Nearly 300,000 South Australians undertook vocational education and training (VET) in 2023, an increase of 11.1 per cent, a new report from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) released today shows.

The Total VET Students and Courses 2023 report is an annual count of students, program enrolments, subject enrolments and program completions in both government funded training institutions, such as TAFE, and private institutions.

South Australia has shown strong growth in several areas, including the largest increases in the nation for VET students:

• training at school: up by 19 per cent
• who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander: up by 18.2 per cent
• from regional and remote locations: up by 13.4 per cent
• who identify as female: up by 13.2 per cent

And the second largest increase in the nation for VET students:

• reporting a disability: up by 9.7 per cent
• young people (aged 24 years and under): up by 8.2 per cent

All types of training providers saw increases in students enrolling. Students at TAFE SA increased by 7.8 per cent to 42,535 – the first increase in more than 4 years following the government’s efforts to rebuild TAFE. Community education providers increased by 6.3 per cent, to 45,700, and private providers increased by 12.6 per cent to 226,045.

The number of people studying courses at Certificate III level and above were up by 3.5 per cent, to 93,335, meaning more students are studying higher level qualifications to get the skills they need for the jobs being created across South Australia.

The state also recorded increases in program enrolments, up 7.3 per cent to 138,710 and subject enrolments, up 8.4 per cent to 1,507,365.

To view the full report, go to: ncver.edu.au.

Quotes

Attributable to Minister for Education, Training and Skills, Blair Boyer

At a time when South Australia needs more qualified workers in early childhood education, construction, defence, health and trades, it is pleasing to see so many more South Australians flocking to vocational education and training.

You do not need to go to university to get a rewarding career. Today’s numbers show that this message is starting to get through and people are taking up the pathways to rewarding, well-paid careers that vocational training has to offer.

The Malinauskas Labor Government has made significant investments in skills since coming to government, unlike anything the state has ever seen. These include the signing of the $2.3 billion National Skills Agreement (NSA), delivering Fee-Free TAFE, funding for five technical colleges and boosting funding for training providers to address skills shortages. The benefits of our investments are beginning to show through this data.