9
88.0
18.7
407.7
93.2
500.8
95.0
0.0
1.5
2.5
17.6
0.1
73.3
102.4
188.7
91.5
21.9
499.6
82.1
581.7
97.1
0.0
1.7
2.0
17.7
0.0
75.7
121.7
227.6
77.4
31.6
555.3
75.8
631.1
79.0
0.0
1.3
2.4
14.3
0.0
61.0
118.2
221.8
74.3
46.0
539.3
78.9
618.2
77.0
0.1
1.1
2.5
13.2
0.1
60.0
126.1
215.1
68.2
30.4
516.9
70.7
587.5
-2.6
415.4
-13.8
3.8
-7.7
**
-1.7
6.7
-3.0
-8.2
-33.8
-4.2
-10.5
-5.0
40.4
0.0
0.2
3.1
37.1
42.4
123.8
48.5
10.0
265.2
35.6
300.8
44.5
0.0
0.3
3.0
41.2
50.5
127.9
48.3
10.4
281.6
22.7
304.3
42.2
0.0
0.2
2.7
0.5
38.8
47.9
129.4
41.4
10.1
271.0
19.6
290.7
35.3
0.0
0.4
2.0
32.8
36.6
128.3
27.8
8.6
236.5
15.4
251.9
34.1
0.0
0.1
1.4
32.6
30.7
154.4
23.7
6.7
249.5
14.6
264.1
-3.2
16.1
-78.1
-32.2
-0.5
-16.2
20.3
-14.9
-21.8
5.5
-5.1
4.9
Australia
Diploma or higher
Graduate diploma
Graduate certificate
Bachelor degree (Honours and Pass)
Advanced diploma
Associate degree
Diploma
Certificate IV
Certificate III
Certificate II
Certificate I
AQF sub-total
Non-AQF sub-total
Total
New South Wales
Diploma or higher
Graduate diploma
Graduate certificate
Bachelor degree (Honours and Pass)
Advanced diploma
Associate degree
Diploma
Certificate IV
Certificate III
Certificate II
Certificate I
AQF sub-total
Non-AQF sub-total
Total
Victoria
Diploma or higher
Graduate diploma
Graduate certificate
Bachelor degree (Honours and Pass)
Advanced diploma
Associate degree
Diploma
Certificate IV
Certificate III
Certificate II
Certificate I
AQF sub-total
Non-AQF sub-total
Total
Queensland
Diploma or higher
Graduate diploma
Graduate certificate
Bachelor degree (Honours and Pass)
Advanced diploma
Associate degree
Diploma
Certificate IV
Certificate III
Certificate II
Certificate I
AQF sub-total
Non-AQF sub-total
Total
A dash (-) represents a true zero figure, with no data reported in that category.
** Per cent change not calculated due to small base numbers.
A break-in-series is represented by a dashed border.
Government-funded students and courses 2014: preliminary
3
Table 2
Students by major Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) program level and state/territory, 2010–14 (continued)
2010
(’000)
2011
(’000)
2012
(’000)
2013
(’000)
2014
(’000)
2013–14
% change
14.0
0.0
0.1
1.0
3.1
9.7
14.1
34.4
16.2
9.8
88.3
35.5
123.9
14.8
0.1
0.1
3.2
11.5
17.8
37.4
16.5
8.4
94.9
28.2
123.0
18.7
0.0
0.1
0.8
3.2
0.0
14.7
26.8
43.9
23.1
9.2
121.8
20.7
142.5
21.2
0.0
0.1
0.9
3.0
0.0
17.2
29.3
51.8
33.3
10.1
145.8
19.9
165.7
19.8
0.0
0.1
0.6
2.6
0.0
16.5
21.6
41.1
22.6
9.4
114.5
15.3
129.8
-6.7
30.0
-30.1
-26.8
-12.6
30.8
-4.6
-26.4
-20.7
-32.1
-7.0
-21.5
-23.0
-21.6
18.9
2.2
16.7
30.0
55.9
30.8
18.3
153.9
12.1
166.0
21.3
0.0
2.5
18.7
31.1
57.1
30.8
16.5
156.8
11.0
167.7
19.3
0.0
0.0
2.9
16.3
31.0
59.4
33.1
12.7
155.5
11.7
167.3
17.2
0.0
2.4
14.8
32.6
59.4
30.3
11.7
151.2
12.6
163.8
17.3
0.0
1.8
15.5
30.5
56.2
27.1
11.2
142.2
10.4
152.6
0.9
42.9
-23.4
4.8
-6.7
-5.4
-10.6
-4.1
-5.9
-17.4
-6.8
4.2
0.5
3.7
6.4
19.6
14.2
2.6
46.9
2.7
49.6
4.7
0.5
4.2
6.4
19.2
11.1
2.6
44.0
3.5
47.4
4.9
0.0
0.6
4.3
6.1
18.6
9.1
2.6
41.3
1.7
43.0
4.3
0.5
3.7
4.7
17.6
7.7
2.4
36.6
6.3
43.0
3.9
0.0
0.4
3.5
4.9
17.3
6.4
2.5
35.0
8.8
43.8
-8.8
-25.7
-6.6
4.2
-1.6
-17.1
4.6
-4.6
38.9
1.8
0.8
0.0
0.8
2.8
8.1
5.6
3.8
21.2
2.9
24.0
0.8
0.0
0.8
3.0
8.4
5.9
3.7
21.8
2.6
24.4
1.0
0.0
1.0
3.2
8.2
5.3
3.7
21.3
3.0
24.3
1.2
0.0
0.0
1.2
3.0
7.3
4.9
2.7
19.1
3.9
22.9
1.1
0.0
0.0
0.1
1.1
3.4
7.4
4.8
2.9
19.6
5.4
25.1
-5.6
-44.4
51.4
-8.0
12.4
1.8
-2.9
8.8
2.8
41.0
9.2
South Australia
Diploma or higher
Graduate diploma
Graduate certificate
Bachelor degree (Honours and Pass)
Advanced diploma
Associate degree
Diploma
Certificate IV
Certificate III
Certificate II
Certificate I
AQF sub-total
Non-AQF sub-total
Total
Western Australia
Diploma or higher
Graduate diploma
Graduate certificate
Bachelor degree (Honours and Pass)
Advanced diploma
Associate degree
Diploma
Certificate IV
Certificate III
Certificate II
Certificate I
AQF sub-total
Non-AQF sub-total
Total
Tasmania
Diploma or higher
Graduate diploma
Graduate certificate
Bachelor degree (Honours and Pass)
Advanced diploma
Associate degree
Diploma
Certificate IV
Certificate III
Certificate II
Certificate I
AQF sub-total
Non-AQF sub-total
Total
Northern Territory
Diploma or higher
Graduate diploma
Graduate certificate
Bachelor degree (Honours and Pass)
Advanced diploma
Associate degree
Diploma
Certificate IV
Certificate III
Certificate II
Certificate I
AQF sub-total
Non-AQF sub-total
Total
A dash (-) represents a true zero figure, with no data reported in that category.
** Per cent change not calculated due to small base numbers.
A break-in-series is represented by a dashed border.
4
Australian vocational education and training statistics
Table 2
Students by major Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) program level and state/territory, 2010–14 (continued)
2010
(’000)
2011
(’000)
2012
(’000)
2013
(’000)
2014
(’000)
7.8
2.3
5.5
5.6
8.1
2.3
0.7
24.4
4.9
29.4
6.9
0.0
2.0
4.9
6.1
8.4
2.1
0.5
24.1
5.3
29.4
6.1
0.0
1.5
4.6
7.5
9.7
1.9
0.6
25.8
4.3
30.1
5.5
0.0
0.0
0.1
1.2
4.1
7.0
9.1
1.9
0.8
24.2
4.3
28.5
4.9
0.0
0.1
1.0
3.7
6.2
9.5
1.7
0.7
23.0
2.9
25.9
2013–14
% change
Australian Capital Territory
Diploma or higher
Graduate diploma
Graduate certificate
Bachelor degree (Honours and Pass)
Advanced diploma
Associate degree
Diploma
Certificate IV
Certificate III
Certificate II
Certificate I
AQF sub-total
Non-AQF sub-total
Total
-10.4
**
-17.4
-15.9
-9.1
-11.0
3.7
-7.0
-5.4
-4.8
-33.1
-9.1
A dash (-) represents a true zero figure, with no data reported in that category.
** Per cent change not calculated due to small base numbers.
A break-in-series is represented by a dashed border.
Explanatory notes
Data scope
The data are sourced from the administrative records held by the state training authorities and other relevant bodies. The tables
provide information on VET delivery that covers all vocational education and training (VET) delivered by:
 technical and further education (TAFE) institutes and other government VET providers
 multi-sector higher education institutions
 the publicly funded component of VET delivered by community education and other registered providers.
This publication does not cover the following types of training activity:
 recreation, leisure and personal enrichment activity (‘non-vocational’ programs)
 fee-for-service VET delivery by community education and private providers
 delivery undertaken at overseas campuses of Australian VET institutions
 credit transfer
 VET delivered in schools, where the activity is undertaken as part of a senior secondary school certificate
 any activity where revenue was earned from another registered training organisation in terms of subcontracted, auspicing,
partnership arrangements or similar arrangements.
Information included in this document is derived from the National VET Provider Collection, which is compiled under the Australian
Vocational Education and Training Management Information Statistical Standard (AVETMISS). For further information on the AVETMISS
go to: <http://www.ncver.edu.au/avetmiss/21055.html>.
Data quality and comparability issues
1. Fee-for-service activity from adult and community education providers has been excluded from the publication scope of
publicly funded activity from 2014. The new scope has been backdated to 2003 in all NCVER resources. Fee-for-service
activity from adult and community education providers will be included in the Total VET publication to be published later
in 2015.
2. From 2011, the National Art School in New South Wales moved to reporting nationally as part of the Commonwealth Higher
Education Statistics Collection. In 2010, the National Art School reported 360 students, 2375 subject enrolments, 345 399
nationally agreed nominal hours and 480 full-year training equivalents.
3. TAFE NSW previously submitted data as one consolidated data submission for the 11 RTOs (10 TAFE institutes and the Open
Training and Education Network) in New South Wales. In 2015, data for each of the 11 TAFE NSW RTOs were submitted
individually to NCVER. The individual submissions resulted in a break-in-series for reporting the number of students, as
student numbers are partly derived by the training authority identifier. A student undertaking study at two TAFE NSW
institutes is now counted twice, instead of once under the previous arrangement. NCVER identified 21 400 client identifiers
undertaking study at multiple TAFE NSW RTOs in 2014 (matching data by client identifier, encrypted identifier, sex and
date of birth). This represents 10 500 unique students if they had been reported in a consolidated submission.
4. Data for 2014 activity was not received from the NSW Adult Migrant English Service. In 2013 NSW AMES reported 390
students, 690 subject enrolments, 51 800 hours and 72 full-year training equivalents.
Government-funded students and courses 2014: preliminary
5
5. The changes to NSW reporting also represent a break-in-series.
6. The funding of the South Australian entitlement scheme — 'Skills for All' — changed in 2014, which capped the training for
many qualifications and led to a decline in training activity.
7. The SA Department of State Development reported VET in Schools data for the first time in 2014. The improved matching of
student data reduced the number of enrolments reported in the SA VISA submission, as some students were reported in the
VET in Schools Collection instead.
8. In Tasmania, significant structural changes have occurred in the TasTAFE system and these may affect comparability of
data between 2009 and 2013.
9. In 2011, there are no data for NT Adult and Community Education (ACE) as they are no longer providing accredited training
associated with ACE. In 2010, 11 students, 76 subject enrolments, 1013 nationally agreed hours and one full-year training
equivalent were reported.
Terms and definitions
10. Major program is the program category of the major program undertaken by a student.
11. For consistency of reporting, senior secondary education is excluded from AQF programs. It has been included in ‘other
recognised courses’ in the non-AQF program category.
12. For further terms used in this publication, refer to the Glossary of VET <http://www.voced.edu.au/content/glossary-vet>.
More information
Data in this publication may be revised for a variety of reasons. For the latest data, please visit the NCVER Portal
<http://www.ncver.edu.au>.
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TD/TNC
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education and training statistics: government-funded students and courses, 2014
—preliminary, NCVER, Adelaide.
6
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Australian vocational education and training statistics